recycling – Stories of Waste and Waste Workers

December 21, 2015

COP21: Paris – Through the Eyes of Mansoor, Our Friendly Neighbourhood Scrap Entrepreneur

Meghana Joshi Bonjour! Is probably something you’d hear Mansoor, our friendly and free spirited dry waste collection entrepreneur, say the next time you meet him! Mansoor, who heads one of the dry waste collection centres of Hasiru Dala, recently attended the UNFCCC climate change talks in Paris. Waste pickers from across the globe were invited … Continue reading COP21: Paris – Through the Eyes of Mansoor, Our Friendly Neighbourhood Scrap Entrepreneur

October 27, 2015October 28, 2015

Glimpses of Recycling in Dharavi

Pinky Chandran and Marwan Abubaker Dharavi: A city within a city Multi-ethnic, dynamic and entrepreneurial are just few adjectives that describe Dharavi. “At 3 sq km land area and over one million inhabitants, Dharavi is hailed is Asia’s biggest slum or “jhopad patti”, said Mohammed our guide, outside the walkway at Mahim West Railway Station. … Continue reading Glimpses of Recycling in Dharavi

October 3, 2015October 5, 2015

In the Fringes of Urban Economy

Notes from Nayandahalli Pinky Chandran “Nayandahalli, 25 years back was jungle. There was no electricity, water, or roads. On a vacant plot, the landlord gave us permission, and we put up a hut, as my husband found a job as a watchman. Originally from Mulbagal, Kolar, after marriage I moved to Mandya. Following a family … Continue reading In the Fringes of Urban Economy

August 18, 2015August 19, 2015

Thoughts on the Process of Waste Work: Value and Precarity in Nayandahalli’s Recycling Economy

Notes from Nayandahalli Shreyas Sreenath* “Often, in the red light of a street-lamp Of which the wind whips the flame and worries the glass, In the heart of some old suburb, muddy labyrinth, Where humanity crawls in a seething ferment, One sees a rag-picker go by, shaking his head, Stumbling, bumping against the walls like … Continue reading Thoughts on the Process of Waste Work: Value and Precarity in Nayandahalli’s Recycling Economy