Past Events

Government cash transfers (CTs) are a common aid intervention and many households rely on familial remittances. Yet the link between this aid and children's protection, health and education in disaster prone areas is not well understood. This seminar explores how these monetary flows affect children, through a case study of Madhepura District, India. Guest speaker: Elijah Dalton, MSc. Capacity Development and Extension, University of Guelph.

National governance reform is the the central challenge within the Indian water sector. However, national initiatives on legal reform underestimate the challenges of place-specific water issues in the Indian context. This webinar presents case studies on rural-urban transfers of water in large metropolitan centers, highlighting the importance of governance reform and the centrality of politics in the re-allocation of water from agricultural to urban-industrial use.

Since the mid-twentieth century, Asia's two giants have represented alternative models of political modernity. The dramatic rise of Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping, two self-avowed strongmen, has seen remarkable changes in the aims, structure and exercise of power in both regimes. This seminar examines striking commonalities and the ramifications of these historic developments. Guest speaker: Sanjay Ruparelia, Jarislowsky Democracy Chair, Ryerson University.

After the abolition of indenture in 1917, many repatriated ex-indentured Indian labourers faced marginalization and ostracization within India. Indian diaspora communities, ocean-crossing activists and nationalists within India debated how best to balance pressure from white settler governments to systematically deport Indians, and from plantation colony governments to recruit a steady stream of Indian labourers. Guest speaker: Heena Mistry, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Training Specialist, Wilfrid Laurier University.

The Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) presents a book panel on Caring for Glaciers: Land, Animals, and Humanity in the Himalayas (2019) by Prof. Karine Gagné of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Guelph. Featured panelists:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian government imposed a stringent national lockdown from March 24 to May 31 that caused severe disruptions across agrifood supply chains.  Agrifood markets in India in urban and rural areas constitute a mosaic of diverse actors and tend to be highly fragmented. How did this complex system cope in the wake of lockdown? Find out in this webinar, hosted by the Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the University of Guelph.

The webinar will focus on migration trajectories, educational experiences and economic outcomes of Indian international students in Canada. Guest Speakers Dr. Binod Khadria, Professor of Economics and Education, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Dr. Sutama Ghosh, Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, Ryerson University Dr. Margaret Walton-Roberts, Professor, Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfred Laurier University

This webinar will focus on the failures of the central and state governments in India in protecting the migrants during the COVID-19 lockdown and beyond. It will also review the economic package announced by the Government of India and its impact on return migrants. Guest speaker: S. Irudaya Rajan, Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Kerala Presented by the Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement.

This webinar focuses on the ecology of practices known as jugaad — common improvisations and 'workarounds' used differently by elites and subaltern peoples in India. Jugaad ecologies are crucial to social reproduction and to governance, business and management practices, shaping the very logistics of India cities like Mumbai. The session will explore the adaptation of this complex ecology in a post COVID-19 context. Presented by the Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement and the International Institute of Critical Studies in Improvisation.

The coronavirus pandemic and the extended lockdown have hit India hard. The country has struggled to scale-up testing and deliver care in both public and private sectors. In this webinar, the speakers will discuss India's lack of investment in health and how that made the country vulnerable to the pandemic and its impact, and outline potential strategies for rebuilding the fragmented health system.