Amogh Arakali @amogharakali@scholar.social

#introduction #introductions

I'm an #urban researcher in #Bengaluru, #India with a background in economics, working at various intersections of resource conservation (mostly #water), economy, and institutions in #cities. Currently interested in #methods of #interdisciplinary research.

I also love teaching and am deeply interested in exploring new forms of #pedagogy and understanding challenges of interdisciplinary teaching.

Am here to share more about my work and learn from other scholars :)

New blogpost, partly written as a way to get myself going after a huge bout of depression (thanks to the COVID-19 second wave in India).

On Slime Molds in Urban Planning and Arguments over Testing.

1. On Medium: https://amogharakali.medium.com/frommyreadings-issue-1-2021-bcfacdf8d978

2. On Substack:
https://amogh.substack.com/p/frommyreadings-issue-1-2021

Updates on my teaching:

(1) Teaching the Practica (finally going offline): https://amogharakaliwork.wordpress.com/2021/02/14/teaching-the-urban-fellows-programme-2020-21-on-site-practica/

(2) Teaching an elective (that I designed) on practice of #economics in the #urban:
https://amogharakaliwork.wordpress.com/2021/02/14/teaching-urban-fellows-programme-ufp-2020-21-elective-on-the-practice-of-economics-in-the-urban/

On relocating people from villages to #cities in #China, enthusiasm for statistical goals, and #climate bureaucracy in #India:

#FromMyReadings Issue 3, 2020:

Medium Link: https://medium.com/@amogharakali/frommyreadings-issue-3-2020-3b6c3950b3e4

Substack Link: https://amogh.substack.com/p/frommyreadings-issue-3-2020

On #Pandemics, #Cities, and What Keeps Ecological Communities Stable:

I've just put out the second Issue of #FromMyReadings (my regular series of commentaries on interesting readings I come across) on Medium and Substack:

Medium Link: https://medium.com/@amogharakali/frommyreadings-issue-2-2020-d9fb648f79ac

Substack Link: https://amogh.substack.com/p/frommyreadings-issue-2-2020

It's been a month since we began teaching (online) for the first time since the pandemic and the lockdown in March.

Here's a brief description of my experiences teaching this past month:

https://amogharakaliwork.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/teaching-in-the-urban-fellows-programme-2020-21-practica-and-economic-readings-of-the-urban/

Incidentally, microblogging (particularly Birdsite) has spoiled me. It used to be so easy to whip up a 700-1000 word blogpost before Birdsite addiction.

This one took me a couple of hours :)

I'm beginning a (hopefully) regular series of blogposts that share summaries of interesting readings I come across.

This is my first issue, published on Substack and Medium:

(1) Substack Link: https://amogh.substack.com/p/frommyreadings-issue-1-2020

(2) Medium Link: https://medium.com/@amogharakali/frommyreadings-issue-1-2020-53f707c18d40

India's GDP declined a staggering 23.9% in Quarter 1 compared to the same Quarter in 2019. Will most probably decline in Quarter 2 as well.

I really did not want to live through another recession. I'm still haunted by the sight of shuttered shops and restaurants around the Bombay Stock Exchange during the crash of 2009. This is far worse.

#Economics #India

But the decline in quality shows up most starkly in their primary product: search.

It's practically impossible to search easily for 'knowledge' on Google. For example, I had a ridiculous moment the other day, when I searched for "Old Bangalore Stories and Legends" and the first entry was for a computer game called Apex Legends featuring a character called Bangalore.

Pretty poor for a user living in the city of Bangalore, even if the name's now changed to Bengaluru.

The Economist highlights something I'd been suspecting for a couple of years now: Google is going through a bit of a crisis.

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/07/30/google-has-outgrown-its-corporate-culture

Their crisis has been reflected in the quality of their products for a while now (My org uses Google for most corporate stuff).

For instance, I'm astonished they let Zoom steal the march over Google Meet, given how convenient the latter is for anyone using Google Calendar at work. Hints at heavy bureaucracy.

Note: Contains Facebook link

Really interesting session at the ongoing online #RethinkingEconomics Festival.

This one is on #EconomicsEducation. While the studies on economics education are quite narrow (restricted to Denmark and 2 unis in the UK), there seems to be some evidence for what I had long suspected:

That much of poor #economics practice begins with poor economics training and education.

Do take a look, if you have an hour or so. It's pretty interesting: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=304176680936588

#SundayReadingThread:

"Here Be Black Holes", a piece that contemplates the representation of phenomena in nature (such as black holes in space) by comparing black hole photography to the depiction of sea creatures in medieval European texts.

(Aeon Magazine)

https://aeon.co/essays/how-black-holes-are-like-sea-monsters-at-the-edge-of-our-vision

New #openaccess book on the Informal Economy.

This is a fantastic-looking volume, written by some of the best scholars who've studied informality in economies including Jan Breman, Caroline Skinner, Vanessa Watson, and Barbara Hariss-White.

Plug/Name-drop: Also includes a chapter on housing by my colleague Gautam Bhan.

#economics #economy #informality

https://www.wiego.org/news/informal-economy-revisited-landmark-book-open-access

*End of Thread*

In summary, due to a bunch of complex factors, India is locking itself into some deeply unsustainable trajectories exactly at a point in time when it should be doing the opposite.

Not all of it is apathy, but the lack of public and political consciousness about climate change is a worrying factor. It's time this started to change. If Indians don't start recognising the role of climate change in our lives *today*, we are going to pay for it tomorrow.

As an aside, the coal story in India isn't a straightforward tale.

I'll write about this in more detail another day, but there's a long complicated story of an economically expanding India trying to wean itself off oil imports, experimenting with renewables, fighting for more climate funding at international negotiations and basically trying anything to become less dependent on unstable foreign sources of energy.

This has led us down some dark paths.

And just a day ago, the Government of India launched the auction of 41 new sites for coal mining, many of which are claimed to be within some of the largest dense forests in the country.

The move has generated a lot of controversy, with local and state leaders claiming they oppose the opening of coal mines in the region and had written to the Prime Minister.

https://m.hindustantimes.com/india-news/coal-mine-auction-opens-up-vast-stretches-of-forests-in-central-india-for-mining-show-documents/story-1SdToixA4Dcomld0op8lzH_amp.html

Over the last couple of months, both national and state governments have been accused of fast-tracking environmental clearances for all kinds of new projects at the risk of environmental damage and biodiversity loss.

I haven't been able to keep track of everything, but here are some comics (by Rohan Chakravarthy*) that sort of capture the issue.

*AKA @thetoonguya@twitter.com | @green_humour@instagram.com

The slowdown of economic growth in India over the last couple of years, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic has made things worse for climate change initiatives.

There's now a greater focus on getting the economy to grow again, at whatever cost. And I'm afraid I mean, whatever cost.

Whatever the reasons may be, climate change, while recognised and acknowledged, hasn't really permeated public consciousness in India the way (for example) economic growth, poverty alleviation, and prosperity have.