BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20250925T165547EDT-9573HkObjX@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20250925T205547Z DESCRIPTION:'Visualizing Feminist Urbanism in Mumbai: Participatory Video-V oice and the Nagar Swaraj Leadership Approach'\n\nVatsala Shoukla (SNDT Wo men's University)\n\nAt the peak of Mumbai’s lockdown\, panic swept Agarwa l Wadi\, Wadala—historically one of the seven islands that formed the city . One neighbor struggled to breathe\, another ran a high fever. “I didn’t wait for help—I became the help\,” recalls 42-year-old Area Sabha Represen tative Sultana Shaikh. She rushed patients to hospitals\, organized ration s\, and petitioned municipal authorities to restore hundreds of blocked ra tion cards. For months\, she became the invisible government of her lane—e mbodying the spirit of leadership from below. Sultana’s story is not an ex ception but part of a wider pattern of women holding their communities tog ether while negotiating state systems and everyday urban inequities. These stories exemplify the Nagar Swaraj experiment on the ground. Drawing from Gandhian philosophies of Swaraj (self-governance)\, Sarvodaya (welfare of all)\, and Antyodaya (uplift of the most marginalized)\, this model reima gines urban local governance as participatory\, decentralized\, and inclus ive.My presentation builds on the experiences of women Area Sabha Represen tatives in Mumbai\, explored through a participatory video-voice study\, t o examine feminist urbanism in practice. It asks: How meaningfully are cit izens—especially women—able to participate in shaping the cities they inha bit? What barriers and opportunities define women’s local leadership? And what might urban governance look like if Area Sabhas were fully realized a s the “fourth tier” of democracy? By combining video-voice\, ethnography\, and visual cartography\, the study amplifies women’s lived experiences as evidence and advocacy\, offering a grounded vision of feminist urbanism t hrough the transformative ethos of Nagar Swaraj.\n\nLight refreshments ser ved.\n DTSTART:20251001T190000Z DTEND:20251001T210000Z LOCATION:room 116\, Peterson Hall\, CA\, QC\, Montreal\, H3A 0E6\, 3460 rue McTavish SUMMARY:IOWC Speaker Series - Vatsala Shoukla URL:/history/channels/event/iowc-speaker-series-vatsal a-shoukla-367654 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR