Marshall Fellowship

Sonali’s research provides a close spatial analysis of how the city of Bangalore destabilizes the myth of a monolithic colonial rule in India. It opens new paths for the study of colonial urbanism revealing how, in this capital city divided between indirect princely and direct British rule, the production of urban space was a negotiated enterprise between two competing authorities and multiple local actors. Focusing on Bangalore’s speculative land and housing market, she also draws attention to the Dalit subaltern, demonstrating how rentier capitalism drew from, and sustained, caste, while materialising it through the built form.”