Dr Himanshu Himanshu

As part of his Visiting Fellowship, he will extend the analysis of his work on the Palanpur village surveys. Palanpur is a north Indian village which has been surveyed seven times, once in every decade starting 1957-58. Dr. Himanshu has been associated with the project since 2007 when he led the India part of the sixth (2008-10) and seventh round (2015) survey of the village. 

His analysis of the village so far suggests a process of acceleration in non-farm employment accompanied by increasing inequality along with reduced poverty and greater mobility among the disadvantaged castes. The project’s plan is to examine these trends in the context of a changing rural landscape in a growing Indian economy. These changes will be examined from a broader perspective of economic, social and political change in India, with a focus on the changing caste, kinship and institutional structure of the village.