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Fifty Years in the Lives of Two Indian Villages

Thu, 14 August 2008

Previous grants were awarded by the Foundation to Dr Epstein in 1996 and then in 1999 for background research towards the documentary entitled “Village Voices – Forty Years of Rural Transformation in South India”. In 2004, a futher grant was awarded for the documentary entitled “Back to the Village” (see below), which focuses on the problem of rural to urban migration, and continued the work she had begun in Bangalore in 1954. As well as the films, the results of these studies have inspired three books about her fifty-year interest in two Karnataka villages: Wangala and Kalenahalli.

Despite being geographically close to one another and sharing a culture, the two villages have developed along very different lines. Wangala had benefited from canal irrigation while Kalenahalli’s lands lie above the irrigation level. Dr Epstein has documented patterns of urban migration in both villages and through her personal knowledge of the villagers has also assessed the aspirations, reasons and reality behind their experiences within their communities and in the teeming streets of Bangalore.

Her work this year is focused on the effects of external economics on the villages and is leading to a further book, "Globalisation and Changing Village Societies". She examines the consequences of changing world markets on the villages, argues reasons for their survival and suggests possible responses to the challenges they face.

"Back to the Village"

Last Updated Fri, 22 August 2008