The Rise of Entrepreneurial Humanitarianism in India

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs 

South Asia Center presents

The Rise of Entrepreneurial Humanitarianism in India

In this talk, Ipshita discusses the emergent ideas of Entrepreneurial Humanitarianism, a term she uses to discuss the practices of technological startups in India. Drawing on both overlaps and differences with international, state, and corporate humanitarianism, this talk will showcase ethnographic findings from New Delhi’s bustling startup landscapes. Beyond narratives of single-minded pursuit of profit and individualistic innovation, the framework of humanitarianism reveals the range of meanings that entrepreneurs see in their work and their ideas of development and future-making in contemporary India.

Ipshita Ghosh

PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology 

Syracuse University 

Ms. Ipshita Ghosh is a PhD candidate in Cultural Anthropology at Maxwell School, Syracuse University, with interests in global finance, social movements, development and humanitarianism. Her research, centered in India, examines entrepreneurship as a cultural formation with multiple actors, ideologies and values at play. Ipshita’s dissertation looks at the ways in which state policy and global investment capital reframe the heterogenous strands of entrepreneurial activity in India into a single narrative that reproduces a neoliberal startup culture and reinstates socio-economic hierarchies. Ipshita also enjoys teaching anthropology and building productive dialogues across disciplines, in and outside the classroom. Ipshita holds a Master’s in Contemporary India Studies from University of Oxford, a Master’s in Public Administration from Maxwell School, Syracuse University and a Bachelor with Honors in English from Delhi University. 

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For more information, please contact Emera Bridger Wilson, elbridge@syr.edu or to request additional accommodation arrangements, please contact Morgan Bicknell, mebickne@syr,edu.