CSWS Graduate Student Research Grant

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.”