ISHA PANWAR

PhD Student

Research Title : South Asian Lives and Labours in Oman’s Developing Port Cities
Research Group: Politics, Economies And Space (PEAS)
Thesis Advisor: Prof James D. Sidaway
Co-advisor: Prof Tim Bunnell

My doctoral thesis will attempt to understand the experience of South Asian migrant workers in the lesser-studied Arabian peninsula ports of Sohar and Duqm in Oman. Being developed on the lines of major logistical transshipment hubs with interesting combinations of domestic wealth and foreign technical and management expertise, they produce new subjectivities within age-old hierarchies of labour. The idea is to produce a comprehensive, contemporary account of South Asian migrants embedded in these logistical hubs, inform any concurrent and future studies in the GCC region, particularly Oman. I draw on my multi-sited ethnographic experience of two years in course of writing a Masters thesis on the experience of the Baloch community in the port towns of Chabahar, Iran and Gwadar, Pakistan.

I have previously received an undergraduate honours degree in Economics, followed by a Masters in English, both from the University of Delhi, India. My interdisciplinary background is further complemented by a Masters in Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland, with a specialization in Conflict and Development. Over the years, I have worked in publishing and the humanitarian sector. I am proficient in Hindi, Urdu, English and Tamil, have a working understanding of French and Punjabi, and in the process of learning Arabic.