Ms Julia Perczel
Overview
My research explores the attempt to bring under control e-waste recycling in India that has come to be known for its substandard practices. In 2019, I did twelve-months of ethnographic fieldwork studying how fulfilling environmental responsibility can be marketized. I trace the way a crisis narrative is woven into the creation of a market in sustainable and environmentally responsible services. I explore what it takes to revalue e-waste into resource, paying attention to the rhetoric around informality, toxicity and circular economy. Furthermore, I observe the far-reaching consequences of the attempts to regularise e-waste recycling for those whose lives are irredeemably caught up in the fortunes of this enchanting waste form.
Recipient of the Wenner-Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grant
External positions
Visiting Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Jul 2021 → Dec 2021
Areas of expertise
- GN Anthropology - value chains, South Asia, middle classes, toxicology, waste
- PI Oriental languages and literatures - Hindi/Urdu, Contemporary Hindi Literature, Caste, postcolonial theory
Education / academic qualifications
- Master of Arts, Intensive South Asian Studies 2-yrs, SOAS University of London (2014 - 2016)
- Master of Arts, Sociology and Social Anthropology, Central European University (Budapest College) (2013 - 2014)
- Bachelor of Arts, Hindi and Development Studies, SOAS University of London (2007 - 2011)