[Reader-list] inde fellowship - first posting

[muthatha at u.washington.edu]

Hello,

I am a geographer currently working towards a Ph.D. Research that I will be undertaking in the next 6 months is part of my dissertation fieldwork.

I am using the twin lens of science and technology studies and development studies to understand the increasing use of spatial technologies (remote sensing and geographic information systems) in natural resource management based rural development. How is this emerging paradigm altering the nature and content of planning?

These technologies are thought to be useful planning tools because they provide a spatial perspective of land resources, large data storage capabilities, repeated coverage for monitoring purposes, and allow automated spatial analysis that gets at the inter relationships between various planning variables.

Motivation for this project came from prior work experience in the spatial technology sector in Bangalore. I sat in front of a computer for three years gazing at satellite images and maps of the Karnataka western ghats in an attempt to contribute to understandings of deforestation. Frustrations with the hype about GIS and the shallow manner in which the technology is understood, talked about, and employed (both by proponents and critics) pushed me to step back from using the technology to research it as a process of knowledge production.

I am based in Karnataka and my work is in Bangalore and the districts of Kolar and Raichur. The case study that I am focusing on in the next 6 months is an NGO’s use of these technologies for the construction of soil and water conservation, and agricultural action plans in some villages. A key feature of my research is that I will be engaging with the technical details as opposed to studying the technology from the outside. 
I am undertaking an ethnography of this technical process – participant observations and interviews with the NGO technical staff during all phases of planning such as ground data collection, ordering and representing information in the databases, undertaking spatial analysis, churning out plans and models using GIS software. I also look forward to understanding what I think is an underexamined space – the technical team in an NGO.

This is my first round of dissertation fieldwork. I look forward to sharing the story with you all as it evolves.

Adios for now from inside the black box!

Muthatha