Jaya Gajparia is a lecturer of sociology and environmental sustainability at Ithaca College, London Centre and London South Bank University. She has spoken out as part of the Social Sciences Campaign and works with several front line women’s organisations in Mumbai, as well as being a mentor with the Aspire foundation. Hers is a discipline that interrogates the way we interact and perceive each other, and Gajparia dares to venture into the very depths of her territory: “Intersectionality is an important concept that allows me to articulate my experiences of prejudice” she told us. “I, like many women, am multiply marginalised and discriminated because of the colour of my skin and my gender.” Bringing together the overlapping narratives of sexual politics, class and race – for example in her excellent PhD thesis, which involved interviews with ‘women and adolescent girls living in the slum communities of Mumbai’ as well as ‘upper and middle class women’ to show their relationship ‘with the lower socio-economic classes’ and non-governmental organisations- she has contributed to contemporary research which could help us grow closer as a community. This includes an incredible sensitivity to nuance: “I coined the term capitalising on rapport comes from my experiences in conducting feminist social science research in the Indian city of Mumbai” she continued. “The concept tries to describe the guilt that I experienced when utilising rapport with participants many who were multiply marginalised, and consequently aims to acknowledge the difficulty in addressing ethical conduct when conducting primary research.” Infusing precision and rigour into emotionally charged matter, Gajparia shows how sociology continues to be a valuable empirical science.
From your research, studies and community work, what have you felt could help to combat racism?
There is structural, systemic and everyday racism that operates and/or is experienced simultaneously. For example, in recent history we saw this with the Grunswick Strikes led courageously by the late Mrs. Jayaben Desai’s where migrant women were exploited in the workplace. An example of institutional racism that we can see today is within the police force and racist immigration policies (Southall Black Sisters do a lot of work in this area). I personally am very taken aback when I hear the ‘daily mail’ hateful rhetoric confused with the reality within the Asian community. There is lack of understanding and compassion which is especially frustrating as not so long ago we, the Indians were the migrants arriving in the UK and were being told to leave the country because we were taking employment opportunities away from the locals. We could do a number of things: better listening to generate a more comprehensive understanding of different cultures, this can and should be led by community groups in form of workshops or / and educational programmes. I also think that racism whether overt or nuanced needs to be called out at every level from the streets to the workplace. Political engagement is also key for instance knowing who you are voting for and the policies the stand for, and of course, reading widely, attending protests and volunteering for local and national human rights organisations can help combat racism.
In your Social Sciences ‘Raising Awareness’ video, you mentioned encountering ‘everyday’ prejudice as an ethnic minority and a woman. Could you please elaborate?
My experiences have been varied, but simply put: patriarchy is everywhere. Most, if not all of our systems in society, are designed to benefit men. One example is the expectation put on Asian women to subscribe to the dominant social construction of gender i.e. good wife and mother. In particular, I have come up with the saying ‘stop policing my womb’ to describe the pressures that the community, family and some friends put on women to have children reducing their existence and ‘womanhood’ to becoming a mother (this is not to say that motherhood is not fulfilling or a wonderful thing to experience). So much so, that I have even been told that I am not to be considered a woman yet because I have not had children and therefore have no idea what it means to be a woman. When I began my phd research – for which I had received a full scholarship - I was also told on a few occasions that I had made the wrong decision and instead should be having a family. If the roles were reversed, no one would have questioned my husband.
You mention encountering a sort of ‘rough racism’ in the small town of ‘Oldham’ where you grew up. What do you think drives this?
Insecurity, lack of knowledge and understanding and hateful rhetoric in the press
You do a lot of work with the elderly; please tell us a bit more?
I am naturally drawn to older people and one of my favourite things to do is having a cuppa with someone in their 80s talking about their life history or just having a good natter about anything. There is a lot of research that evidences the need for people in the third age to keep active physically but also socially which has a positive impact on mental health.
Finally, what would be the single most powerful action people could do to help the environment?
Consume less of everything from fashion, energy to packaged and processed foods.