Associate Professor
Room No.: HSB331
Tel: +91 44 2257 4528
E-Mail: binithathampi@iitm.ac.in

Academic Background:

• Ph.D. in Development Studies from Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore, India.
• M.Phil. in Applied Economics from Centre for Development Studies (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
• M.A. in Politics and International Relations from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India.

Research Interests:

• Gender and Development
• ICTs for Development
• Feminist Demography and Policy Critique
• State Welfarism and Citizenship
• Decentralised Planning and Governance
• Poverty, Social Exclusion and Marginalisation

Courses Teaching:

• Feminist Theory and Concepts
• Gender and Development
• Field Research Methods and Report Writing
• Demography
• Contemporary Issues in Development

Professional Experience:

• Assistant Professor, IIT Madras since August 2010.
• Post-doctoral Research Associate with the Department of Town and Regional Planning, University of Sheffield, UK from 2008 January to 2010 July.
• Project Associate, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, Kerala, India from November 2007 to December 2008.
• Research Affiliate at the Population Research Centre of Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bangalore on a research fellowship offered by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and researched on the topic ‘Female Autonomy and Reproductive Health Status in Kerala’ during 2003-04.
• Member of faculty in the area of Gender and Community Development at Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) from March 2001 to August 2002.
• Consultant with Kerala State Planning Board, Trivandrum for a year.

Guidance:

PhD

• Ms. Banti Deori: Migration and Identities in conflicts: A study on female labour migration from Northeast India to the urban centers (ongoing)
• Sivaja K: Emergence and Re-emergence of Communicable Diseases and Challenges to Public Health Governance: A Case Study of Kerala (ongoing)

MA Projects (completed)

• Aruna Sen – Participation in Urban Governance: A Case Study of Cochin Corporation (2011).
• Ardra Manasi – Women’s Work and Autonomy: A Case Study among Tea Plantations Workers in Munnar (2012).
• RihanNajib – TheShiftingTrajectoriesofStateWelfarism:AStudyon Kerala (2013).
• Lakshmi Parvathy – Negotiating and Ensuring Social Protection of Transgenders: A Case Study of Tamilnadu Transgender Welfare Board (2014).
• Sajad Santhosh – Informalisation and Labour Mobilisation: Nurses’ Agitation in Kerala (2014).

Book:

• “New lamps for old: Gender Paradoxes of Political Decentralization in Kerala”, jointly authored with Devika J, Zubaan, New Delhi, 2012.

Publications (Peer Reviewed Journal Articles and Book Chapters):

1. Thampi BV, Kawlra A and Devika J. (forthcoming, 2015). ‘Invited spaces’ and ‘invented spaces’: Transforming descriptive representation to substantive representation among women presidents at the local-level in Kerala, India. In Feminist Visions of the Network Society, Anita Gurumurthy (ed.). Zubaan, New Delhi.
2. Luke N, Xu H and Thampi BV. Husbands’ Participation in Housework and Child Care in India. Journal of Marriage and FamilyVolume 76, Issue 3, pages 620–637, June 2014 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12108.
3. Williams G and Thampi BV. (2013). Decentralisation and the changing geographies of political marginalization in Kerala. Environment and Planning A 45(6):1337-1357. DOI:10.1068/a45218.
4. Devika J and Thampi BV. (2012). Beyond Feminine Public Altruism: Women Leaders in Kerala’s Urban Bodies. Economic and Political Weekly 47(17):76-83. The above paper has been selected in the collected essays from EPW under the theme Readings on The Economy, Polity and Society Devika J and Thampi BV. (2012) Beyond Feminine Public Altruism: Women Leaders in Kerala’s Urban Bodies. In Decentralisation and Local Governments : The Indian Experience, Raghunandan T R (ed.). Orient Black Swan, New Delhi.
5. Williams G, Thampi BV, Narayana D, Nandigama S, and Bhattacharyya D. (2012). The Politics of Defining and Alleviating Poverty: State Strategies and their Impacts in Rural Kerala. Geoforum. 43(5):991-1001. DOI:10.1016/j.geoforum.2012.06.001.
6. Devika J and Thampi BV. (2011). Mobility towards Work and Politics for Women in Kerala State, India: A View from the Histories of Gender and Space. Modern Asian Studies 45(5):1147-1175. DOI:10.1017/S0026749X09000080.
7. Williams G, Thampi BV, Narayana D, Nandigama S, and Bhattacharyya D. (2011). Performing Participatory Citizenship – Politics and Power in Kerala’s Kudumbashree Programme. Journal of Development Studies 47(8):1261-1280. DOI:10.1080/00220388.2010.527949.
8. Devika J and Thampi BV. (2010). Empowerment or Politicization? The Limits of Gender Inclusiveness of Kerala’s Political Decentralization. In Development Democracy and the State: Critiquing the Kerala Model of Development, Raman RK (ed.). Rutledge:177-191.
9. Devika J and Thampi BV. (2007). Changing Regimes of Empowerment and Inclusion in the Public: Women and the Kudumbashree in Contemporary Kerala. In A Decade of Decentralisation in Kerala: Issues, Options and Lessons, M.A.Ommen (ed.). Har Anand Publications, New Delhi.
10. Devika J and Thampi BV. (2007). Between ‘Empowerment’ and ‘Liberation’? The Kudumbashree in Kerala. Indian Journal of Gender Studies 14(1): 33-60. DOI: 10.1177/097152150601400103.
11. Thampi BV. (2005). Understanding Poverty Eradication and Empowerment of Women: Evidences from a Programme in Kerala State. In Microfinance Challenges: Empowerment or Disempowerment of the Poor? Isabelle Guerin & Jane Palier (eds.). Collection Sciences Sociales, IFP, French Institute of Pondicherry: 257-64.
12. Thampi BV. (2004). Decentralised Planning and Economic Empowerment of Women. Labour and Development 10(2): 199 -214.

Policy Briefs/Monographs/Research Reports

1. Thampi BV and Kawlra Aarti. (2012). Empowering women leaders at the local level in Kerala – The Gramamukhya initiative. CITIGEN Policy Brief, published by IDRC, Canada and IT for Change, Bangalore
2. Thampi BV and Kawlra Aarti. (2011). Empowering Women Leaders at the Local Level: Translating Descriptive Representation to Substantive Representation through ICTs, Project Report, submitted to IDRC Canada and IT for Change Bangalore
3. Rajan A C and Thampi B V. (2007). ‘Home Grown School Feeding: Midday Meals Programme in Kerala, India’ Research Report. Consultancy Study sponsored by World Food Programme and Cardiff University, UK.
4. Thampi B V. (2003). ‘Determinants of Female Labour Force Participation in Kerala: A Comparative Study of Four Panchayats’, Monograph, Research study sponsored by Kerala Institute for Labour and Employment (KILE), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 2003. The same has been published as a working paper of KILE.
5. Issac Thomas TM, Chakraborty Pinaki, Williams Michelle and Thampi BV. (2002). Women Neighbourhood Groups: Towards a New Perspective. Policy Brief, Published by Joint Committee of Panchayats Aryad & Kanjikkuzhi Blocks Kerala, India and International Labour Organisation (ILO).
6. Thampi B V. (2000). Community Development Society in Alleppey, Evaluation study Report, study sponsored by Kerala State Planning Board, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Sponsored Research projects/consultancy works:

• Initiated two years sponsored research titled “Changing Contours of State Welfarism and Emerging Citizenship: A Comparative Study of Tamil Nadu and Kerala” sponsored by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in 2014.
• Completed a one year sponsored research programme in December 2011 at IITM titled ‘Empowering Women Leaders at the Local Level: Translating Descriptive Representation to Substantive Representation through ICTs’ supported by IDRC, Canada, through its programe ‘Gender and Citizenship in the Information Society in Asia’ coordinated by IT for Change, Bangalore.
• Conducted a case study on ‘Home Grown Agriculture and School Feeding Programme – Case of Kerala’ for the World Food Programme, Rome. It was a consultancy work offered by Cardiff University, UK in 2007.
• Carried out a research study titled ‘Determinants of Female Labour Force Participation in Kerala: A Comparative Study of Four Panchayats’, sponsored by Kerala Institute for Labour and Employment (KILE), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 2003. The same has been published as a working paper of KILE.
• Done a funded evaluation study for Kerala State Planning Board on ‘Community Development Society in Alleppey’ (a confederation of self-help groups) in 2000.

Selected Paper Presentations at Conferences / Seminars:

• Gender and Risk Society. National Seminar on Analysing Risk Society through different Lenses of Social Science, Society for Social Science Research (SSSR), in collaboration with Southern Bookstar Publishers. Fourth Estate Hall, Press Club, Trivandrum, Kerala, India, January 9, 2014.
• Technology mediated social transformation: Gramamukhya Experience. Twelfth AWID International Forum on Women’s Rights and Development, Halic Congress Center, Istanbul, Turkey, April 19- 22, 2012.
• Decentralisation and the changing geographies of political marginalization in Kerala, India. Watson Institute for International studies, Brown University, USA, 4th April, 2012.
• Amplifying the Voices of Women in Politics. The Second Asia-Pacific Conference on Women in Politics and Governance’, Dili, East Timor, 29 September – 1 October 2011
• ‘Rethinking India’s Local Governance: Poverty, Participation and Political Society’, presentation and discussion of four research papers drafted under the collaborative project on ‘Embedding Poor People’s Voices in Local Governance, Jointly organized by Centre for the study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; the University of Sheffield; Centre for Development Studes, Trivandrum; Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata, at CSLG, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, October 22, 2010.
• ‘Gender Politics and Power in Kerala’, co-authored with Williams G, Narayana D, Nandigama S and Bhattacharyya D, National Conference on the Gender, Empowerment and the State, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata, India, December 10, 2010.
• ‘Performing participatory Citizenship: Gender, Politics and Power in Kerala’s Kudumbashree Programme’, co-authored with Williams G, RGS-IBG conference, Manchester, United Kingdom, August 28, 2009.
• ‘Home Grown School Feeding: Midday Meals Programme in Kerala, India’ co-authored with Angelique C Rajan, Validation workshop for the World Food Programme, Cardiff University, UK, September 24, 2007.
• ‘Changing Regimes of Empowerment and Inclusion in the Public: Women and the Kudumbashree in Contemporary Kerala’, co-authored with Devika J, International Conference on A Decade of Decentralisation in Kerala: Issues, Options and Lessons, organized by Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, at Thiruvananthapuram, 7-9 October, 2005.
• ‘Skill Development of women in the Informal Sector: A study on Kudumbashree Programme in Kerala’, Seminar on Skill Development and Women in the Informal Sector: Concerns, Interventions and Challenges, organized by V.V. Giri National Labour Institute & International Labour Organisation – SRO, New Delhi, March 2-3, 2005.
• ‘Decentralised Planning and Economic Empowerment of Women’, Seminar on Globalisation and Women’s Work organised by V.V.Giri National Labour Institute, New Delhi, India, March 25-26, 2002.
• ‘Towards a Comprehensive Social Health Insurance Scheme for the State of Kerala: Issues and Possibilities’, Co-authored with Sukumar M, Development Convention, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum, Kerala, India , January 28-30, 2004.
• ‘Understanding Poverty Eradication and Empowerment of Women: Evidences from a Programme in Kerala State’, Seminar on Microfinance and Empowerment, French Institute of Pondicherry, Pondicherry, India, January 7-8, 2004.
• ‘The Basic Needs and the New Development Programme of Poverty Alleviation: An Analysis of the Shift from the Programme of Basic Needs to Community Development in Alleppey, Kerala State, India’, International colloquium on Growth and Development of Under Fives in Developing Countries, organized jointly by Institute of Tropical medicine, Antwerpn, French Institute of Development Studies, Paris and Save the Children, UK, at Fortis Bank, Antwerpn, Belgium, November 29-30, 2001.
• ‘Self help Groups and the Empowerment of Women” National seminar on sustainable Keralam, organized by Cochin University of Science and Technology, Cochin, Kerala, India , 8-10 March 2001.

Selected Invited Talks:

• Social Infrastructure and Gender Development: Key Note Address, National Seminar, Department of Economics, KMCPGS, Puducherry, 19th February 2015.
• ‘Kudumbashree Model: Reflections on Gender Politics’, National Convention of Network of Women in Media, India (NWIMI), Navajyothis Renewal Centre, Kozhikode, Kerala, India, February 6, 2010.
• ‘The Kerala Experience of Development and the Challenge of Fair Trade’, Global Assembly of Liberation Food CIC Ltd and the International Nut Producer Co-operative, Kelakam, Kunnur, Kerala, India, September 30, 2009.
• ‘Just Politics: Women transforming Political Spaces’, Consultation Dialogue on Women and Politics, New World Action, London, November 30, 2008.