Swarna Rajagopalan
@swarraj
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Following
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1,463
Statuses
94,136
Political scientist by training, highly educated factotum, building @prajnya , teaching @kreauniversity , founding member @WRNnews , chairing @ipsarc07 .
India
Joined September 2008
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When Westland shut down, we heard about nothing else for weeks.
SAGE India is closing down their very rich academic list which goes back around 30 years and there's not a whiff. Academics make nothing on their books and so we don't notice. But SAGE is special.
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Makes me wonder that people who want small NGOs to explain their pitiful accounts and will lecture us on money, will donate to PM Cares, for which we've seen no account or usage records. 😕
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I am sure there are criticisms of
@chennaicorp
's work but I want to express my appreciation of their efforts here. It is not easy to safeguard temperamentally disobedient and wilful citizens and the legion of staff are doing a heroic job.
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Won't forget: I was in the middle of a workplace sexual harassment prevention training when the court ruled to acquit Priya Ramani for speaking her truth.
#MeToo
We stopped and I read from
@barandbench
's live tweets, with tears in my eyes. 🙏🏽
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Inundated by militaristic Ram-shooting-arrow Dussehra greeting images, I am sharing a South Indian counter-image: Saraswati (by Raja Ravi Varma)
May your endeavours be fruitful and your beginnings lead to smooth journeys!
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It's
#dayofthegirl
. I am thinking about confidence. Not just food, shelter, clothing, safety, education. Give girls confidence. With love.
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Everywhere you go, from depositions to visitor passes, people want a woman to name her father or husband. Can we please end that now?
#patriarchy
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Reading the tweets about the FCRA bill. Any government has a vested interest is stifling civil society but startling how much hatred and mistrust people have for those of us who choose to work in the larger interest.
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Men should book two seats each on flights. One can barely contain their entitlement.
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For social scientists, it has been a go-to list for good research, when we wanted to publish and publish with someone who would distribute well and price books reasonably. This is really a loss we are not paying attention to.
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NDTV is reporting that the police have entered Madras University. What's going on?
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The withdrawal of the Farm Laws after a tenacious year-long struggle by farmers makes me wonder what the impact of the 'Shaheen Bagh' movements across the country would have been, but for the pandemic.
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Much as it breaks my heart to say this, I think that after this year, I am going to refuse to travel abroad. Visa paperwork takes too much of one's productive hours. Between that, the carbon footprint and the cost, international travel seems like a waste.
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10 minutes on social media are enough to make me wonder: If if everyone is so brilliant at everything and omniscient and morally perfect, why is the world such a stinking mess?
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Young South Asian gender & security scholars: I'm looking for people to contribute to a research project on gender and extremism. Please reply if you are interested. Will let you know more.
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Just realized that
@sagarikaghose
and
@sardesairajdeep
are being attacked through questions about their kids. Unconscionable! Leave children out of your trolling. In any case, if you disagree with or dislike someone, you don't need to follow or watch them. Simple.
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Voting booth. Ladies queue has distancing. Gents has entitlement.
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I am delighted to announce two year-long project-related positions.
The first is for a Researcher. We're looking for a female researcher, who is literate and fluent in Tamil, and can travel within the state (pandemic permitting).
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Spent the morning sorting through papers at the NGO office ahead of closure. I have grieved for the closure. Today I grieved for all that we have done that most people (even within) barely know about. We have been consistently creative, innovative, resourceful.
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Just six months ago, this government left the people of India to their fate and it was this civil society that stepped into the breach, turning compassion into practical help. For months.
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This morning, we brought a six country research project on
#extremism
and
#genderviolence
in
#SouthAsia
to fruition. Authors presented their studies and the papers went live. You can read them at
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How many of those volunteers drove around in imported cars and branded clothes? I saw none. I saw heart, courage and generosity.
And a government that couldn't care less. Notwithstanding the name of their private fund.
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I'm telling you: Institutional memory is everything. If you're just starting out, make documentation a priority.
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Photographs of pellet injuries inflicted on Muharram processions in Kashmir are horrifying and heartbreaking. But what is new? Neither the cruelty, nor our complicit, blind silence.
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Today, July 16, marks 25 years since I deposited my PhD dissertation and 44 years since I registered for my first Political Science class. Today, I will also be one of the speakers on the President's plenary session at the
@ipsa_aisp
World Congress in Buenos Aires.
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Excited about starting to teach my Indian Foreign Policy course this morning
@kreauniversity
.
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Salaries: anathema.
Overheads: wasteful.
Benefits, insurance: scandalous, this is service!
This is how we feel about those who spend their lives, bringing healthcare to forgotten districts and water to parched villages.
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I don't want a traditional holiday. I want to be in a place where no one needs anything from me for a while. And where my life is not determined by the rhythms of other people's needs and schedules and moods. A sabbatical from my life.
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Why is it so hard to find simple introductory reading materials? We produce obscure, unteachable text and students know far less than they think and I find few solid introductory pieces for classroom use.
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Scindia moving to BJP... well, it's the family party. But Pilot will disappoint me if he does, as also Deora.
If at this historical moment, the BJP seems like a palatable option, I will draw my own conclusions about a person's values.
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Prejudice blinds the public to how most Indian NGOs work--poky offices, poorly paid staff and barely enough financial security to know if they will last another year.
Agreed: 80%, even 100% of money should go to the work. But.
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Mann ki baat is the perfect symbol for this government---a unilateral broadcast, no questions taken, no debate allowed.
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I just got a call purportedly from
@FedEx
telling me that someone in Mumbai booked a parcel to Taiwan using my Aadhaar card and that it had some illegal content and was seized.
@Mum_CyberPolice
@chennaipolice_
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Tell me: WHO is going to do the work? A ghost who doesn't eat or fall sick? An idea that has no family to take care of? And will they just wander around the streets in packs, discussing, doing?
Get real, SOMEONE has to do the work SOMEWHERE.
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Wonderful article on non-western women philosophers who have been effaced from every canon:
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I was thinking that Dilip Kumar and his contemporaries were the generation that represented the best memories and connections of pre-Partition Southasia. Coming from both sides of the border, fandom and love for them were one strand that still connected us.
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All I can say, is what generations of parents, aunties and uncles have as we chose non-profit lives: More fool us.
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So let's not even talk about human rights defenders. Utterly useless people unless you want to fill jails.
Arre, mind your business, make money, spend more, be happy!
Why should anyone spend money on, earn salaries for talking about other people's rights?
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@chennaicorp
The scale of the containment effort alone would be impressive, but the sweetness and humane quality that your team has brought to it is very comforting and special. I want to acknowledge this as extravagantly as I complain.
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Civil society, NGOs, those extravagant villains with foreign money, stand between the average and the tendency of governments to be predatory and elites to be selfish. NGOs act, speak out and stand up when no one else will. Whether you trust us or not.
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We learn early in Political Science classes that rights exist in the context of the state. That is, we need to explicate, defend our rights because it is the predisposition of the state to infringe on them.
But never mind, we'll just roll over and play dead.
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As I work on letters of recommendation, I am reflecting on the impact of the pandemic on today's undergrads. More than any other generation did, they need to be in the world, working day jobs, being w people, reading, before they enter PhD programmes. But who will listen to me?
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We managed to get Amma to the booth and she voted.
The officials who came home to give her the form and with whom I was following up, greeted her at the gate. Everyone came forward to support her up the one step and towards the booth, offering a wheelchair over and over.
I am ecstatic. My mother was able to vote in the polling station, despite the postal vote mix-up . Thanks so much for your concern and offer to help,
@saravofcl
! Luckily, it all worked out!
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5yo niece, having just learned to read, can't stop! She reads caution notices, words on my computer screen, hoardings... wonderful moment!
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Staying safe is an act of consideration and citizenship.
Save others from infection. And also save them the expense of your care, your funeral. Save them the worry. Save them the extra work of helping you.
Save beds and oxygen. Spare doctors and nurses.
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What is this absolutely despicable low our public discourse has reached? Intolerant with everything else, why do we tolerate this? (1)
Wonderful sir, too good. You really are a model parliamentarian
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I just looked up the Constitution of India from the India Code site. I got an insecure site warning (site not private).
True, the Constitution is not secure.
Luckily, I own a hard copy of the text and hold its spirit in my heart.
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@bhatnaturally
In earlier generations, I know people were multilingual. In my family, many spoke Telugu and Tamil equally fluently and one uncle also spoke Kannada although he had never lived in Karnataka. So it's something we are losing now.
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Why does everyone talk like this is a vacation? This is one of the busiest, most exhausting and stressful periods I have known.
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If you are in
#Kolkata
, you may want to drop in on this
#photography
exhibition. It is part of our project on helpseeking by domestic violence survivors.
@courtinglaw
@swayamkolkata
@AnnuJal
@PanchaliRay3
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There is a sameness to stories about sexual harassment. Because however much you vary the setting, the plot or even the gender, the story is actually the same: an abuse of power.
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As a single aunt, it always catches me by surprise when the next generation decides to get married. Whoa, you want to do that?! is my first thought. Nothing wrong with it, but,... really? It seems like such a strange choice to me--for no reason, just does.
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What a difference a day makes!
We step into this night, having shed much of our anxiety and fear. Our alienation.
I am not alone.
India is with me.
Nothing has been solved. All the problems remain. But the sun will rise again and we can continue to work when it does.
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@MKumaramangalam
As a teacher, I am wondering when students from an ordinary Indian college would have this kind of access to all of you.
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Amazon India lists fancy soaps under 'used and new'. Would you order a used soap online?
I ask out of curiosity as a social scientist.
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For the first time in my life, I have unanswered messages in my various inboxes. Post-COVID many months ago, my stamina and my ability to juggle have diminished. Please feel free to re-send your email with a gentle nudge. Thanks for understanding!
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This has been a bonanza of a birthday, with flowers, gifts and baked goodies coming from friends and family everywhere. I am swinging between gosh! and grateful.
Photo features apple crumble baked for me by a school friend. Who also supplied the ice cream.
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I am so glad I got out of the US before the Trump years. My heart goes out to all the international students and the young professionals now stranded.
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Everyday, on some network, I read my feed and think: We are so unforgiving you would think each of us was infallibly ethical and always showed flawless judgment.
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Stop the world and let me off...
Rushdie's novel on Hampi and Vijayanagara just got here!
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The fact that History and Political Science are the target for syllabus revisions is evidence that these subjects matter. We make citizens by teaching them. And we undermine democracy by neglecting to teach them correctly.
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@suchetadalal
@NandanNilekani
Unbelievable and yet, believably thoughtless! This is how we have been governed in recent years.
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I am realising I know hardly any economists here, leave alone feminist economists. Please suggest, and identify, for me to follow.
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@prajnya
is offering a
#fellowship
for
#research
for a
#media
project on gender violence.
Details:
Deadline: June 20, 2022
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We should all just wait for our American friends to visit us. They are the only ones who can travel most places easily.
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Twenty years today since I deposited my doctoral dissertation. Which was, in turn, 19 years to the date after I sat in my first Political Science class at Sophia.
I guess this would be my political science anniversary date, if those existed.
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@chennaicorp
The young man assigned to our building brings good humour and positive energy to our door, rings the bell, poised to charge through the building. Today he stepped in to take our temperatures and reassured us, "You are fine" before running down the stairs.
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Happy birthday,
@prajnya
! And thank you to everyone who has ever worked with us, donated, been a resource person or partner, or supported us in any way! 🙏❤
We're TWELVE today!
That's a dozen years of talking about peace and gender equality and justice to anyone who'd listen! Thank YOU!
PS: We're never too old for b'day gifts!
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Whatever you do, don't start an NGO unless you are already a millionaire and can hire lots of good people. Not worth the fatigue!
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I've been thinking that no one uses 'toolkit' more than the UN! For every cause, for every observance date...
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Re-reading my dissertation book for my current work. It still works!
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@sagarikaghose
Especially offensive to see clips of them enjoying shikara rides when people are suffering around them. On top of all else that is wrong with this.
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I am struggling to focus. How can I expect young people, whose most carefree years have been derailed by the pandemic, to do any better?
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A reminder that webinaring is also an activity of privilege--requires time, space, silence, electricity and connectivity all to work together for you.
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Woke up to the news of Kamla Bhasin's passing. Thousands of words will be written but they will never quite capture her presence in the Indian women's movement. i will remember her energy, her enthusiasm, her expansive way... with thanks.
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Within 15 minutes of the call, a medical team rings the bell. Doctor, nurse and volunteer. This is for me. Another team will come to see Amma. Vitals checked, vitamins prescribed, the volunteer tells me he will come every day. Means a lot
@chennaicorp
!
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I never met Dr. Shanta but had, of course, heard of her. I moved to Chennai in 2003 with countless misgivings that remain but one consolation, this has been a hospitable space for women entrepreneurs and institution-builders. People like her gave me hope.
Dr. V. Shanta, doyen of cancer care in the country and chairperson of the Adyar Cancer institute is no more.
@the_hindu
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We're looking to hold a few Community Cafes in the course of the
@prajnya
16 Days Campaign. Invite us? Bring a group of friends/ family/ co-workers together in your space (or online) and we'll drop by for tea/ coffee and conversation about gender violence.
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My Maldives Timeline is flooded with these protest tweets.
#MaldivesInCrisis
My name is Azim, and I am a Maldivian. I believe that the State of Emergency declared by Yameen is illegal and unconstitutional.
#MaldivesInCrisis
#StateOfEmergency
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners
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Ultimately, we walk the road alone. Our feet hurt, our backs are bent, our hearts are heavy, our heads pound and dry-eyed, we feel defeated. Lost. Spent. And yet, are we? "Look how far you've come," the road glints. Don't quit now. But... too hard, too much.
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One of the sweetest things I have ever read while grading: Acknowledgment of how much a student learnt from her peers during class discussion. Her final paper actually has an Acknowledgments section.
I am so impressed by her.
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To the large pool of bright young people seeking employment, I want to say that the most important word I seek is 'reliable.' Brilliant is cheap and easy. Enthusiasm is nice. But it's good old-fashioned 'reliable' that we all want. Reliable.
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@chennaicorp
I just got a call from the Health Department to tell me someone who had delivered a parcel had tested positive. EVERY other sentence was, "Don't panic, 'ma, don't panic." It was very sweet.
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Life has become easy for TV and mainstream news. Hagiographic coverage of the central government and wall to wall, floor to ceiling fan boy/girl coverage of the Ayodhya event is all they need bother with.
For news, support
@thewire_in
@scroll_in
@thenewsminute
& others.
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@FaisalJavedKhan
Faisal, reading your tweets on old serials with interest. Add the very stark and powerful Neeley Haath to your list. I was so delighted to get to meet Madeeha Gauhar later on.
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