Past Events Archive

Often, the conversation around gender and access to public services in the urban Global South has been focused on women as victims of broader urban inequalities and program beneficiaries to be empowered. While it is a much-needed conversation, there also is a need to highlight the role played by women leaders in urban transformative politics around water, housing, and sanitation, and in the process of making a city. This talk shares the findings, observations, and lessons from a historical study of the contribution of women activists and politicians—fondly called Tai (elder sister) by their colleagues, followers, and constituents—in Mumbai through different eras. The talk shares examples from various movements and initiatives led by women leaders like the Anti-Price Rise Movement, ‘Annapurna’ (Goddess of Nourishment) women’s organization, Stree Mukti Sanghatana (Women's Liberation Organization), and the Right to Pee movement. The talk also shares examples of women politicians from different political ideologies and party affiliations. The Tais engaged in radical city-making processes by opening space for common women to participate in politics and activism, navigate public spaces more freely, take advantage of economic spaces, strengthen women’s space in labor movements, and facilitate access to public services.  Their activities have had a significant impact on how the city functions to date and have changed not only the political and policy landscape of the city but also spatial and urban planning in Mumbai. Tracking the work of various Tais against a backdrop of the history of Mumbai gives us deeper insight into how women leaders shaped the city and made it more inclusive. The story of the Tais is a story of women as active city-making agents, and it provides an opportunity to learn from their struggles, experiences, politics, and modus operandi.

Paroma Wagle is an assistant professor of urban affairs and planning, School of Public and International Affairs, Virginia Tech. Before joining Virginia Tech, Paroma was a Presidents’ Excellence Chair (PEC) Network Cultures Postdoctoral Fellow jointly appointed in the Departments of Geography and English Language and Literatures at The University of British Columbia. She received her Ph.D. in urban and environmental planning and policy from the University of California, Irvine. Her research has been in the areas of urban planning and policy, urban geography, environmental sustainability, urban climate justice, interacting human-environment systems, and inequalities in access to urban services, especially in water access.