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Cultures of Expertise in the Rise and Fall of Delhi's Bus Rapid Transit System

Cultures of Expertise in the Rise and Fall of Delhi's Bus Rapid Transit System

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Cultures of Expertise in the Rise and Fall of Delhi's Bus Rapid Transit System
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<strong>Centre for the Study of Social Systems School of Social Sciences</strong> CSSS Colloquium <strong>Ms. Cheryl Deutsch</strong> (University of California, Irvine) a paper on <strong>Cultures of Expertise in the Rise and Fall of Delhi's Bus Rapid Transit System</strong> <strong>Date : March 31, 2016</strong> <strong>Abstract:</strong> Ethnographies of infrastructure have demonstrated how the meaning and significance of planned and engineered systems – including transportation systems – can exceed their intended functions. In doing so, they have often taken critical views of the experts who plan and engineer such infrastructures, without engaging the cultures of such expertise on their own terms. Paying ethnographic attention to the practices and perspectives of transportation planners, this paper offers a network approach (Larkin 2013) to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) infrastructure as it evolved – and ultimately failed – in Delhi, India. With just a six-kilometer stretch as a pilot, the Delhi BRT began operations in 2008 and immediately came under fire from car owners, who protestedits redistribution of road space. While the Delhi High Court dismissed car owners' legal challenges, its defense of planning expertise was not enough to prevent a new government fromscrapping the projectin the summer of 2015.Before it was cancelled indefinitely, though, transportation planners carried out preliminary studies for six more BRT corridors in the city. Developed in the midst of such heated legal and political debates, these preliminary plans offer a window into how transportation planners reconcile science and politics. Drawing from these unpublished plans, in addition to media reports, court cases, and interviews with BRT planners, I find that planners incorporate opposition to the BRT into their designsin terms of local "culture." Because this variable does not fit into the statistical models and operational metrics that make up standard transportation planning, it helps Delhi's planners understand the limits of their own expertise without having to question these standard methods. Rather than ignoring local cultures and contexts, I argue that it is attention to culture that reinforces planners' quantified imaginaries. <strong>Bio: </strong>Cheryl Deutsch is a Los Angeles based transportation planner and PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. As a planner, she has written grants to fund bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvements in the LA area. The research presented in this talk is part of her dissertation research, which explores the science and politics of transportation planning in Delhi. Cheryl also writes HowToAnthropology.com, a blog devoted to tips and tricks of the trade in Anthropology, including practical discussions of grant writing, research methods, getting published, and teaching.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.