Contributors

Karen Coelho

Assistant Professor
Madras Institute of Development Studies

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Karen Coelho is an Assistant Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies in Chennai, India. She received her PhD in socio-cultural anthropology from the University of Arizona in November 2004, and her M Phil in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, the United Kingdom in 1993. Her dissertation, titled ‘Of Engineers, Rationalities and Rule: An Ethnography of Neoliberal Reform in an Urban Water Utility in South India’ explored the translations and localizations of neo-liberal reform via the subject-formation of frontline engineers as public servants in the municipal water board of Chennai. Her ongoing work looks at urban infrastructure, governance, and reform through an ethnographic lens, with a focus on the city of Chennai. She also works on gender and social landscapes of the urban informal sector. Her recent publications include ‘The Politics of Civil Society: Neighborhood Associationism in Chennai’ published in Economic and Political Weekly, June 27, 2009, and ‘Tapping In: Leaky Sovereignties and Engineered (Dis)Order in an Urban Water System’ published in the SARAI READER 06: Turbulence in 2006. She is the recipient of several fellowships, including the Richard Carley Hunt Fellowship (2005-2006) from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research; a Research Fellowship (2004) with the Foundation for Urban and Regional Studies University of Essex, U.K., and a Dissertation Fellowship (2001-2002) from the American Institute of Indian Studies.