Perspectives on Wellbeing, Waste Governance, and Inclusion from the Urban Margins in Ahmedabad, India
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Women’s Work in the ‘Clean City’: Perspectives on Wellbeing, Waste Governance, and Inclusion from the Urban Margins in Ahmedabad, India by Josie Wittmer A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Geography, Environment & Geomatics and International Development Studies Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Josie Wittmer, December, 2020 ABSTRACT WOMEN’S WORK IN THE ‘CLEAN CITY’: PERSPECTIVES ON WELLBEING, WASTE GOVERNANCE, AND INCLUSION FROM THE URBAN MARGINS IN AHMEDABAD, INDIA Josie Wittmer Advisor(s): University of Guelph, 2020 Dr. Kate Parizeau This dissertation uses a feminist mixed-methods approach to investigate solid waste management and informal recycling practices in the city of Ahmedabad, India. The aim of this research is to understand the ways that power unevenly manifests in the urban everyday by exploring marginalized women waste pickers’ experiences of wellbeing, work, and organizing through a moment of change in the governance of waste in urban India. This dissertation argues that contemporary solid waste management planning and discourses of urban cleanliness and inclusion in urban India are implicated in the continual reproduction of spatial, symbolic, political-economic, and social-cultural marginalization of women waste pickers. Key findings of the dissertation highlight women waste pickers’ relational perceptions of wellbeing and work, the gendered impacts of contemporary waste governance for marginalized women workers, and women’s experiences in organizing and navigating mechanisms of inclusion and municipal privatization. These findings point to the spatial, symbolic, material, and intersectional implications that contemporary waste governance and discourses of cleanliness and urban inclusion have in women waste pickers’ everyday lives. The study draws on a survey (n=401), semi-structured interviews (n=45), follow-up interviews (n=36) and group workshop discussions (n=12) with women waste pickers in Ahmedabad between 2016-2018. It also relies on insights from local advocacy workers, NGO employees, and union representatives (n=11) and a discourse analysis of local media and policy documents. The dissertation is grounded in women waste pickers’ perspectives, experiences, and knowledges as important yet under-valued observers and co-producers of urban space. From this perspective, this research makes important contributions toward theorizing marginalized informal work by emphasizing women’s intersectional perspectives on the benefits and challenges of this work in a moment of change in the city. The research highlights the dynamics of power and oppression which tend to be obscured and the marginalized people who tend to be invisibilised in the production of clean-and-modern revitalized urban spaces. The research advances scholarship on vulnerable people in urban spaces and the exclusionary impacts of contemporary urban governance. The insights garnered from women waste pickers livelihoods and wellbeing may also contribute to advocacy and organizing work by scholars and activists and policy through this moment of change in India’s urban governance. iii DEDICATION To all of the women who so generously gave their time, energy, and expertise to this research & To all of the folks advocating and organizing for justice for marginalized women workers our work should equip the next generation of women to outdo us in every field this is the legacy we’ll leave behind progress – rupi kaur iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would not be possible without the kindness, trust, and support of all of the women who spent time sharing their experiences with me. I am forever grateful for these conversations and the chance to learn from the real waste management experts in Ahmedabad. This research was made possible with generous financial support from: The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Joseph-Armand Bombardier Scholarship; The Society of Woman Geographers’ Pruitt Dissertation Fellowship; The Canada Research Chair in Gender, Justice & Development; and the Studies’ Dr. Kerry Preibisch Travel Grant from the Guelph Institute of Development Studies. I am especially grateful to my advisor, Dr. Kate Parizeau, for you sustained and unwavering support and guidance through this process and for your patience in wading through so many pages of my words over the years. Thank you for the track changes, encouragement, pints in the Grad lounge, and helpful working strategies (with catchy slogans). I believe that I am a wiser and more developed scholar and a better human being under your advisement and mentorship. Thank you also to Dr. Sharada Srinivasan for your continual support of my research, interest in my professional development, and for the visits/support in Ahmedabad and many chatty dinners. Thank you also to Dr. Roberta Hawkins for your enthusiasm and thoughtful feedback on my research and writing. To both committee members, this project and its outputs are much stronger as a result of both of your involvement and dedication to this research. I also wish to thank Dr. René Véron and Dr. Karine Gagné for participating in this project as external examiners and for taking the time to read, think about, and comment on my dissertation. Thank you to everyone in Ahmedabad who helped with and supported this project in various ways. Special thanks to my interpreter, Mubina: this project would not have turned out as it did without your unwavering dedication, expertise, and willingness to take on so many odd adventures and rickshaw rides to all corners of Ahmedabad city. You made the data collection experiences not only possible, but enjoyable through your openness and ability to really connect to others, listen, and wear your heart on your sleeve. Thanks also to the research assistants (Neha Chokshi, Bhagyashri Jadeja, Viral Pandya, Kajal Joshi, & Kajal Shah) who also made this research possible with their dedication and determination, despite the early mornings and long journeys all over the city. You are all integral to this project and I appreciate your hard work! Special thanks also to Dr. Tara Nair and Dr. Keshab Das and the Gujarat Institute of Development Research (GIDR); Ashish Agrawal, Paryavarn Mitra and Manav Sadhna; and the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). I am also grateful to Sakshi Agarwal, Divya Ravindranth, Mrunal Gohil, Chris and Tammi Martin, and Rui Santos, all who made Ahmedabad feel like home and to Swami Rajarshi Muni for the library books and for welcoming me to the ashram during breaks. To my colleagues, members of the Social Life of Waste research group, my friends/comrades in management at SRG, and my friends/family across Canada, your encouragement and friendship have made this research and dissertation process more manageable and I feel fortunate to be v surrounded by a most supportive community of folks. Thanks for asking about my work, checking in, and being pals. Dr. Erin Must, madam, there definitely isn’t enough space here, but you will always be riding in the rickshaw of ‘only the best people.’ Your camaraderie, advice, and friendship helped sustain my wellbeing and sanity at times during this process and I will always appreciate that. Thank you to my family. Particularly to my parents for always encouraging me to do everything to my best ability and instilling in me a desire to continually learn, be creative, and to practice good study habits and penmanship. The sacrifices and hard work you put in to raising us has not gone unnoticed and I appreciate all that you have done to go above and beyond in providing me the tools, knowledge, skills, and confidence to be a leader, teacher, performer, and scholar while knowing that you would have supported me in any other pursuit. Sorry I didn’t take my flute- playing to the stadium circuit… Thank you also to my in-laws, my aunts and uncles, and my grandparents who have always been accepting and supportive of my chosen path, even as I was living in a tent for most of my 20’s. Finally, thank you to my partner Jarryd. You have been a patient companion and friend throughout this PhD journey and have been at my side through many adventures in life from urban India to the remote wilderness of northern British Columbia. Words can’t adequately express my gratitude and appreciation for you as a human being and partner. Jai Bhagwan. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Dedication iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents vi List of Tables ix List of Figures x List of Abbreviations xi List of Terminology xii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 Situating the research 5 1.1.1 Informal recycling and the informal waste economy 5 1.1.2 Solid waste management in urban India 8 1.1.3 Case study overview: Ahmedabad, India 17 1.2 Research questions and objectives 26 1.3 Overview of the dissertation 27 1.4 References 30 Chapter 2: Conceptual approach and methodology 40 2.1 Development geographies 41 2.2 Feminist geographies 49 2.3 Waste studies: geographies of waste and discard 53 2.4 Conceptualizing women’s everyday experiences of the uneven city 56 2.5 Methodological Approach 56 2.5.1 Situating the researcher: Positionality and reflexivity 58 2.5.2 Research design and data collection 60 2.5.3 Producing knowledge through translation 70 2.5.4 Limitations of the study 73 2.6 References 76 vii Chapter 3: “We live and we do this work:” Women waste pickers’ experiences of wellbeing in Ahmedabad, India 88 Abstract 88 3.1 Introduction 88 3.2 Conceptual framework 90 3.3 Methods and methodological