Podcast: Breaking the silence on caste in academia

28th August 2025

Caste isn’t just a South Asian issue. It shapes who speaks, who listens, and who is heard in academic and development spaces worldwide. In this episode of Between the Lines, we explore how caste hierarchies continue to influence the production of knowledge, access to opportunities, and the experience of being in higher education.

Listen to this episode of the Between the Lines podcast by the Institute of Development Studies. This episode features anti-caste scholars and activists Aarti Rajput, Ritu Kochar, and Priyanka Samy. They speak about the silences, exclusions, and resistances that define their journeys in the UK and global academic setting. The episode was hosted by DSN UK Programme Officer Chandni Sai Ganesh.

Welcoming Programme Officer DSN UK

12th August 2025

DSN UK is extremely pleased to welcome on board MS Chandni Sai Ganesh as our Programme Officer. She has begun her role from 1^st August 2025.

Chandni completed MA in Gender and Development at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. A research scholar, she studies caste, gender, diaspora, and abolition. She also co-leads the Brighton Ambedkar Reading Circle and facilitates groups with the mental health organisation Hank Nunn Institute, India.

Her grandparents migrated from Kerala, India, to the United Arab Emirates, where she was born and raised. In her free time, she writes letters to prisoners and supports refugees in Brighton.

A heartfelt thanks to the officers and the Board Members for approving this recruitment and a very special thanks to Prof Corinne our former Vice Chair and Ms Lavanya Pallapi our Trustee for joining me on the panel in the Recruitment Process.

We wish Chandni all the very best as she continues to serve DSN UK in this capacity as the Programme Officer.

Dr Elizabeth Joy

Director, DSN UK