In this paper, the researchers revisit the relevance of the agrarian question of capital and provide evidence of the dynamism in agriculture based on an empirical enquiry. They study the possibilities, channels and patterns of agrarian accumulation and its spillover on the nonagrarian accumulation dynamics in an agriculturally advanced region lying in central India. Based on this empirical study, they posit that the agrarian question of capital remains important at a regional scale in India. By bringing the focus back on the question of capital, the paper maps the contemporary agrarian change processes as being linked to the process of generation of agrarian surplus and contributes to the debate on the relevance of the agrarian question of capital in the Global South.

Authors: Sunit Arora, Deepak K Mishra

Biological invasions pose substantial economic threats globally, yet detailed cost assessments for many Global South nations, especially in Africa, remain scarce. This study presents the first comprehensive breakdown of the potential economic costs of biological invasions in Morocco. The researchers identified 343 invasive alien species, comprising approximately 1.11 percent of the country’s biodiversity. Using the InvaCost database, they retrieved cost estimates for 137 species with available records. They calculated the mean annual cost per species, adjusted these values both socio-economically (using World Bank Purchasing Power Parity) and climatically (via Köppen climatic regions), and extrapolated them based on species prevalence in Morocco. This yielded an estimated annual economic impact ranging from USD 1.14 billion (conservative adjusted value) to USD 5.13 billion (maximum scenario). Across all estimations, damage costs consistently exceeded management costs by one or two orders of magnitude. Despite challenges in extrapolating cost data from other regions, this study underscores the urgent need for more research and for targeted management and policy interventions to minimise the spread of invasive species and reduce their economic toll. Proactive measures in Morocco, coupled with international collaboration, will be critical to mitigating this socio-ecological crisis and ensuring long-term sustainability.

Authors: Jazila El Jamaai, Ahmed Taheri, Liliana Ballesteros-Mejia, Danish A. Ahmed, Alok Bang, Christophe Diagne, Franck Courchamp and Elena Angulo 

Urban blue spaces, such as lakes and rivers, are increasingly recognised for their ecological and social roles, yet their contributions to sustainable food systems remain understudied. Here, the researchers examine the extent and benefits of foraging in urban blue spaces across four major Indian cities through a survey of 1,200 users. We identify three forager groups, that is, ​‘rare’, ​‘occasional’ and ​‘frequent’ foragers, whose behaviours differ in frequency and practice. Women, the elderly and marginalised communities most frequently collect, share, cook and sell edibles. Access to home or community gardens strongly motivates occasional foragers. Frequent foragers emphasise benefits relating to nutrition and income, as well as culture and social capital, whereas occasional foragers appreciate nature- and culture-related benefits. The findings challenge conventional perspectives on urban food provisioning, highlighting urban blue spaces as vital yet overlooked spaces for food access and resilience. Integrating foraging into urban planning can enhance equitable food systems, fostering transformative change toward sustainable urban landscapes.

Authors: Sukanya Basu, Brenda Maria Zoderer, Harini Nagendra, Peter H Verburg, Tobias Plieninger 

The need to strengthen comprehensive primary health care towards ensuring ​“Health for All” is well established yet operationalising this has remained a challenge globally as well as in India. Based on a qualitative study of a collaborative initiative between the government and a civil society organisation, this article discusses what factors and processes explain successful implementation of primary health care in a remote rural area in central India.

Authors: Arima Mishra, Raman Kataria, Roseline Sagar, Pawan Singh, Pankaj Tiwari, Shivkant Tripathi, Vinay Vishwakarma, Sapna Mishra

Mental health is a global priority, fundamental to the health and development of all nations. The contribution of mental disorders to the global burden of disease is widely recognised; however, a significant care gap exists, particularly in the context of low-and middle-income countries. In India, for instance, there are 0.3 psychiatrists per 1,00,000 population. To address this severe shortage of mental health professionals and resources globally, the World Health Organisation has suggested the adoption of a community-based mental health care approach, where the locus of services shifts from institutional care to local communities. Over the last five decades in India, diverse approaches to mental health care have emerged because of the interaction of dominant discourses on community-based mental health care with various socio-cultural contexts. In addition to the government-run mental health programme and programmes run by medical colleges, civil society organisations have increasingly contributed to this space. Although studies have assessed individual interventions, there exists a need to map these interventions and synthesise the approaches for service delivery to inform public health practice in India and in low-and middle-income countries at large. This narrative review attempts to map and synthesise insights from community-based mental health interventions in India implemented across diverse contexts. The researchers searched peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters published in the English language between 2010 and 2023. They present the synthesis of approaches used in 41 community-based mental health interventions, where they unpack key intervention components and processes adopted for primary prevention and promotion; identification and case detection; treatment and care, and rehabilitation in the community. This review presents key recommendations for practitioners about the role of community, the diversity and commonalities in various approaches across contexts, the roles of various actors in service delivery, and the shared values guiding the conceptualisation and implementation of community-based mental health interventions in India.

The increasing global demand for food, coupled with the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation, has shifted attention towards blue food systems. While these systems offer a potential solution to food security challenges, their sustainability is threatened by various factors, including overfishing, habitat destruction, and climate change. Recognising these challenges, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO, UN) advocates for ensuring the sustainable contribution of aquatic food systems to global food security and nutrition, aligning with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). It was hypothesised that adoption of UN-SDGs would increase the interest of researchers in sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature published between 2000 and 2023 was conducted to test this hypothesis. The analysis revealed a significant rise in publications addressing climate change and sustainability after the adoption of the UN-SDGs. The countries exhibiting high vulnerability to climate change contributed disproportionately fewer publications to the database. The United States emerged as the leading contributor in terms of publication volume, while Canada’s University of British Columbia was identified as the institution with the highest number of contributing authors. The findings underscore pronounced geographical disparities in research output, with a predominance of countries from the Global North. The underlying factors contributing to these disparities are discussed. Furthermore, the study discusses the policy implications of these findings and emphasises the imperative to prioritise equitable research initiatives. Such efforts are essential to effectively support the realisation of the SDGs within the domain of blue food systems and sustainability.

The Indian economy, despite registering high growth, is characterised by a persistent and vast informal economy. Using it as an illustration, the researchers draw lessons for characterising labour markets in contexts of high informality. They employ a group-based statistical modelling method to identify whether there exist systematic patterns in the high volume of worker transitions across different employment arrangements. Using panel data for eight points between 2017 and 2019, they identify seven dominant labour market trajectories. The trajectory capturing stable formal salaried employment, with highest average earnings, accounts for only 6.7% of the sample. None of the dominant trajectories denote a job ladder from informal to formal work, and the sorting of individuals into informal trajectories is far from voluntary, indicating an existence of formal and informal segmentation. The most populous trajectory, comprising 38.4% of the sample, with second highest average income (although half of that of the formal salaried trajectory), is stable self-employment, followed by the trajectory representing transition within different forms of informal wage work at 27.2%. Most trajectory groups associated with informal wage arrangements have high flux, indicating lack of stability. Furthermore, trajectories associated with informal wage employment have even lower earnings than those with informal self-employment. Far from suggesting a desirability of informal self-employment, this is indicative of a breaking down of the expected voluntary transition from self to wage employment in the transformation process. Additionally, access to trajectories is stratified along various correlates, especially caste. Caste hierarchy operates most starkly at the node of accessing the trajectories, while in terms of penalties or gains in earnings, traditional caste-hierarchy may not always operate uniformly. The findings disrupt the standard expectation in structural transformation models and labour market theories, while highlighting the need to foreground evolving nature of informality in labour market models for developing economies.

Authors: Rosa Abraham, Surbhi Kesar

This article presents a historical account of emergence and development of the territorial power of Jats in Punjab through analysing three elements. First, their historical appropriation of the village as their agrarian territory, which was often perpetuated under the discourse of ​‘village community’/clans and the monopolisation of the peasant identity. Second, the often-benevolent administration in Punjab during the colonial rule. Third, the development of a discourse of caste-progressiveness of Jats. The Punjab experience in this regard is significant to understand similar processes in other states and to make appropriate strategies for social movements and policy advocacy regarding agrarian/​social reforms.

Résumé

Cet article présente un compte rendu historique de l’émergence et du développement du pouvoir territorial des Jats au Pendjab en analysant trois éléments. Premièrement, leur appropriation historique du village en tant que territoire agraire, qui s’est souvent perpétuée sous le discours de la « communauté villageoise »/​clans et de la monopolisation de l’identité paysanne. Deuxièmement, l’administration souvent bénévole du Pendjab pendant la période coloniale. Troisièmement, le développement d’un discours sur la progressivité de la caste des Jats. L’expérience du Pendjab à cet égard est importante pour comprendre des processus similaires dans les autres États et pour élaborer des stratégies appropriées pour les mouvements sociaux et le plaidoyer politique concernant les réformes agraires/​sociales.

Reflecting a longstanding intellectual heritage in Marxist political economy, contributions to agrarian studies have variously referred to the production, distribution and extraction of value. Despite this central role within the heritage of agrarian studies, the concept of value is often used inconsistently between authors and sometimes deployed without clear elucidation of the underlying theoretical tenets. As such, value often tends to be used more as a metaphor suggestive of conditions of exploitation rather than a detailed conceptual framework. In response, we must ask if there is still a robust case for value analysis forming a foundational pillar of agrarian studies? To address this challenging question, we invited three authors to give their perspective on the value of value for agrarian studies. First and foremost, we asked them to consider what value analysis does that is otherwise missed in critical agrarian studies and how we can mobilise its potential to sharpen analyses. Two further pivotal questions arise, spurred on by recent trends in the literature. First, to what extent do the categories of value enrich or hinder our evolving understanding of the dynamics of social reproduction within agrarian households and communities, including the gendered relations through which agriculture and livelihoods are performed? Similarly, are the largely anthropogenic concepts of value fit for the purpose of explaining environmental change and the more-than-human dynamics through which agricultural landscapes are produced and change over time?

Authors: A Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Srishti Yadav, Alessandra Mezzadri, Marcus Taylor

This article aims to understand the methodological position that Marx takes in Capital Volume 1 and the implications of that on the individual units in his analysis. With the understanding that Marx adopts a fundamentally holist methodological standpoint, the article outlines how the individuals within classes and the system of capitalist production are measured and contextualised. This question is answered by examining Marx’s Capital Volume 1 as the primary text. Where relevant, the researcher engages with Marx’s intellectual background and tradition. The individual units discussed in this study are the commodity, the worker and the capitalist.

This article examines how the concept of the representative individual emerges through averaging and how this process unfolds in Marx’s Capital, shaped by his methodological approach. The article illustrates the method of averaging in Marx, through his intellectual engagement with Quetelet as it also focuses on Hegel’s influence on Marx’s method and elaborates on the parallels and divergences between them. With the given engagement with Capital and Marx’s intellectual interactions, the researcher arrives at a specific understanding of holism that can be attributed to Marx in Capital Volume 1.

Author: Sushmita Rama Subrahmanyam, Student, MA in Economics (2024−2026)

This article aims to understand the methodological position that Marx takes in Capital Volume 1 and the implications of that on the individual units in his analysis. With the understanding that Marx adopts a fundamentally holist methodological standpoint, the article outlines how the individuals within classes and the system of capitalist production are measured and contextualised. This question is answered by examining Marx’s Capital Volume 1 as the primary text. Where relevant, the author engages with Marx’s intellectual background and tradition. The individual units discussed in this study are the commodity, the worker and the capitalist.

This article examines how the concept of the representative individual emerges through averaging and how this process unfolds in Marx’s Capital, shaped by his methodological approach. The article illustrates the method of averaging in Marx, through his intellectual engagement with Quetelet as it also focusses on Hegel’s influence on Marx’s method and elaborates on the parallels and divergences between them. With the given engagement with Capital and Marx’s intellectual interactions, we arrive at a specific understanding of holism that can be attributed to Marx in Capital Volume 1.

Author: Sushmita Rama Subrahmanyam

“Global learning crisis” narratives, in focusing on the ​“proximate determinants” of the crisis, represent a welcome ​“classroom turn” in international education and development. Extant learning crisis literatures are problematic, however, as their homogenizing gaze distorts how teachers and students co-constitute classrooms as locally meaningful learning spaces. Drawing on anthropological approaches in comparative education, this article addresses the ​“learning crisis” in a middle-school classroom in a weavers’ neighborhood in Kanchipuram. Constituted in an elaborate ​“notebook economy,” this classroom was an inventive response that not only accommodated students’ material cultures and social-educational disadvantages but also affected their belonging in a resource-scarce public education system. If the learning it afforded was disdained in ​“learning crisis” narratives, it was nevertheless relevant for students, readily translated into educationally unintensive assembly-line jobs. In producing contempt for such classrooms, ​“learning crisis” narratives merely distract from — and thus entrench — the deeply unequal economic and educational development that necessitated the notebook economy in the first place.

Background

Mangrove species are vital to the ecosystems of tropical and subtropical coastlines worldwide. Despite the underexplored role of polyploidization in these species, deciphering its impact on gene expression is essential for understanding the connection between polyploidization and species diversification. Our initial investigation, integrating multiple nuclear loci with morphological and cytological data, indicates that the tetraploid Acanthus tetraploideus likely originated from allopolyploidization events involving the diploid species A. ilicifolius and A. ebracteatus. Expanding on these insights, this study utilises genome-wide evidence to confirm the divergence patterns among extant Acanthus mangrove diploids and to investigate the origin and transcriptome asymmetry of the tetraploid A. tetraploideus.

Results

Phylogenetic analysis and molecular dating revealed a closer evolutionary relationship between A. ebracteatus and A. volubilis than between A. ebracteatus and A. ilicifolius, diverged approximately 6.92 Mya and 9.59 Mya, respectively. Analysis of individual whole transcriptomes revealed that homeologous sequences in A. tetraploideus were preferentially clustered with A. ilicifolius and A. ebracteatus, rather than A. volubilis, in a roughly 1:1 ratio. The high similarity in nucleotide sequences and homologous polymorphisms between the tetraploid A. tetraploideus and its two parental diploids, A. ebracteatus and A. ilicifolius, supports the hypothesis of a recent allopolyploid origin for A. tetraploideus. Estimation of homeolog expression revealed a general attenuation of homeolog expression divergence in A. tetraploideus compared to the in silico parental mix, with 22.87% and 67.66% of genes exhibiting biased homeolog expression, respectively. Further investigation identified remarkable retention of parental expression dominance in the tetraploid, suggesting that parental genetic legacy substantially influences the reconfiguration of homeolog expression in the derived tetraploid. Meanwhile, the observation of numerous novel expression patterns between the two homeolog sets suggests that the transcriptome shock (i.e., the transcriptomic changes induced by interspecific hybridisation) associated with allopolyploidization and subsequent post-polyploid evolutionary processes also significantly impact transcriptome asymmetry in A. tetraploideus. While no strong evidence directly links transcriptomic changes to specific adaptive traits, the patterns in unbiased and novelly biased genes in A. tetraploideus suggest adaptations to stable polyploidy. Unbiased genes involved in fundamental cellular processes and novelly biased genes related to chromosome dynamics and cell cycle regulation may stabilise polyploid genomes, supporting the species’ establishment and long-term success. These findings underscore the role of transcriptomic stability in polyploid adaptation.

Conclusions

Our study sheds light on the evolutionary origins and the intricate transcriptional reconfiguration of the tetraploid A. tetraploideus. These insights significantly enhance our comprehension of the pivotal role that polyploidization plays in speciation and adaptative evolution of mangrove species.

Authors: Wuxia Guo, Achyut Kumar Banerjee, Hui Feng, Wei Lun Ng, Haidan Wu, Weixi Li, Yang Yuan & Yelin Huang 

Science education literature states that fostering students’ and teachers’ knowledge of NOS has shifted from being a desirable goal to an essential one. This article focuses on the development of NOS conceptions among MA Education students. To develop those conceptions, the researcher designed various learning activities in the context of ​‘research of history on DNA’. Seven students were observed and audiotaped while working in groups in this classroom qualitative study. Before the intervention, pre-test on ​‘views on science’- Chen (2006) and group discussions held with participants indicated that their NOS conceptions were basic. After 7 sessions, a post-test was administered to students asking to justify NOS conceptions. These conceptions: scientifc knowledge is tentative, laws are generalisations or universal relationships, theories are inferred explanations of nature; and that science is empirically based, socio-culturally embedded, and creative. Classroom discourses and responses to a post-test indicated that participants justifed some NOS conceptions very well and some not so very well. It also argues that HOS ofers potential for improved learning of NOS.

The consolidation of agricultural lands by dominant socio-economic groups is discussed in the context of contemporary debate on the land question by foregrounding market-led land transfers as a driver of accumulation in rural India. Empirically rooted in central India, the paper studies the commodification and increasing concentration of land as an outcome of the processes of agrarian change at work. 

The study explores the role of fish consumption in addressing nutrition security and malnutrition in a rural village in Telangana, India. It highlights that fish, particularly small indigenous species, provide affordable, high-quality protein and micronutrients. The study compares fish with other protein sources like poultry and livestock, finding that fish consumption significantly meets the nutritional needs of the rural population more effectively than other animal sources. India, despite being the third-largest fish producer globally, still faces challenges with malnutrition, especially among children and women. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reports show alarming rates of stunting, wasting, and anemia, particularly in Telangana. The study demonstrates how increased fish consumption can play a crucial role in reducing these malnutrition rates by offering a cost-effective and nutrient-dense food source. The state government has encouraged fish production in Telangana through subsidies and initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana. However, the research suggests that the fish distribution infrastructure needs significant improvement to increase access to fish for the broader population. The paper concludes that promoting fish consumption can be a viable strategy to combat malnutrition, improve food security, and provide economic opportunities for rural communities. Policy recommendations include enhancing market infrastructure, increasing fish production through scientific aquaculture, and raising awareness about the nutritional benefits of fish. These measures could ensure that fish contributes more significantly to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related to hunger and malnutrition.

Authors: Gummadi Sridevi, Amalendu Jyotishi, Balaji Patturi, Matta Srinivas

While the recent COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated attention to the public health challenges of our times, many of these concerns are certainly not new. There are multiple public health concerns including the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, health risks due to environmental degradation and climate change, and re-emergence of several communicable diseases. Responses to these challenges, including educational responses, have often been reductionist and hence found to be inadequate. There has been an increasing global recognition of the need for transformative education to address the complex health challenges of the 21^st century. In this article, we discuss one such effort in designing a public health education programme in India that echoes the sentiment of transformative learning that is contextual, competency-driven, trans disciplinary, reflective, and collaborative. We discuss how these aspects of learning were reflected and considered through a series of internal deliberations within the university and external consultations with different stakeholders. This process involved examining existing gaps in public health education, articulating the core competencies, developing the curriculum, and envisaging students’ contribution to public health practice in India.

Authors:

Arima Mishra, Adithya Pradyumna, Mukta Gundi, Edward Premdas Pinto and Prasanna Saligram

When NASA provided free worldwide access to the Landsat data archive, scientists greatly expanded the analysis of new locations and novel topics. Of course, data democracy is not just for scientists. When citizens own the rights to generate and access data that speaks to their concerns, democracy is strengthened. Data democracy began to gain prominence in the early 2000s, with the growth of the open data movement. In today’s era of climate change, the term assumes increasing significance. Yet despite the large volume of opensource climate data, access remains largely limited to academia and business. Climate data democracy enables all sections of society to access climate data; understand how to use and interpret it; and be able to use data for climate action. Given the lack of data and severity of the crisis in the Global South, we argue that these regions must take the lead in driving conversations around climate data democracy.

The principle of reasonable accommodation according to Article 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) is defined as ​‘necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms’. Exploring the relationship between inclusive policies enacted in institutions of higher education in India, and their impact on those who claim accommodation, we discuss the nature of care that informs and animates such interactions. Drawing on feminist disability studies scholarship on care, particularly, Akemi Nishida’s recommendation that care is inherently collective we analyse two sets of transactions selected for study as enabling care in patronising and charitable manners, while simultaneously ignoring the politics of responding to and providing accommodations. We find that institutional responses to accommodation claims are less reflective of the socio-political and affective aspects integral to the RA principle. Instead, the focus seems to be on providing either technocratic solutions or interpreting RA claims as causing undue burden. By reading the RA principle through the lens of scholarship on interdependence, we aim to broaden the scope of adopting and interpreting the RA principle.

This is a dialogue and reflection about fieldwork, laughter, and decolonising methodology. Is there a time to laugh? How and why should researchers laugh? By focusing on the Naga people in Northeast India, an Indigenous community with a deep history of militarisation, this dialogue draws our attention to the meaning of laughter, fellowship, and emotional connections. An Indigenous Naga anthropologist in conversation with an ecologist, this dialogue dwells on the meaning of laughter as sharing an experience of fellowship together. Social science methodologies are often structured on examinations, investigations interviews, fieldnotes, and observations. This dialogue opens a space to reflect on fieldwork, research, and decolonisation. Laughter, as this dialogue highlights, is about affection, solidarity, and collective vision. For any long-term relationship that one seeks to establish as a researcher, acknowledging and respecting the history of the land, adopting a community-approach, and mentoring Indigenous local scholars to lead the research among their respective communities are important steps towards decoloniality.

The global uptake of green infrastructure in urban settings holds considerable promise for fostering both social and ecological benefits. Recognising the imperative to ensure equitable distribution of these advantages, this paper draws on the rich traditions of justice considerations within urban studies to inform research on urban greening. Focusing on three key trends — reconceptualising the ​‘urban’ category, acknowledging the role of historical processes in shaping contemporary uneven and unjust geographies, and considering power dynamics in infrastructure development — we propose five tenets for advancing justice-focused urban greening research. These tenets encourage researchers to act as knowledge brokers, practice reflexivity, recognise the complex dimensions of justice which diversity of scale might reveal, embrace uncertainty, and cultivate a ​“modest imaginary” concerning infrastructure projects.

Authors: 

Derickson, K., Walker, R., Hamann, M., Anderson, Adegun, O.B., Castillo, A. C.,Guerry, A., Keeler, B., Llewellyn, Liz, Matheney, A., Mogosetsi-Gabriel, N., Mundoli, S., Gajjar, S.P., Sitas, N., & Xie, L.P.

A national system of education in modern nation-states is usually geared towards nation-building and schools play a significant role in grooming children as future citizens. While the dominant and powerful usually emerge as the ​‘ideal citizen’ in the national imagination, the marginalised are constructed as the ​‘other’, vilified, and stigmatised. The school, with its overt and hidden curriculum, operates as a major site for the reproduction of dominant ideology while at the same time creating opportunities for exercising human agency. This article, an ethnographic study conducted in a government co-educational school in Delhi, examines how it sought to mould the students into ​‘ideal’ citizens and how this was received by them. Belonging to a relatively lower socio-economic background compared to the teaching community, did they give their acquiescence? Or were they able to exercise their agency to challenge the entrenched power structures in society? Were their responses shaped by their specific social locations and the unfolding of ​‘cultural politics’? Moreover, when the nature of ​‘official knowledge’ itself has undergone radical shifts and the idea of citizenship has been redefined with the introduction of the National Curriculum Framework 2005, were the students able to leverage the epistemological shifts embodied in the textbooks to reimagine and construct ideas of citizenship regarding marginalised communities? These are some questions that the present article seeks to address.

This article synthesises the evidence on the impact of interventions supporting adolescent girls’ and young women’s education on delaying marriage, childbearing and improving work participation. A total of 13 studies (eight from sub-Saharan Africa and five from South Asia) during the years 2000 – 2020 met our inclusion criteria. A major focus of the included studies was to reduce the schooling cost, with limited focus on strategies such as supplementary coaching, making schools girl-friendly, monitoring performance and sensitising communities about educating girls. Most studies that measured the effects on marriage and childbearing showed a positive impact. However, interventions were less successful in influencing work participation. Although a majority of studies reported positive effects on educational outcomes, fewer measured or reported positive effects on other social and health outcomes. This evidence synthesis suggests a need for studying long-term effects of such interventions on girls’ and women’s families, work and social life to inform policy. Studies that explore the varying impacts of such interventions on girls and women from different sociocultural settings are needed. Our evidence synthesis underscores the importance of making comprehensive efforts to support girls’ education in order to meet the global development commitments of ensuring equitable life opportunities for adolescent girls and young women.

The nature and extent of the under-representation of marginalised caste groups in enterprise ownership in India are examined. It is found that exclusion takes place in three distinct stages. First, the share of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) or Other Backward Class (OBC) individuals in ownership of any enterprise is less than their share in the workforce. Second, among those who do engage in entrepreneurial activities, a disproportionately higher share of entrepreneurs from the marginalised identity groups are engaged in enterprises, which are not purely commercial and are likely to be subsistence-oriented. And finally, even within the owners of purely commercial enterprises, those from marginalised groups tend to be concentrated in the smaller enterprises and are severely under-represented in the larger and more productive ones. 

Fifty years ago this week, Gaura Devi, an ordinary woman from a nondescript village in India, hugged a tree, using her body as a shield to stop the tree from being cut down. Little did she know that this simple act of defiance would be a seminal moment in the history of India and the world. Or that Reni village, where she lived, would come to be recognised as the fountainhead of the Chipko environmental movement. What the foot soldiers of Chipko wanted was an acknowledgement of their Indigenous rights to access forest resources that were crucial for their survival. What they got instead was a national law and a ministry populated by a new breed of power brokers — who, in the years to come, would decide at times that habitat preservation is possible only by keeping local communities out.

Background: Care provision received renewed attention during the COVID-19 pandemic as several healthcare providers vied for the coveted title of ​“frontline warrior” while they struggled to provide care efficiently under varying health system constraints. While several studies on the health workforce during the pandemic highlighted their difficulties, there is little reflection on what ​“care” or ​“caring” itself meant specifically for community health workers (CHWs) as they navigated different community and health systems settings. The study aimed to examine CHWs’ caregiving experiences during the pandemic.

Methods: Twenty narrative interviews with CHWs including ASHAs (Accredited Social Health Activists) and ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse Midwives) were conducted in different states between July and December 2020.

Results: Our findings highlight the moral, affectual, and relational dimensions of care in the CHWs’ engagement with their routine and Covid-19 related services, as well as the ​“technical” aspects of it. In this article, we argue that these two aspects are, in fact, enmeshed in complex ways. CHWs extend this moral understanding not just to their work, but also to their relationship with the health system and the government, as they express a deep sense of neglect and the lack of ​“being cared for” by the health system.

Conclusion: CHWs’ experiences demand a more nuanced understanding of the ethics of care or caring that challenges the binaries between the ​“technical” and moral aspects of care.

The mental health discourse in India has been primarily viewed through a biomedical lens that often overlooks the cultural context and social inequalities. To ensure equitable access to preventive, promotive, curative, and rehabilitative mental healthcare, India needs practitioners who combine a social perspective with an empathetic approach. To address this need, we designed a course titled ​“Critical Perspectives on Mental Health” that aims to introduce the relevant perspectives and community-based approaches to mental health. In this article, we share our reflections on designing this course and facilitating it in the form of a post-graduation programme.

Biological invasions have profound impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and services, resulting in substantial economic and health costs estimated in the trillions of dollars. Preventing and managing biological invasions are vital for sustainable development, aligning with the goals of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference. However, some invasive species also offer occasional benefits, leading to divergent perceptions among stakeholders and sectors. Claims that invasion science overlooks positive contributions threaten to hinder proper impact assessment and undermine management. Quantitatively balancing benefits and costs is misleading, because they coexist without offsetting each other. Any benefits also come at a price, affecting communities and regions differently over time. An integrated approach considering both costs and benefits is necessary for understanding and effective management of biological invasions.

Authors: Laís Carneiro, Philip E Hulme, Ross N Cuthbert, Melina Kourantidou, Alok Bang, Phillip J Haubrock, Corey J A Bradshaw, Paride Balzani, Sven Bacher, Guillaume Latombe, Thomas W Bodey, Anna F Probert, Claudio S Quilodrán, Franck Courchamp