Governing the Pandemic: Relief and Resilience in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

The proposed research study examines the local impact of a global pandemic in the city of Ahmedabad in the western Indian state of Gujarat, India. Specifically, the project explores the pathways by which the pandemic is rendered local, by examining the context-specific effects of "lockdown," a policy measure designed to restrict contact and movement and prevent contagion. "Lockdown" has unleashed massive socioeconomic vulnerabilities that have been compounded by the enforcement tactics deployed by the state. Concurrently, relief efforts are underway to mitigate starvation and destitution. While Gujarat continues to report high rates of infection and mortality, the project explores how governance and relief play out in particular localities and neighbourhoods, depending on their pre-existing relationships with the state and the wider city. Thus the proposed study asks: How does state action in the management of the pandemic unfold along specific, local nodes of containment, enforcement, and care? How do relief workers mediate between people and the state, and how do they evaluate risk and responsibility? Finally, how do neighbourhood social relations enable survival in the context of one of the harshest lockdowns in the world? By exploring the social, political, and economic life of a public health emergency, the project not only contributes to an emerging anthropology of the pandemic but also marks a significant scholarly advance in regional social history.