Biography
Dr Shreya Sinha is a Postdoctoral Researcher based at the Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. She has a PhD in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, an MA in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and a BA (Hons) History from St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. Prior to starting her postdoctoral research, Shreya worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at SOAS and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has also worked outside academia, for the India-based NGO, Foundation for Ecological Security. Shreya currently also serves as the Book Review Editor of the Journal of Agrarian Change.
Research
Shreya is an interdisciplinary social scientist working at the intersections of development theory, agrarian political economy, political ecology and economic geography. She has vast experience of designing and undertaking mixed-methods field research, independently in the north Indian state of Punjab and collaboratively in eastern and southern India. On the TIGR2ESS programme, she is part of FP1 where she has undertaken independent and collaborative research on the political economy challenges of sustainable agricultural transformations. She has also co-designed and co-executed a range of impact activities, including workshops, social media engagement and networking with external stakeholders. Shreya’s work addresses urgent challenges around agrarian livelihoods, food security, social justice and sustainability, and she has been interviewed by various Indian and UK media platforms and has spoken at various public events.
Publications
Journal articles
- Sinha, S., 2021. From cotton to paddy: Political crops in the Indian Punjab. Geoforum (Early View) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.05.017
- Sinha, S., 2021. Revisiting agrarian questions of capital: examining diversification by capitalist farmers in Punjab, India. Third World Quarterly, v. 42, p.1-18. doi:10.1080/01436597.2021.1873762.
- Sinha, S., 2019. Is the aspirational districts programme merely a political device? Economic and Political Weekly, v. 54.
Book chapter
- Sinha, S. and Vira, B. 2021. ‘The Rural Non-Farm Economy in India Revisited: From Rural Industrialization to Rural Entrepreneurs’, in Murat Arsel, Anirban Dasgupta and Servaas Storm (ed.) Reclaiming Development Studies: Essays for Ashwani Saith, Anthem Press
Blogs/Op-Eds/Essays
- Bhogal, S. and Sinha, S. ‘India protests: farmers could switch to more climate-resilient crops – but they have been given no incentive’, The Conversation, February 12, 2021. https://theconversation.com/india-protests-farmers-could-switch-to-more-climate-resilient-crops-but-they-have-been-given-no-incentive-154700
- Sinha, S. ‘In Punjab, the centrality of the mandi system’, Hindustan Times, December 18, 2020 https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/in-punjab-the-centrality-of-the-mandi-system/story-V1QIJJuShlfDIRiaE7ukQJ.html
- Sinha, S. ‘The Agrarian Crisis in Punjab and the Making of the Anti-Farm Law Protests’, The India Forum, November 28, 2020 https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/agrarian-crisis-punjab-and-making-anti-farm-law-protests
- Sinha, S. and N. Narain. ‘Co-creating research’, TIGR2ESS blog, October 30, 2019 https://tigr2ess.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/news/co-creating-research
- Sinha, S. ‘Mapping diversity in India’s agricultural communities’, TIGR2ESS blog, April 18, 2019 https://tigr2ess.globalfood.cam.ac.uk/news/mapping-diversity-indias-agricultural-communities
