Spotlight on: Aishwarya Sanas
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am presently a doctoral candidate in the fourth year of my research programme with the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University in Delhi NCR, India. I did a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from St. Xaviers’ College, Mumbai and Masters in International Relations from Christ University, Bengaluru in India. Before starting my PhD, I taught History in a high school for a little over a year. It was during this job, when I realised how much I enjoyed teaching, learning about and analysing social and political issues, and creating new knowledge, that I decided to do a PhD.
Shortly after starting my doctoral programme, I joined the non-governmental organisation The ClimAct Initiative (TCI), which works at the intersection of sustainability, education and grassroots action, as a Project Co-lead. Through TCI I was introduced to the climate justice movement, different activist groups and initiatives organised across the country and beyond. Here I coordinated a monthly webinar series ‘The Earth Talks’ where we invited scholars, practitioners, activists, and bureaucrats to share insights on a range of topics within climate science, policy and society. While I recently stepped down to focus on my thesis and upcoming submission deadlines, I remain engaged with this dynamic community.
I am also involved in the Himalayan Club Collective, an informal platform of PhD students and early-career researchers from India working on the Himalayan region where we gather regularly to share research findings, network, and build a community. Outside of my research, I enjoy reading, trekking, running and playing badminton.
What are your research interests?
My research interests span environmental international relations, glacier knowledge politics, science policy of the cryosphere, and Himalayan eco-geopolitics. My thesis ‘Thawing Politics: Himalayan International Relations, Glacier Knowledge Industry, and the Glacial State’ is an investigation of Himalayan glacier knowledge politics at four analytical levels: epistemology, institution, state, and the region. Situated at the intersection of critical international relations theory and critical political ecology, it argues that contemporary glacier knowledge production, policy and politics in the Himalaya are increasingly being shaped by global climate politics and planetary governance norms. In a region that is being conceptualised as a post-sovereign, transboundary ecological space, in practice governance arrangements reveal a contradiction wherein individual Himalayan states have adopted internationalist forms of cryosphere governance, yet they are regionally fragmented. In other words, epistemic and territorial sovereignty in glacierised borderlands of the Himalayan nation states like India, while allowing them to be globally integrated, prevail over regional integration.
Some of my recent publications include an article on the environmental securitisation of the Himalaya, a book review of Africa's Right to Development in a Climate-Constrained World, a report on the inter-polar agenda, and two short pieces on the International Year for Glaciers' Preservation (IYGP) and Himalayan regional environmental organisations. Apart from these, I am currently working on a research paper exploring the emerging forms of global cryosphere expertise for the upcoming Nordic Environmental Social Science (NESS) conference.
What are three sources you’d recommend to others related to environment and climate politics?
First, as environmental and climate issues have evolved into a complex set of socio-political and economic challenges, I recommend a classic on environmental ethics, A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. This book enables us to not only understand the superficial ways in which a lot of environmental issues are framed and discussed today, while also offering tools to simplify seemingly complex problems. Like they say, when an issue feels too overwhelming, it is always useful to go back to the basics of it.
Second, given my research on the frozen terrains, I’d like to recommend two books: a novel Thinner Than Skin by Uzma Aslam Khan, and the academic work Caring for Glaciers by Karine Gagné. Both offer fascinating accounts of the life-worlds of high-mountain communities of South Asia, their material and spiritual affection to their local glacier sites, and their entanglements with modern science, international organisations, global media, geopolitics, and civil society.
Third, I welcome readers to engage with TCI’s ‘The Earth Talks’ series, particularly a session ‘Living with Climate Change’ where we had members from frontline communities in North East India, Ladakh, Rajasthan, and the Western Ghats reflect on global debates surrounding climate change and share their thoughts, lives experiences, and observations.
What’s next for you?
I intend to submit my thesis this year and graduate by June 2027. After that, I hope to do post-doctoral research for which I have started to look at potential openings, application processes, and project-based vacancies. I also intend to publish my thesis eventually. I aspire to continue my research on the historical and contemporary dynamics of glaciological knowledge production, politics, and policy, by expanding into other glacierised terrains of the world, and contribute to the domains of environmental knowledge politics, ethics and governance in the long-run. In the near future, I will be presenting at the British International Studies Association (BISA) conference and the Nordic Environmental Social Science (NESS) conference.
The ECP WG’s Spotlight Series provides a platform for PhD and early career researchers to introduce themselves and their work. If you are interested in participating, please get in touch at: ecp.group@bisa.ac.uk.
Top image by Paul Hudson via Flickr. Text has been added to the photo.