Manisha Anantharaman

PhD Candidate

Research Description

Sustainable Consumption and Environmentalism in India

Modern consumption patterns are among the primary drivers of environmental problems like climate change. Globalization and economic liberalization are enabling individuals in emerging economies like India and China to access lifestyles and consumer options similar to the resource-intense West. This spread of consumption poses substantial ecological challenges, and necessitates an investigation for the potential for transforming consumption in countries like India. My dissertation research studies emerging forms of ‘sustainable’ or ‘eco-friendly’ consumption practices in the cities of Bangalore and Hyderabad, India, among its most affluent consumer class- the New Middle Classes. Bangalore and Hyderabad have emerged as critical industrial and out-sourcing centers and are home to around 2 million IT workers who constitute the most visible face of India’s growth story. My research has enabled the identification of individuals and households who have adopted practices like bicycling, waste management (through reuse, recycling and composting) and organic food consumption in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Many individuals are also part of online, neighborhood and citywide networks that actively facilitate and popularize these ‘green’ behaviors through advocacy and collective action. My research uses theoretical insights from social psychology, cultural anthropology and urban sociology to

• study the underlying motivations behind the emergence of these ‘green’ behaviors
• examine the cultural and contextual factors that permit or constrain the adoption of these practices
• understand how this phenomenon intersects with or contests traditional understandings of New Middle Class consumption, environmentalism and citizenship.
• evaluate whether these behaviors and movements have tangible impacts on individual and community ecological footprints
• determine the conditions under which sustainable and ethical consumption could emerge among the urban elite in India

I use  participant observation on online forums and public events and ethnographic interviews with individuals practicing these behaviors to answer these questions. My project is especially relevant to activists and policy organizations interested in changing consumption practices in India.

The Effects of Climate Change on Soil Processes

I seek to understand the effects of warming climates on soil microbial communities, and subsequent impacts on soil, especially carbon storage and hydrology. I am part of an Alpine treeline warming experiment in Niwot Ridge, Colorado, where I investigate compositional and functional shifts in soil biota in response to experimental heating treatments using molecular techniques.

Honors and Awards

• Institute of International Studies Dissertation Fieldwork Grant- 2011
• Chang Lin-Tien Fellowship in the Environmental Sciences - Philomathia Foundation - 2010
• Inlaks Scholarship for Graduate Studies at the University of Oxford - Inlaks Foundation - 2007