Kuntala Lahiri-Dutt, PhD (Burdwan)
Fellow
Community and Gender Specialist in Natural Resource Management, Resource Management in Asia-Pacific Program

Email: kuntala.lahiri-dutt@anu.edu.au

Biographical Statement

I grew up in the lower Damodar area of Bengal, India, near the eastern collieries, from where I went to Lady Brabourne College and Calcutta University and did my PhD in 1985. During my teaching career at Burdwan University, I wrote a number of books, one of which, In Search of a Homeland, an exploration of the search for identity of the marginal community, Anglo-Indians, was the basis of a documentary made by the BBC.

I became involved, since 1990s, with local struggles over rights on resources and livelihoods. Consequently, my research turned towards examining environmental changes in a coal mining region and women living in marginal and resource-constrained situations.

I joined the Resource Management in Asia Pacific Program in 2002 since when I have received several grants, successfully undertaken projects, and consultancies. I teach a course on Gender and development (ANTH 8038/39) in Masters of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development (see http://rspas.anu.edu.au/maapd).

Research Interests

My current research focus is on community initiatives and development in mining and water sectors, and for this, I often use a ‘gender lens’ to look into the heterogeneities within the broad community. For more on gender and water, see http://rspas.anu.edu.au/gwn

My work focuses primarily on South Asia; for example, I am undertaking research on the social impacts of coal mining in India. In my view, the brunt of social changes in mining areas is often borne by women in rural and peasant communities. I also have an ARC-funded linkage grant studying the interface between large-scale mining and the community with emphasis on community empowerment in East Kalimantan. This project stems from my belief that ‘community development’ by mining companies must include the specific objective of women’s empowerment.

Another exciting theme that I am currently exploring is that of livelihoods in artisanal, small-scale, and at times illegal mining. For more on ASM see www.asmasiapacific.org

An interest of mine, no less stimulating than any of the above, is rickshaw art of Dhaka, Bangladesh (see http://home.netspeed.com.au/kuntala.david).

Key Publications

• Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala (ed) (2006) Fluid Bonds: Views on Gender and Water, Calcutta: Stree.
• Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala and Martha Macintyre (eds) (2006) Women Miners in Developing Countries: Pit Women and Others, Aldershot Ashgate.
• Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala and Robert Wasson (eds) (Forthcoming in July 2007) Water First: Issues and Challenges for Nations and Communities, New Delhi: Sage.
• Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala and David Williams (Forthcoming in October 2007) Moving Pictures: Rickshaw Art of Bangladesh, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing House.
• Lahiri-Dutt, Kuntala (2006) ‘May God give us chaos, so that we can plunder’: A critique of resource curse and conflict theories, Development, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 14-21.

Career Highlights

ARC Linkage Project (‘Creating Empowered Communities’) 2006-2008.
Communities and Small Mines Grants, 2005 and 2006.
World Bank Study on Impacts of Mining on Women in Indonesia, 2006.
Panos Institute, Oral Testimony Project of mining displaced indigenous people, 2002.
Career Award, University Grants Commission, India, 1999-2002.
Consultant, International Atomic Energy Agency, 2000.
NASA Post-Doctoral Fellowship, 1987.