For the last several years, Anup Malani and I have been conducting ethnographic research in Indian slums. We hired a team of researchers, developed field sites in slums in cities across India, conducted interviews, spent time in the communities, and tried to understand how they work.

We set a goal for the project that, in addition to producing academic research, we would try to raise awareness about the how policy choices made by local, state, and federal government impact some of India’s most vulnerable citizens. I’ll be writing a lot more about those efforts in the new few months, but we just published a photo essay about one of our field sites as part of that process.*

The photo essay describes life in a community in Bangalore called Ashrayangar. Like many slums, the community emerged, in part, because local political leaders were eager for labor and the votes. But almost 20 years later, life in the slum is still defined by constant political contestation between community leaders and government officials over everything from getting clean water to avoiding demolition.

We’re profiling the community in depth in a documentary that we’ll be putting out later this year, but for now, go check out our photo essay to learn more.

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* The photo essay is a collaboration with two of our team members: Lakshmee Sharma and Shafali Sharma. I want to extend my sincere thanks to Lakshmee and Shafali for making this photo essay happen, and to Lakshmee for spending much of the last two years immersing herself in Ashrayanagar.