CSWS Annual Review

A drawing of the interior of an Indian home with a woman cooking, children playing, and family members resting.

Informal Labor Blues: Gendered Effects of COVID-19 and Beyond on Backward Caste Women in India

by Malvya Chintakindi, PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology

“I don’t care if I live or die, I just need put some food on plate for my family. I don’t have any other support."

“I wish I did not get my daughter married at 15, but we couldn’t afford another mouth to feed or extra space for her in our one room to sleep. Afterall, I was married away when I was 12.”

“To the government, our bodies only matter during elections since the votes we cast are important for political gains. Because it is then, we are not untouchables.”

Baran Germen

Catching up with Baran Germen

Baran Germen is an assistant professor of film and media studies at Colorado College. In 2018, he graduated with a PhD in comparative literature from University of Oregon, where he also completed a certificate degree in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and specialized in film studies. His research and teaching focus on global cinema and comparative media studies, cutting across melodrama, queer theory, and Islam and secularism.