Research projects

RESEARCH

• 2nd International Conference on Sexualities, Masculinities, and Cultures in South Asia – Bangalore, 9-12 June 2004. This conference (in collaboration with Swabhava Trust) brought out a state-of-the-space overview and views of what the future may hold on these topics. The first conference of such scope to be held in South Asia, it brought together delegates from a wide variety of geographical, political, academic, activist, organizational, and social locations. The presentations were in several formats (academic papers, posters, slide presentations, performances, and workshops) and in different languages (predominantly English and Kannada). The Conference Proceedings contain full materials in English and Kannada translations of the abstracts/summaries. [Download Conference Proceedings] This is a PDF file and you will need a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat™ available at www.adobe.com
• LGBT Journeys – 2002. this project prepared an ethno-spatial study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) people in Bangalore. This study, in collaboration with Swabhava Trust, used oral autobiographical narratives of LGBT people in Bangalore to gain an understanding of the spaces they create, occupy, traverse, and sustain; and the ways in which they negotiate these spaces. As may be expected, many of them were able to subvert inherently unfriendly, even hostile, spaces by creating spaces of empowerment within the hostile spaces. Their journeys reveal complex geographies of affirmation and denial, empowerment and disempowerment… but also, ultimately, of an ongoing struggle of spatial transofrmations and productions to find legitimate, overt, and affirmative spaces for themselves.[Read a copy of a paper presented from this study. (will be uploaded soon)]