Figure 2- - uploaded by Biju Thankachan
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Black electricity and TV cables and green water pipes hang together on the top. Image CreditsAndreea Niculescu
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... field trip was conducted at Dharavi, Mumbai. Dharavi is one of the largest slums in Asia spread over 535 acres and accommodates a population of over a million people. Dharavi was put on the world map by the popular Hollywood movie -Slumdog Millionaire. As in common in movies, and sometimes also in research, the 'real world' or 'in the wild', is portrayed as a chaotic yet exotic far away land, waiting to be 'fixed'. This is far from reality -Dharavi is a bustling economy for which it is often referred to as "Durable Slum" [6]. Its characterizing eco-system are different unregulated small- scale industries manufacturing leather goods, garments, earthenware flourish alongside the residential shanties. The crisscross of narrow lanes presents itself as a giant maze and only a local resident knows the way out of the conundrum. Despite the oddities, Dharavi is a self-contained, self- sustained locality with schools, Anganwadi centers, clinics, grocery shops, electrical repairs shop, internet café, and all that is necessary for an urban small city. What better way to break the stereotype than by visiting the place and interacting with the people there. It took us nearly an hour to reach Dharavi from the conference venue (IIT, Bombay) by cab. We met the local NGO representative from Daya Sadan at a designated place and proceeded through the narrow lanes, which at some places allowed only one person to pass through. We were being attuned to the sights of electrical wires, TV cables, and water pipes all coiled together. This surprisingly diverse array of cables and pipes (see figure 2) seems like a safety hazard but was a common sight. Finally, we arrived at the Daya Sadan, the school and skill development center, where we would meet and interview the locals participating in the field trip. The place was noisy as there were women working on sewing machines, and we had to adjust ourselves to the corner to conduct the interviews. True to the Dharavi spirit of diversity, we interacted with Tamilian (people from southern state of Tamil Nadu) immigrants in a Christian school with a prayers heard from a mosque nearby. Dharavi's portrayal in several in movies and documentaries, including Bollywood Movies and both national and international press, has resulted in a tourist culture to the place. Several international and local people are able to visit the area in a guided tour, which probably emphasizes its popular media image. With the fieldtrip, there was no tour-guide. However, walking through the streets with the Daya Sadan representative, we were still overwhelmed yet observant of the surroundings. We knew we would be going to Dharavi before we landed in Mumbai and several of us had seen the images and movies. However, the experience was unlike any other, even for the local ...
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... Ismail and Kumar, who have worked significantly in this space, find motivations of self-empowerment in the online experience of ASHA workers positioned at the margins in their communities of practice such as their familial units, workplaces, networks of health workers, etc. [41]. Other works have included participatory accompaniment techniques with AWWs using mobile devices [96], exploratory co-design research with frontline healthworkers dealing with pregnancy care [31], and on the ground work examining the material infrastructural arrangements that impact the work of anganwadi workers in the field [100]. While ASHA workers, who come under the ministry of health, serve the general population, AWWs, who come under the ministry of women and child development, focus exclusively on women and children. ...
Data collection on the population is a key mode of public health management in the Global South. This information is seen as a means to improve health metrics through welfare programs. In this study, we examine the changes brought about by an ICT-based Real-Time Monitoring System to the infrastructure of a welfare program and the nature of work of Anganwadi workers in India. Anganwadi workers, traditionally serving as daycare providers and community health workers, are increasingly being asked to serve primarily as data collectors for the new digital system. We ask the question 'cui bono?' to this system by drawing attention to the precarity of Anganwadi workers whose care-work is standardized through this app for 'efficient' monitoring by the Indian state but remains contingent on their relationship with the local community and ability to mobilize resources on the ground. Using auto-ethnographic and interview methods, we find that Anganwadi workers are caught between conflicting demands of state bureaucracy and the situated nature of their care work resulting in forms of ambivalent care. We find that the real-time monitoring apps intended to collect data for efficient delivery of state services end up serving the state's need for performing care through data rhetorics produced at the expense of the professional and personal well-being of the workers, and arguably the communities they serve.
... The field trips included thirty-seven researchers each representing different disciplines from across the globe, including Australia, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and the U.S., as well as nine student volunteers from India and one from Germany. The field trip approach proved to be a versatile method where useful insights were revealed around, for example, ways to support sustainable fishing practices using a mobile app (4), perspectives on personalization and privacy (21), and the role of mobile devices for workers conducting day to day tasks (23). ...
Understanding people's attitudes towards and uses of technology is an essential aspect of a successful design process. Ethnography is a proven method for acquiring this understanding. However, there are challenges to incorporating fieldwork, most notably the time factor, considered by some as the greatest barrier. This is especially true for many technology companies whose turn-around time from concept to design to implementation is accelerated. We propose a solution to the dilemma between acquiring the benefits of fieldwork with the compressed timescales of many technology projects by using focused field trips as a method for gaining rich insights into peoples' uses of and attitudes towards technologies in real-world settings. In a short amount of time (one or two days), field trips sensitize design teams to the priorities of stakeholder groups. We outline a systematic approach to incorporating field trips as a method for developing rich, qualitative insights using rapid qualitative studies.
