Urban Vulnerability: Inequality and Resilience in Indian Cities

Dr. Sanjay Jothe is a social scientist from Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India, whose research and writings explore the intersections of development, inequality, and social justice in postcolonial India. He holds an M.A. in Social Work from the Indore School of Social Work, Indore, and another M.A. in Development Studies from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex, United Kingdom. He earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Habitat Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Dr. Jothe's research focuses on urban poverty, marginalized communities, Dalit and Tribal studies, women's studies, and the cultural dimensions of urbanization. His doctoral work critically examined the idea of vulnerability in Indian cities, investigating how urbanization, displacement, and neoliberal policies shape the lived experiences of the poor. He has collaborated with the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and the University of Erfurt (Germany), where he worked as a researcher at the Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies. His scholarship combines ethnographic depth, theoretical insight, and normative commitment, reconceptualizing vulnerability as a dynamic negotiation between survival and aspiration rather than a condition of mere deprivation. At present, Dr. Jothe serves as an Associate Professor at ITM University, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. His writings encourage policymakers and scholars to rethink the city as a democratic and inclusive commons, foregrounding the resilience and agency of those who build and sustain India's urban life.

"Sanjay Jothe's book offers a rigorous analysis of post-colonial urbanism, including its promises and hostilities toward the most vulnerable... The notion of 'urban vulnerability' captures the complex processes that create hostile city environments but also engender coping strategies... Based on intensive fieldwork, the book demonstrates the need for governance that prioritizes equity, inclusion, and sustainability over capital-driven expansion." -SANJAY SRIVASTAVA, SOAS University of London

"It provides insight into the lives of those who actually build cities and are then compelled to live on the margins... It takes care to avoid viewing these vulnerable city dwellers primarily as victims, instead recognizing them as agents who strive to survive in a hostile world with vast reserves of resilience... This is an extremely timely and acute reflection on the nature of contemporary urban life in India." -RAJIV BHARGAVA, CSDS, Delhi

"This is a serious and refreshing endeavour to provide a context-specific meaning to the concept of vulnerability... The book makes a persuasive argument that vulnerability is not merely about material deprivation; it is a historically evolved sociological condition." -HILAL AHMED, CSDS, New Delhi

"This book emphasizes caste, gender, and other forms of marginality and exclusion in urban spaces... It will certainly be beneficial for scholars and students across various social science and policy disciplines." -N. SUKUMAR, Delhi University

"Jothe introduces the concept of 'urban vulnerability' as a tool to analyse the complex and dynamic relations of risk and opportunity... A representation of ethnography at its best." -SANDHYA FUCHS, University of Bristol, U.K