Microfinance, Development, and Financial Risk in India by Sohini
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Creditable Lives: Microfinance, Development, and Financial Risk in India By Sohini Kar B.A., Columbia University, 2004 A.M., University of Chicago, 2006 A.M., Brown University, 2009 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology at Brown University Providence, Rhode Island May 2013 ©Copyright 2013 by Sohini Kar This dissertation by Sohini Kar is accepted in its present form by the Department of Anthropology as satisfying the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date_________________ ________________________ Lina Fruzzetti, Advisor Recommend to the Graduate Council Date_________________ ________________________ Catherine Lutz, Reader Date_________________ ________________________ Kay Warren, Reader Date_________________ ________________________ Patrick Heller, Reader Approved by the Graduate Council Date_________________ __________________________________ Peter Weber, Dean of the Graduate School iii Curriculum Vitae Sohini Kar Department of Anthropology Brown University Providence, RI 02912 [email protected] 312-451-3632 Education Ph.D. 2013 Brown University, Providence, RI Anthropology Dissertation: Creditable Lives: Microfinance, Development and Financial Risk in India Committee: Dr. Lina Fruzzetti (Chair), Dr. Catherine Lutz, Dr. Kay Warren M.A. 2009 Brown University, Providence RI Anthropology M.A. 2006 The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL Social Sciences B.A. 2004 Columbia University, New York, NY Economics; French and Romance Philology, cum laude Dissertation Research: My research centers on the intersection of political economy, especially development and finance, with the everyday ethics of kinship, community, and gender in urban South Asia. Based on 14 months of fieldwork in Kolkata, India, my dissertation examines how these for-profit microfinance lenders and poor borrowers negotiate the often-divergent ethics of financial sustainability and locally constituted obligations and personal relationships. Research Interests: South Asia, Economic Anthropology, Anthropology of Finance, Moral Economies, Labor and Precarity, Anthropology of Development, Gender External Research Awards and Grants 2010 National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant 2010 Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellowship 2010 Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant 2010 Institute for Money, Technology and Financial Inclusion at University of California Irvine Research Grant (Declined) 2009 Social Science Research Council Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship Academic Awards and Fellowships 2012 Watson Institute for International Studies Graduate Fellowship (1 Year) 2012 Brown University Sixth Year Dissertation Writing Fellowship (1 Year) 2012 IPK Cultures of Finance-Bruce Initiative Spring Conference Graduate Fellow 2011 Cogut Center for the Humanities Graduate Fellowship (1 Year) iv 2009 Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women Graduate Fellowship (1 Year) 2008 Brown University Anthropology Department Summer Travel Award 2007 Brown University Graduate Fellowship (5 Years) 2005 University of Chicago Tuition Scholarship (1 Year) 2004 Columbia University Departmental Honors in Economics Publications Peer-Reviewed Articles Forthcoming [2013]. Recovering Debts: Microfinance Loan Officers and the Work of “Proxy- Creditors” in India. American Ethnologist 40(3). Selected Academic Conferences and Presentations 2013. Credit and Worth: Financial Risk and the Moral Economy of Credit in India. Invited talk at George Washington University, Washington, DC. 2012. Uncertain Time: Temporal Disjunctures of Regular Repayment and Precarious Labor In Indian Microfinance. Panel on Precarious Labor and Precarious Life at the American Anthropological Association meeting in San Francisco, CA. 2012. Credit and Worth: Financial Risk and the Moral Economy of Credit. Graduate Student Workshop on Current Research in India at Brown University, Providence, RI. 2012. Corrupting Microfinance: Rethinking Financial Inclusion in India. Panel on “New Moral Economies in South Asia” at the 41st Annual Conference on South Asia in Madison, WI. 2012. Roundtable Participant for “Making Claims” Anthropological Engagements with Insurance at the American Ethnological Society Meeting in New York, NY. 2012. Corrupting Microfinance: Discourses of a Crisis. Panel on ‘"Reframing Development: Corruption, Crisis and Political Transformation in South Asian Literature and Culture" at the American Comparative Literature Association Meeting in Providence, RI. 2011. The Reluctant Moneylender: Microfinance Loan Officers and the Management of Ethical Risk in India. Panel on “Ethnographies of Financialized Lives” (co-organized with Llerena Searle) at the American Anthropological Association in Montreal, Canada. 2009. From Burra Bazar to Big Bazaar: Narratives of Inflation from the Marketplaces of Kolkata. Panel on ‘The Global Financial Crisis in Comparative Perspective’ at the American Anthropological Association in Philadelphia, PA. 2008. Measuring Citizenship: The Indian Census and the Management of the Muslim Population. Panel on ‘Ethnographies of the Record’ at the American Anthropological Association Conference in San Francisco, CA. Language Skills Bengali (Native language) Japanese (Fluent, Level Japanese Language Proficiency Examination1 (highest)) French (Highly proficient) Fieldwork Experience v 2010–11 Kolkata, India: Twelve months of dissertation fieldwork on microfinance institutions. Attended weekly meetings of MFI borrower groups, conducted interviews with loan officers, MFI management, borrowers, commercial bank and government representatives. 2009 Kolkata, India: Six weeks of fieldwork conducting preliminary dissertation research on microfinance institutions. Conducted institutional-level study, including interviews with bank officials and representatives of microfinance institutions. Also attended microfinance group meetings. 2008 Kolkata, India: Six weeks of fieldwork conducting research on the effect of inflation in the city’s marketplaces for Master’s thesis. Conducted interviews with market vendors to document narratives of the experience of inflation and perceptions of crisis. Teaching Experience Instructor, Brown University (Pre‐College Program) Summer 2010 Global Development Teaching Assistant, Brown University Spring 2010 Violence and the Media Spring 2009 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Fall 2008 Culture and Behavior Professional Affiliations American Anthropological Association American Ethnological Society vi Acknowledgements To account for one’s debts is to acknowledge the webs of relationships that make us who we are on this incredible journey. I will attempt here to do justice the many people who have shaped my education and work in a myriad of ways. First and foremost, I thank the women and men who are not named, but whose voices fill the pages of my dissertation. They have graciously shared their time, knowledge, and kindness with me. I hope that this dissertation shares in their commitment to strive for a better, more equal future. The intersection of Hope and Power where the Anthropology Department at Brown University stands has been my academic home for the last six years, and I have been enriched by my time there. In particular, I would like to recognize my committee: Lina Fruzzetti has been an extraordinary advisor, and unfailing in her encouragement through all my years here. Cathy Lutz has read innumerable drafts of everything, and provided invaluable feedback that has shaped my work. Kay Warren has enthusiastically supported my work through its development. Patrick Heller, as outside reader, has been a valuable interlocutor throughout the years. Of course, this research would not be possible without funding that has enabled me to spend time developing the project, conducting fieldwork, and writing up. This research has been generously supported by the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (#1022746), the Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, the Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) and the Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship (DPDF) with funds provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Graduate vii fellowships from Brown University, the Pembroke Center, the Cogut Center for the Humanities, and the Watson Institute have variously provided funding and space to pursue my research. My work, especially chapter 4, has been enriched through participation in the Cogut Fellows Seminar (2010-11). Llerena Searle and Saiba Varma have read and commented on various parts of the dissertation and I am thankful for their keen insights. I am grateful to the talented James Doyle for creating Map 1.1 for me. At Brown, I am incredibly grateful to Kathy Grimaldi and Mathilde Andrade for their unfailing help and cheer at the department. Jessa Leinaweaver, Paja Faudree, and Sherine Hamdy have been wonderful additional faculty mentors in navigating the choppy waters of academia. In addition to providing solidarity during the challenging and grueling moments of graduate school, my cohort, James Doyle, Susan Ellison, Colin Porter, Stacey Vanderhurst, Laura Vares, and Caitlin Walker have made these past six years fun. Katie Rhine, Christine Reiser, Andrea Mazzarino, Harris Solomon, Jennifer Ashley, Kathleen Millar, Inna Leykin, and Yagmur Nuhrat have been wonderful demystifying