Dr. Radhika Borde
- Position: Lecturer in Sustainability Transitions and Social Justice
- Areas of expertise: environmental social movements; water, sanitation and hygiene for development; Indigenous studies; sacred geographies; gender and/in development; postcolonial studies; South Asia
- Email: R.Borde@leeds.ac.uk
- Location: 10.111 Manton
Profile
I am a human geographer with a strong inter-disciplinary orientation.
I would divide my research background into two broad areas:
- Indigenous social movements that emphasize ecological issues via a process of staking claim to sacred geographies; Religion and nature conservation
This is a long-term research agenda that fed into a PhD research project that I conducted at Wageningen University in the Netherlands on an internationalized movement in India that stopped a multinational company from mining bauxite on a mountain that was sacred to an Indigenous community.
Prior to this I had researched (and still do) an Indigenous movement aimed at the official recognition of the nature religion of India’s Indigenous communities. Ecofeminism is one of the lenses through which I have studied this movement as Indigenous women have played a crucial role in it and they have also challenged traditional taboos while doing so. I have also researched revisionary myth making by Indigenous communities in India which has involved a contestation of marginalization, from a Subaltern Studies perspective.
My work in this area has led to my membership of the steering committee of an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) specialist group working on the cultural and spiritual values of protected areas (https://csvpa.org/) and also the board of the religion and conservation working group of the Society for Conservation Biology. I have also been a co-author of the IUCN Best Practice Guidelines on the Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Nature in Protected Area Management and Governance: https://csvpa.org/best-practice-guidelines/cultural-and-spiritual-significance-of-nature/
- Environmental health; Water, sanitation, and hygiene for development; Waste management
This is an emerging research agenda for me that is growing out of my research experience at the Charles University in Prague, where I participated in a research project exploring the implementation of a sanitation program in a rural part of India that is home to several Indigenous communities.
My research in this regard explores issues of gender, inequality and distributive justice, biopolitics and circular economies of sanitation.
- Religion and space (both urban and rural).
In the urban context, this is an emerging research agenda for me. I am leading a research project which examines various issues pertaining to Sufi shrines situated in the National Capital Region in India.
In addition to my academic activities, I am a published author of short fiction and poetry, with publications in the American literary magazines “The Threepenny Review” and “Tin House”.
I have also worked in children’s book publishing, in children’s education (I taught in a school in Ladakh in the Indian trans-Himalaya), in an anti-mining activist organization in the East-Central region of India and as a social entrepreneur running a craft, upcycling and recycyling-based enterprise that employed rural Indian women.
Responsibilities
- Co-Lead of the University of Leeds 'Remaking Places' Research Network
- Co-Director of the University of Leeds Centre for Endangered Languages, Cultures and Ecosystems
- School of Geography Ethics Lead
Research interests
Grants Received:
I am the Principal Investigator of a British Academy-funded project, with a budget of 144,462 GBP. The project involves collaboration with an Indian university and an architectural conservation firm based in New Delhi, India.
I am a recipient of the Michael Beverley Innovation Foundation Fellowship, with a project budget of upto 7,500 GBP. My project under this fellowship involves collaborating with an Indiegnous community organization in India and an Indian artist to develop a public engagement-oriented output.
I am a Co-Lead on the Horizons Institute-funded Remaking Places research network, with a budget of 36,500 GBP.
I am a recipient of the University of Leeds Research Development Fund with a budget of 570 pounds.
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Some research projects I'm currently working on, or have worked on, will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>Qualifications
- PhD, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
- MA, Lancaster University, UK
- BA (Hons.), Delhi University, India
Student education
I teach on undergraduate modules centered on themes of sustainability and social justice, also acting as the module leader for one course that involves a student fieldtrip.
I also contribute to an Msc. course. I currently supervise BA, MSc. and PhD students.
I am happy to supervise undergraduate and postgraduate students on any topics that intersect with my research interests.