Davindar Singh’s dissertation project focuses on the particularly logistical political economy of Indian Punjab, the patterns of urbanization it produces and destroys, and the circulation of people, resources, and expressive (musical) media through the spacetime of this logistical political economy. Based in the Corbusier- (and Mayer-) planned city of Chandigarh, he tracks how Punjab’s agrarian urbanization is bound up in broader processes of planetary urbanization, and how North American Punjabi logistics work has ties to Punjab's built environment. He will use HMUI funds for translation of truckers’ life stories, and for the mapping of their personal trajectories and the trajectories of the goods they circulate. Should the budget permit, he will also map the real estate investment patterns of media and logistics companies on Chandigarh’s rapidly expanding outskirts in Mohali and Zirakpur, and their ties to logistical SEZs in nearby Kilaraipur.
Researcher: Davindar Singh