British Academy Postdoctoral Researcher
My postdoctoral research investigates the meanings of afforestation, or large-scale tree-planting, in urban Pakistan. I focus principally on the city of Lahore, where I conducted fieldwork in 2019 and 2020. My principal interest is to understand what meanings are attached to the act of afforestation during the 21st century climate crisis. What does it mean to plant trees in Pakistan's postcolonial landscape? What can urban afforestation tell us about the experience of living in climate crisis, and the futures that become (un)imaginable as a result? Who is included, and who excluded, in the project of 'greening' Lahore?
My wider research interests include gender, race, care and social reproduction, and the anthropology of Islam. In my doctoral research, I explored urban dormitory-style hostels in Lahore. I approached hostels as liminal spaces in which rural-origin female migrants are prepared for uncertain futures, making contributions to the anthropology of class, gender and education in South Asia. In previous research I studied mosque 'open days' in Britain, looking at themes of hospitality, performance, and responses to stigmatisation, and carried out research on the impact of the cost of living crisis on women survivors of sexual violence.
