Vinay Gidwani, operating at the interface of ecology, labor relations, and political systems, has done groundbreaking work on changes to local labor markets and how ecologies impact regional and national politics, particularly in the Indian context. His research and teaching are interdisciplinary in nature. His work synthesizes a wide range of intellectual currents, including agrarian studies, economics, environmental science, postcolonial criticism, and Marxist geography, using these to understand natural environments and spatial relations. In his recent book Capital, Interrupted: Agrarian Development and the Politics of Work in India (University of Minnesota Press, 2008), he examines how the historical rise to dominance of the Patel caste from western India’s Gujarat region, whose dispersion now commands a global presence, seems to challenge assumptions about the basic workings of capitalism. He holds a Ph.D. in environmental science, policy, and management from the University of California, Berkeley.

Photo: A. Poyo