Prof Sunil D. Santha | Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Prof Sunil D. Santha

Professor,
Mumbai Campus,

Chairperson Centre for Livelihoods and Social Innovation, School of Social Work - Mumbai Campus

Qualification

MSW (MG University),
Ph.D. (IIT Madras)

Contact

sunilds[at]tiss[dot]edu

E-mail: sunilds@tiss.edu / sunilds@gmail.com

Phone: 022-25525442

As an academic with keen interests in the field of environmental risks, climate justice, and livelihood uncertainties, I strive towards understanding the role of social institutions and participatory action in reducing vulnerabilities and strengthening just adaptation practices. I believe in action research and reflective practice towards innovating participatory methods of entrepreneurial action and emergent livelihoods. Here, at the Centre for Livelihoods and Social Innovation, we developed the Adaptive Innovation Model. Adaptive innovation strives towards the designing of people-centered adaptation strategies that will have the intent and effect of our decisions and actions on the structures and processes shaping equality and justice, care, and empowerment for those who are disadvantaged and vulnerable in society. Such an approach, therefore, involves not only strengthening the adaptive capacities of vulnerable groups but also deconstructing certain dominant narratives that are linked to sustainable livelihoods and climate change adaptation. My recent book Climate Change and Adaptive Innovation: A Model for Social Work Practice published by Routledge has evolved out of these ideas, experiences, and learning.

Climate Change and Small-Scale Fisheries

Climate Change Adaptation and Local Knowledge Systems

The Circulation and Politics of Knowledge

Transformative Social Innovation and Sustainable Livelihoods

Qualitative Research Methodology

Action Research

Impact Evaluation

Sunil D. Santha, Devisha Sasidevan, Sanchita Das, and Santosh Kadu (2022) Designing Livelihoods Responsibly: Insights from Seed Conservation and Management Practices Among Farming Communities in India. In: Melles, G.B. (eds) Designing Social Innovation for Sustainable Livelihoods. Design Science and Innovation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8452-4_3

Sunil D. Santha (2021) Risk, trust, and social networks: A study among middle-class Nair families near Technopark, Kerala, in Jha, M.K., and Pushpendra (eds.) Beyond Consumption: India's New Middle Class in the Neo-Liberal Times, Routledge India, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003098416

Sunil D. Santha (2020) The Circulation and Politics of Knowledge: Climate Change and Livelihood Struggles in a Coastal Fishing Community, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation. Accessible at https://glocalismjournal.org/the-circulation-and-politics-of-knowledge-climate-change-and-livelihood-struggles-in-a-coastal-fishing-community/

Meghana Eswar and Sunil D. Santha (2020) Periurbanisation and Livelihood Practices: Exploring Everyday Life and Social Inequities in a Changing Agrarian Economy, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation. Accessible at https://glocalismjournal.org/periurbanisation-and-livelihood-practices-exploring-everyday-life-and-social-inequities-in-a-changing-agrarian-economy/

Sunil D. Santha (2020) Climate Change and Adaptive Innovation: A Model for Social Work Practice, London: Routledge.

Sanchita Das and Sunil D. Santha (2019). Political Economy of Vulnerability: A Gendered Analysis of Drought and Livelihood Struggles in Puruliya, West Bengal, India. Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation. Accessible at https://glocalismjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Das_Santha_gjcpi_2019_3.pdf

Bhagyashri Mundhe and Sunil D. Santha. (2019). Modernisation, Vulnerability and Coping Strategies: A Study on Koli Women in Mumbai, India, Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, XXXIII (1), pp. 71-90.

Sunil D. Santha. (2019). Climate Justice and Social Work Practice, Special Editorial, Indian Journal of Social Work, 80(3), pp.263-396.

Sunil D. Santha, Swati Banerjee, and Devisha Sasidevan (2019).’Mapping Social Innovation among Youth and Adolescents: A Situational Assessment of Livelihood Promotion and Enhancement Initiatives in India’, in Shalini Bharat and Geeta Sethi (Eds.) Health and Well-being of India’s Young People: Challenges and Prospects, New Delhi: Springer.

Sunil D. Santha and Devisha Sasidevan (2019). ‘Informal Entrepreneurship as Adaptive Innovation: Strategies among migrant workers in Indian cities’ in Swati Banerjee, Stephen Carney & Lars Hulgård (eds). People Centered Social Innovation: Global Perspectives on an Emerging Paradigm. New York: Routledge

Sunil D. Santha (2019) Critical Transitions in Social Innovation and Future Pathways to Sustainable Development Goals, The Indian Journal of Social Work, 80(1), p. 9-30.

Devisha Sasidevan and Sunil D. Santha (2018) The Social Construction of Water Scarcity: An Exploratory Study along the 'Bharathapuzha' in Kerala, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, 2018(3),http://www.glocalismjournal.net/issues/sustainability/articles/the-social-construction-of-water-scarcity-an-exploration-study-along-the-bharathapuzha-in-kerala.kl

Sunil D. Santha (2018) Social Interfaces in Disaster Situations: Analyzing Rehabilitation
and Recovery Processes Among the Fisherfolk of Tamil Nadu after the Tsunami in India, in Sunita Reddy (ed.) The Asian Tsunami and Post-Disaster Aid, New Delhi: Springer.

Sunil D. Santha et al., (2018) Climate Justice, Capabilities and Sustainable Livelihoods: Insights from an Action Research Project, in L. Dominelli et al., (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Green Social Work, London: Routledge, p. 267 - 277.

Sunil D. Santha et al., (2017) Interfaces in Social Innovation: An Action Research Story on a Tribal Women's Collective, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, (2017)3, Accessible at http://www.glocalismjournal.net/issues/beyond-democracy-innovation-as-politics/articles/interfaces-in-social-innovation-an-action-research-story-on-a-tribal-women-s-collective.kl

Sunil D. Santha et al., (2016) Climate Variability, Livelihoods and Social Inequities: The Vulnerability of Migrant Workers in Indian Cities, International Area Studies Review, Special Issue, DOI: 10.1177/2233865915626832

Sunil D. Santha (2015) Early Warning Systems among the Coastal Fishing Communities in Kerala: A Governmentality Perspective, Indian Journal of Social Work, 76(2): 199-222.

Sunil D. Santha et al., (2015) City Adaptation Strategies: Recognising Livelihood Struggles of Migrant Workers in India, Asian Cities Climate Resilience, Human Settlements Working Paper, 19: 2015, IIED, ISBN 978-1-78431-205-3.

Sunil D. Santha et al., (2015) Climate Change, Livelihoods and Health Inequities: The Vulnerability of Migrant Workers in Indian Cities, Asian Cities Climate Resilience, Human Settlements Working Paper 16: 2015, IIED, ISBN 978-1-78431-176-6.

Sunil D. Santha et al., (2015) Climate Change, Vulnerability and Adaptive Social Protection: Innovation and Practice among Migrant Workers in Indian Cities, Asian Cities Climate Resilience, Human Settlements Working Paper 20: 2015, IIED, ISBN 978-1-78431-206-0.

Sunil D. Santha et al., (2014) Exploring risk, resistance and the power of myths among coastal fishing communities in Kerala, India, Natural Resources Forum: A United Nations Sustainable Development Journal, 38: 118-128.

Sunil D Santha et al., (2014) Proverbs on Coastal Hazards: Exploring Community Capacities for People-centred Disaster Risk Reduction in Kerala, Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, XXVIII(1): 23-44.

Sunil D Santha et al., (2014) Local knowledge, early warning and coastal hazards: Participatory inquiry among fishworkers in Kerala, India, Action Research, 12(3): 273-292.

Sunil D Santha (2014) Adaptation to Coastal Hazards: A Case Study on Livelihood Struggles of a Fishing Community in Kerala, South India, Disasters, 39(1): 69-85.

Sunil D. Santha and Ratheeshkumar K S (2010) Population Vulnerability and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Situation Analysis among the Landslide affected Communities in Kerala, India., Jamba: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 3(1): 367-380.

Sunil D Santha (2010): Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction: Re-imaging Public-Private Partnerships, Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management, 2(2): 225-243.

Sunil D Santha, Fraunholz B, Unnithan C (2010) A Societal Knowledge Management System: Harnessing Indigenous Wisdom to Build Sustainable Predictors for Adaptation to Climate Change, International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Response., 2(1): 49-63.

Sunil D Santha (2010) ‘Contextual factors, culture, and sustainable Riverine fisheries management in Kerala, South India’, in Pati R N and A K Jain (eds.), Biodiversity and Sustainable Development pp. 261-272.

Sunil D Santha and Bhuvaneswari S (2009): A Malady amidst Chaos: A Study on the Population Vulnerability to the Chikungunya Epidemic in Kerala, Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, 23(2):111-129.

Janki Andharia and Sunil D Santha (2009): Higher Education in Disaster Management: The TISS Experience, Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management, 1(1):79-91.

Sunil D Santha (2009): Norms, Institutions, and Collective Action: The Changing Face of Inland Fisheries in Kerala, Resources, Energy and Development, TERI, IOS Press, 6(1): 9-22.

Sunil D Santha (2008): Local Culture, Technological Change, and Riverine Fisheries Management in Kerala, India, International Journal of Rural Management, Vol. 4 (1-2), pp. 25-45.

Sunil D Santha (2008): A Cultural perspective on markets: A study on fish trade among riverine fisherfolk in Kerala, SIES Journal of Management, 5(1), pp.39-47.

Sunil D Santha (2008): Local ecological knowledge and riverine fisheries management: A study among the riverine fishing communities in Kerala, India. Local Environment: International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 13 (5), pp. 423-435.

Sunil D Santha (2007): Conflicts in Fish Trade: A Study among the Riverine fishing communities in Kerala, India, ISA E- Bulletin, 8, pp:22 -35.

Sunil D Santha (2007): State interventions and natural resource management: A study on social interfaces in a riverine fisheries setting in Kerala, India. Natural Resources Forum: A United Nations Sustainable Development Journal, 31(1), pp:61-70.

Sunil D Santha (2003): “Community Responses to Modernisation: A Case Study on the Kolleru Lake Fishing Community in Andhra Pradesh”, Kerala Sociologist, Vol.XXX1 No.1, June 2003, pp: 50-58.

"Adaptive Innovation and Climate Action: A PAR with Students, Social Entrepreneurs, and Community Actors" [Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate (Climate-U) Project]

Transformative Social Innovation in Small-Scale Fisheries along the Indian Ocean, SSRC [https://www.ssrc.org/grantees/transformative-social-innovations-in-the-governance-of-small-scale-fisheries-in-the-indian-ocean-region/]

Archiving Environmental Change, SSRC.

Participatory Action Research for Livelihood Promotion and Sustainable Development, IRHDP, Aghai.

Climate Change, Vulnerability and Adaptation in Cities, IIED, London.

Local Knowledge and Early Warning Systems to Coastal Hazards, ICSSR, New Delhi.

Action Research

Project Planning Tools for Livelihood Promotion

Livelihoods Impact Assessment and Evaluation

Livelihoods Innovation Lab

Introduction to Social Theories

Qualitative Research Methods

Political Ecology of Development