India: The Sangtin Writers
Sangtin Yatra, Playing with Fire, and Ek Aur Neemsaar are three collaboratively written books, published between the years of 2002 and 2010. Sangtin Yatra was co-authored between 2002 and 2004 and tells the stories of nine women from the Uttar Pradesh region of India. Seven of the women worked for a large NGO in the Sitapur Distrct and were troubled by many of its practices. In telling their own stories in autobiographical fashion, including incidents of classism, sexism, and misrepresentation, they hoped to disrupt and challenge practices of the NGO and reclaim their own voices and power. The publication (in Hindi) of Sangtin Yatra sparked a huge public debate and the women were pressured to apologize for and recant their criticism of the NGO. Refusing to do either resulted in professional ramifications for the women working for the organization, including one woman being fired. The backlash prompted the women to reach out globally for support, resulting in the English publication of Playing with Fire, which tells the same story as Sangtin Yatra but also adds discussion of the events that took place after its publication. The local/global conversation and debate sparked the mobilization of a grassroots movement of over 6000 laborers in the Uttar Pradesh region known as Sangtin Kisaan Mazdoor Sangahan. Ek Aur Neemsaar tells the story of dozens of participants in the movement. To read an interview featuring Richa Nagar, one of the Sangtin Writers, discussing the publications and movement, click here.
“We want to interrupt the popular practice of representation in the media, NGO reports, and academic analyses, in which the writing voice of the one who is analyzing or reporting as the 'expert' is separated from the voice of the persons who are recounting their lives and opinion" -Sangtin Writers, 2006
“Part of any feminist self-examination necessitates a rigorous critique of emerging orthodoxies.” -Grewal and Kaplan, 1994
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