AAS Call for Proposals

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  • 1.  Work and Life in Colonial South Asia

    Posted 20 days ago

    Hello, 

    I am seeking two-three panelists for a potential panel on the broad theme of laboring conditions in the cities of colonial South Asia. We can narrow down our theme(s) depending on presenters' research area. 



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    Priyanka Srivastava
    Assistant Professor
    University of Massachusetts Amherst
    priyanka@history.umass.edu
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  • 2.  RE: Work and Life in Colonial South Asia

    Posted 20 days ago
    Subject: AAS 2027 Panel - Interested in Joining (Labor & Urban Lahore)
     
    Dear Dr. Srivastava,
     
    My name is Robia Shaheen, and I am a PhD scholar in Geography at the Institute of Geography, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. I saw your call for panelists on laboring conditions in colonial South Asian cities and would be very interested in joining.
     
    My research focuses on urbanism in Lahore, tracing how the city's spatial development from colonial-era infrastructure and segregation to postcolonial and contemporary informal urban growth - has shaped everyday life and working conditions for its residents. I would like to propose a paper along these lines:
     
    Working Title: Labor, Space, and the Shifting Geography of Everyday Life in Lahore, 1849–Present
     
    This paper would trace how laboring and working-class life in Lahore has been shaped by successive waves of urban transformation, beginning with the colonial reorganization of the city under British rule (the Civil Lines, cantonment, railway colonies, and industrial zones that segregated laboring populations from elite and administrative spaces) through Partition-era upheaval, post-1947 industrialization, and today's informal urban expansion. Using Lahore's working-class and migrant neighborhoods as a lens, I would examine how labor has continually shaped, and been shaped by, the city's built environment, and how conditions of everyday life for laborers have been redefined across colonial, postcolonial, and contemporary periods.
     
    I recognize this spans a longer timeframe than a strictly colonial focus, so I wanted to check with you first: would there be room on the panel for a paper that traces this longue
     
     durée arc from colonial Lahore to the present, or is the panel set specifically on the colonial period? I am happy to narrow the scope if that would fit better with the other presenters' work.
     
    Please let me know your thoughts, and thank you for considering me.
     
    Best regards,
    Robia Shaheen
    PhD Scholar, Institute of Geography
    University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan


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    Robia Shaheen
    robiashaheen1@gmail.com
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  • 3.  RE: Work and Life in Colonial South Asia

    Posted 20 days ago

     Dear Dr. Srivastava,

    Thank you for sharing this opportunity. I am interested in contributing to the panel. My research interests lie in cultural heritage, indigenous knowledge systems, and the socio-historical dimensions of the Bundelkhand region in colonial and modern India.

    Could you please elaborate a little more on the proposed theme of "laboring conditions in the cities of colonial South Asia"? I would be particularly interested in understanding how broadly the theme is being conceptualized-for instance, whether it includes questions of migration, caste and community, artisanal and indigenous labor, urban livelihoods, gendered labor, or the relationship between labor and the built environment and heritage.

    I would be happy to explore how my work may align with the panel's focus and look forward to hearing more about the proposed directions.

    Best regards,

    Dr. Ashish Verma

    Department of History

    Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, India



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    Ashish Verma
    sch.ashishver81@bujhansi.ac.in
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