Cross-Cultural Research for Positive Social Change

Sunil Bhatia International Humanitarian Award

Citation

“Using his knowledge of qualitative and ethnographic methods, Sunil Bhatia has formed alliances with over a dozen community partners and nongovernmental organiza- tions (NGOs) in the United States and in his native city of Pune, India, to provide the urban poor with access to clean sanitation and private toilets. He has brought a taboo subject—open defecation—into the spotlight to show how lack of sanitation is connected to psychological constructs of privacy, dignity, humiliation, and safety. His communi- ty-based approach with Shelter Associates, a local NGO, has created a sustainable program of sanitation that has improved physical and psychological health for those living in the vast slums of Pune, Sangli, and Miraj, India.”

Biography

Sunil Bhatia is Professor and Past-Chair of Human Devel- opment at Connecticut College. Sunil received his doctoral degree in developmental psychology from Clark University in 1998 and joined Connecticut College in 1999. Bhatia grew up in Pune, India, in a residential neighborhood called Pudumjee Compound in Bhawani Peth. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Nowrosjee Wadia College and his master’s degree in psychology from Uni- versity of Pune.

Bhatia’s scholarship specifically examines how theoret- ical concepts such as culture, power, and representation

shape theories of acculturation, racial, and cultural identity in human development and cultural psychology. His re- search focuses on the development of self and identity within the context of postcolonial conditions of migration, globalization, neoliberalization, and the formation of trans- national diasporas. Bhatia’s scholarship emerges out of intersections between critical psychology and ethnographic and qualitative methods to address questions of marginal- ization and social justice.

His publications include the book American Karma: Race, Culture and Identity in the Indian Diaspora (2007, New York University Press). The book advances the field of psychology by incorporating critical issues related to the concept of culture, including race, diaspora identity of Indian immigrants, and transnational migration. American Karma, which has garnered extremely positive reviews in top peer-reviewed journals, also provides key insights for the fields of psychology, anthropology, sociology, human development, and Asian American studies. Sunil has pub- lished over 30 articles and book chapters on issues related to transnational migration, identity, and cultural psychol- ogy. His articles have appeared in top-tiered journals, in- cluding American Psychologist, Human Development, The- ory and Psychology, History of Psychology, Culture and Psychology, Journal of Intercultural Studies, and Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology.

Bhatia was recently appointed as one of the associate editors of Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psy- chology, and he also serves on the editorial board of the journals Qualitative Psychology and History of Psychology. He currently serves as the Program Chair for Division 24 of the American Psychological Association’s convention in 2015 in Toronto. In 2014, the American Psychological Association elected Sunil as a “Fellow” of Division 24 for his outstanding local, national, and international contribu- tions to the field of psychology.

In 2006, Professor Bhatia received the 2006 Sigmund Koch Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology, which is presented by Division 24 to a psychologist each year who is within 10 years of having earned a doctorate degree and has made promising contributions to theoretical or philosophical psychology. In September 2005, Sunil received Connecticut College’s prestigious John King Teaching Award. In 2011, Campus Compact, a national organization selected Sunil as one of the runners-up for the nationally known Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Fac- ulty Award. This award is bestowed annually to recognize faculty for exemplary leadership in advancing students’ civic learning, community engagement, and contributions to the public good. In 2009, he received the Martin Luther King Jr. Faculty Service Award, given to a faculty who upholds the legacy of Dr. King’s work with their demon- strated commitment to social justice and serving underrep- resented communities. In 2007, he also received a Commu-

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nity Service Award that is given by the Connecticut Department of Higher Education. In 2001, the students of Unity House at Connecticut College awarded Bhatia the Tyrone Ferdnance Award for excellence in teaching and community service.

Sunil Bhatia served as the director of the Holleran Center for Public Policy and Community Action and from 2008 to 2011 at Connecticut College. Bhatia has studied the problem of poverty within the Indian socioeconomic context and draws his inspiration from the work of Pratima Joshi, the Director of Shelter Associates. Approximately 60% of In- dia’s 1.2 billion people defecate in the open, the world’s worst sanitation record; 1,600 children under the age of 5 die every day from maladies such as diarrhea, cholera, and ty- phoid, caused by lack of proper sanitation; and 30% of women from underprivileged areas experience violent sexual assaults each year because the lack of sanitation facilities makes them vulnerable.

Bhatia took specific actions to improve the conditions of individuals who were living in poverty and were experienc- ing the indignities of open defecation his native city of Pune. In 2006, he started Friends of Shelter Associates (FSA), a federally registered 501c nonprofit organization in Rhode Island. FSA acts as a mediator between the community partner, Shelter Associates, and the general public in the northeast of America. Through FSA, Bhatia raises awareness about global poverty and lack of sanitation in slums of Pune, and specifically raises funds to support Shelter Associates in their efforts to bring sanitation to the urban poor in the city of Pune. Comprised of architects, social workers, GIS experts, and community workers, Shelter Associates works with the urban poor, particularly women in informal settlements (slums), to facilitate and provide technical support to com- munity-managed housing, slum rehabilitation, and sanitation projects.

In 2010, the United Nations declared sanitation as a hu- man right, and Bhatia has consistently framed the problems of sanitation as a violation of human rights and dignity. Bhatia’s work through FSA has impacted the lives of the most vulnerable citizens in Pune in the following areas: (a) Disease: construction of sanitation systems has prevented the spread of infectious diseases; (b) Psychological: women’s risk of sexual assault has decreased considerably, as they do not have to defecate in open areas; being able to defecate in a toilet at home gives families psychological peace, privacy, and dignity; and (c) Community engagement: community members are an integral part of the data collection, planning, and implementation of sanitation projects, thus making them feel psychologically empowered.

Bhatia’s work has particularly highlighted that the phrase “open defecation” masks the fundamental psychological suf- fering that underlies the experience of defecating near the open in railway tracks, open gutters, or in the fields. His efforts have touched many lives, and for some of the most

vulnerable members of the community in Pune and Sangli, receiving a toilet has been a profoundly life-changing expe- rience. Bhatia’s social justice work in the slums of Pune allows him to give back and maintain his ties to his home- town in India. His humanitarian approach to providing san- itation in slums of Pune is based on a profound understanding of the cultural contexts in which slums function in India. Bhatia’s work is genuinely collaborative and thoughtful, and he views the local community living in slums as equal part- ners who have voice, agency, and power in their lives. Bhatia has used his knowledge he has gained as a cultural psychol- ogist to show how lack of sanitation is deeply connected to psychological constructs of dignity, humiliation, and safety. In his forthcoming book, Psychology of Globalization: Nar- ratives of Indian Youth From Call Centers to Chai Stalls, he employs a narrative framework to examine how neoliberal globalization has exacerbated the social and economic ineq- uities for those urban citizens who live in slum communities.

Bhatia’s work with FSA goes beyond international hu- manitarian work and shows how communities in diverse locations can produce long-term transnational alliances that contribute to the psychological well-being and dignity of individuals living in marginalized communities. His work has had a profound effect on his students, several of whom have become directly involved in this cause. Bhatia believes that his work with Shelter Associates goes beyond a charity approach, as it supports an organization that involves com- munities that are participating in their own urban planning. He works with a local NGO that recognizes that poverty is not the only trait that defines the poor. The urban poor have agency, voice, and the ability to advocate for themselves. Bhatia has created awareness about the consequences of lack sanitation by speaking at universities, churches, schools, and local communities, and he has raised awareness about the terrible sanitation conditions that exist around the world by writing op-eds and commentaries. In addition, he has formed several community partnerships in and around New England. Over 1,000 people have participated in various FSA-related events as guests, student performers, volunteers, and speak- ers.

Selected Bibliography

Bhatia, S. (2000). Language socialization and the construction of socio- moral meanings. Journal of Moral Education, 29, 149–166.

Bhatia, S. (2001). Social acts, class, and the construction of personhood in Indian families. Early Education and Development, 12, 433–454.

Bhatia, S. (2002a). Acculturation, dialogical voices, and the construction of the diasporic self. Theory and Psychology, 12, 55–77.

Bhatia, S. (2002b). Orientalism in Euro-American and Indian psychology: Historical representation of “natives” in colonial and postcolonial con- texts. History of Psychology, 5, 376–398.

Bhatia, S. (2006). Reinterpreting the inner self in global India: “Malevolent mothers,” “Distant fathers,” and the development of children’s identity. Culture and Psychology, 12, 378–392.

Bhatia, S. (2007a). Opening up cultural psychology: Analyzing race, cul- ture, and identity. Human Development, 50, 320–327.

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Bhatia, S. (2007b). American karma: Race, culture, and identity in the Indian diaspora. New York, NY: New York University Press.

Bhatia, S. (2008). Rethinking culture and identity in psychology: Towards a transnational cultural Psychology. Journal of Theoretical and Philo- sophical

Bhatia, S. (2010). Interpreting the meanings of schooling, hybridity, and multicultural citizenship in diaspora communities. In W. Penuel & K. O’Connor (Eds.), Learning Research in Human Science. National Study for the Society of Education, 109, 66–81.

Bhatia, S. (2011a). Lost in translation: Cultural hybridity, acculturation, and human development. Human Development, 54, 400–407.

Bhatia, S. (2011b). Narrative inquiry as cultural psychology: Meaning- making in a contested global world. Narrative Inquiry, 21, 345–352.

Bhatia, S. (2012). Strategic subversions of the sacred: The cultural psychol- ogy of religious identity. Commentary on Rosa Traversa’s, “Religion made me free”: Cultural constructions of female religiosity. Culture and Psychology, 18, 60–75.

Bhatia, S. (2013). Orientalism. In T. Teo (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology (pp. 1294–1300). New York, NY: Springer Publishers. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_20

Bhatia, S. (forthcoming). The psychology of globalization: Narratives of Indian youth identity from call centers to chai stalls. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Bhatia, S., & Ram, A. (2001a). Locating the dialogical self in the age of transnational migrations, border crossings and diasporas. Culture and Psychology, 7, 297–309.

Bhatia, S., & Ram, A. (2001b). Rethinking “acculturation” in relation to diasporic cultures and postcolonial identities. Human Development, 44, 1–17.

Bhatia, S., & Ram, A. (2004). Culture, hybridity and the dialogical self: Cases from the South-Asian diaspora. Mind, Culture and Activity, 11, 224–240.

Bhatia, S., & Ram, A. (2009). Theorizing identity in transnational and diaspora: A critical approach to acculturation. International Journal for Intercultural Research, 33, 14–149.

Bhatia, S., & Stam, H. (2005). Critical engagements with culture and self. Theory and Psychology, 15, 419–430.

Mascolo, F., & Bhatia, S. (2002). The dynamic construction of culture, self, and social relations. Psychology and Developing Societies, 14, 56–89.

Shields, S., & Bhatia, S. (2009). Darwin on race, gender, and culture. American Psychologist, 4, 111–119.

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