1. Introduction 2. Vibrant Matter of The Past: A Woman’s Theory of Place 3. Deliberation Over Legitimate Benefactors in A Neoliberal Bazaar 4. Hazards of A New Fortune 5. Buildings and Business, Love and Forgiveness 6. The Depth of Place
Ramya Ramanath is Associate Professor and Chair of International Public Service at DePaul University. Her research, spread over three continents, draws on disciplinary perspectives in urban planning, anthropology, and urban sociology. Her research focuses on the behavior of international and domestic nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the context of their interactions with government agencies, other NGOs, and intended beneficiaries. Ramanath teaches courses on the management of international NGOs, sustainable international development, cross-sector interactions, and policy implementation.
‘Ramya Ramanath skillfully engages an incredible range of women
whose experiences vividly illustrate their struggle to make homes,
access livelihoods, rebuild lives and construct new identities in
the aftermath of their resettlement. These voices are a powerful
mode to understand the dynamics of the brutal dislocations,
disruptions, and transitions that the poor experience in
Mumbai.’Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning,
Harvard University, USA‘Ramanath shows us the value to be gained
when women are ‘listened’ to. Most literature on slums and
relocation/rehabilitation takes particular stances on the existence
of informal settlements and state intervention in them. The author
adds nuance and complexity to these conventional narratives on both
fronts. Above all, these narratives also expose the falsehood of
the claims of participatory processes by movements, its politics
and dynamics and their vulnerability to pressures of the larger
political economy. This book will be a learning tool for cities
around the world.’Amita Bhide, Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
India‘A Place to Call Home sensitively highlights the everyday
rhythms of the lives, aspirations and frustrations of a diverse
group of 120 women before and after their displacement from a slum
in Mumbai’s famous national park to Asia’s largest urban
resettlement scheme. It is a must read for anybody interested in
gender, place making, urban resettlement and public policy.’Lyla
Mehta, Institute of Development Studies, UK ‘There is much to learn
from Ramanath’s work about the importance of relationality,
behaviours, memory and materiality within place. The book is a
pragmatic, cogent argument for resettlement and rehabilitation
policy to give more sensitive attention to the lifeworlds of future
residents. The documents of master-planners and consultants
frequently contain content, based on ‘consultation’, that purports
to identify what is important about a place. The power of this book
is that it shows how engagement that is more open and more genuine
than what consultants usually achieve generates less quantifiable
and less monetisable, yet more profound and infinitely more
important findings.’Housing Studies'The ethnographic methodology
adopted by Ramanath yields a depth of humanity that would otherwise
be lost or overlooked in the aggregate facts and figures
summarizing the effectiveness of such policies and programs. Yet,
it also leaves the reader with the acute awareness of the effort
needed to ensure that these voices reach the ears of researchers,
policymakers, and practitioners working on the ground in
resettlement and rehabilitation efforts in India and around the
world. We are left wondering, how might the rules of newly
constructed apartment buildings that enforce "benevolent
segregation" accommodate the social capital lost in the
resettlement process? An excellent read for those who wish to hear
the voices on the ground during the resettlement process.'Nonprofit
and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 'A Place to Call Home: Women as
Agents of Change in Mumbai convincingly argues, a gendered
perspective has sorely been missing from the discussion. To this
end, the book makes a timely and original contribution, offering a
nuanced interpretation of the role of gender in rehousing processes
in rapidly urbanizing regions. However, due to the pervasiveness of
the displacement phenomenon worldwide, the book could also be of
great value to scholars and practitioners in the global
north.'Journal of Planning Education and Research
‘Ramya Ramanath skillfully engages an incredible range of women
whose experiences vividly illustrate their struggle to make homes,
access livelihoods, rebuild lives and construct new identities in
the aftermath of their resettlement. These voices are a powerful
mode to understand the dynamics of the brutal dislocations,
disruptions, and transitions that the poor experience in
Mumbai.’Rahul Mehrotra, Professor of Urban Design and Planning,
Harvard University, USA‘Ramanath shows us the value to be gained
when women are ‘listened’ to. Most literature on slums and
relocation/rehabilitation takes particular stances on the existence
of informal settlements and state intervention in them. The author
adds nuance and complexity to these conventional narratives on both
fronts. Above all, these narratives also expose the falsehood of
the claims of participatory processes by movements, its politics
and dynamics and their vulnerability to pressures of the larger
political economy. This book will be a learning tool for cities
around the world.’Amita Bhide, Tata Institute of Social Sciences,
India‘A Place to Call Home sensitively highlights the everyday
rhythms of the lives, aspirations and frustrations of a diverse
group of 120 women before and after their displacement from a slum
in Mumbai’s famous national park to Asia’s largest urban
resettlement scheme. It is a must read for anybody interested in
gender, place making, urban resettlement and public policy.’Lyla
Mehta, Institute of Development Studies, UK ‘There is much to learn
from Ramanath’s work about the importance of relationality,
behaviours, memory and materiality within place. The book is a
pragmatic, cogent argument for resettlement and rehabilitation
policy to give more sensitive attention to the lifeworlds of future
residents. The documents of master-planners and consultants
frequently contain content, based on ‘consultation’, that purports
to identify what is important about a place. The power of this book
is that it shows how engagement that is more open and more genuine
than what consultants usually achieve generates less quantifiable
and less monetisable, yet more profound and infinitely more
important findings.’Housing Studies'The ethnographic methodology
adopted by Ramanath yields a depth of humanity that would otherwise
be lost or overlooked in the aggregate facts and figures
summarizing the effectiveness of such policies and programs. Yet,
it also leaves the reader with the acute awareness of the effort
needed to ensure that these voices reach the ears of researchers,
policymakers, and practitioners working on the ground in
resettlement and rehabilitation efforts in India and around the
world. We are left wondering, how might the rules of newly
constructed apartment buildings that enforce "benevolent
segregation" accommodate the social capital lost in the
resettlement process? An excellent read for those who wish to hear
the voices on the ground during the resettlement process.'Nonprofit
and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 'A Place to Call Home: Women as
Agents of Change in Mumbai convincingly argues, a gendered
perspective has sorely been missing from the discussion. To this
end, the book makes a timely and original contribution, offering a
nuanced interpretation of the role of gender in rehousing processes
in rapidly urbanizing regions. However, due to the pervasiveness of
the displacement phenomenon worldwide, the book could also be of
great value to scholars and practitioners in the global
north.'Journal of Planning Education and Research'The book provides
unique insights to reflect on how housing is salient to the
everydayness of life. Ramanath retains the literal Hindi/Marathi
terms throughout the book to preserve the implicit meaning. The
usage of original terms like basti, zopadpatti, bombaiyya,
dongar,bazaar, bishi, chaali, mahasangh,mandal, morcha, shaana,
handaa, etc, cherish the unadulterated meanings with inherent
emotions of the local language. She further supports the
imagination of the reader through maps for locational context
followed by a series of hand-drawn sketches of women during focused
group discussions, women performing chores, visuals of bazaar and
other glimpses of the neighbourhood.'Simran Pal Kaur, Economic and
Political Weekly
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