People

Dr. Geetha Reddy - Principal Investigator

Since being awarded their PhD in 2018, Dr Reddy has developed expertise in decolonial theorising of social issues and precarity. As an editor of the Readsura Decolonial Editorial collective for three special issues published in Review of General Psychology and Journal of Social Issues, and as lead editor for the special issue “Towards a Social Psychology of Precarity” in the British Journal of Social Psychology, Dr Reddy has shaped 33 papers that address coloniality and precarity. Furthermore, as Assistant Professor of Transdisciplinarity and Sustainable Cooperation at the University of Groningen, they developed a course-based PhD programme to equip students with the skills to undertake research on societal resilience problems in the policy domains of work, care, and inclusion— research skills they will share with the rest of the core team. Dr. Reddy is also currently working on the OU Open Societal Challenge: Building Global South-South solidarities to redress inequalities (BUSSIN).

They will thus lead the academic output dissemination and will be managing the project overall.

Dr Nithiya Guna Saigaran - Co- Investigator

Dr Nithiya was awarded PhD in 2020 for her doctoral thesis “Gender Beliefs and Capability Deprivation among Malaysian Indian Women.” She was a visiting scholar on German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) at Humboldt University, Berlin. She has developed expertise in women’s poverty, ethnic minorities, and capability approaches. As an early career researcher employed at Department of Indian Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University Malaya, she holds specialisations in Malaysian Indians, intersectionality, Gender and social mobility, and Sociology of poverty Studies and works interdisciplinarily. She is an experienced field researcher, involved in two faculty-funded research projects that focus on the intergenerational transmission of poverty amongst Malaysian Indian women and NGOs that work with At-Risk Malaysian Indian Youth.

She will lead the fieldwork in Klang Valley and Penang as well as the multiligual translation of academic texts.

Rupa Subramaniam - Research Officer

Rupa is a feminist creative professional. Her take on Hindu Goddesses protesting body policing reached 2 million views worldwide. She published documentaries on the Non-consensual Dissemination of Intimate Images and on Hindu Temples and Rituals. Her projects have been exhibited in the Global Movement of Arts in the World Humanities Conference Belgium 2017. She was awarded TOP 40 Under 40 by Prestige Malaysia and six Malaysia Media Awards. Rupa has curated “Banana Leaf: A Celebration of Malaysian Indian Arts & Culture” featuring more than 40 Malaysian Indian artists from various disciplines in 2019. Rupa’s work now focuses on her website ANTIDOTE: skinandsoul.art promoting acceptance of liberation for Malaysian women, especially within marginalized communities to attain conscious collectivism.

Her experience in social justice and creative communication will lead the development of the website and digital exhibition.

Enbah Nilah Sugurmar - Project Manager

Enbah Nilah is a poet and educator. She runs an intimate poetry open mic and writers’ circle called Words’ Worth in Kuala Lumpur, with Rupa. She graduated with a distinction in MA Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia) from SOAS, University of London under the Chevening Scholarship. Her thesis was on the literary representations of “Class Conflicts in the Assimilation of Malaysian Indians.” She was a featured reader for “Inventories of Dispossession,” a Tamil literary symposium by York University, Toronto in 2022. She also collaborated on a Tamil literary translation anthology, soon to be published by trace press (CAN) with the support of Ontario’s Anti-Racism Anti-Hate Grant. Her works can be found in the Anthology of Southeast Asian Eco-Writing (Mānoa Journal), This is Southeast Asia (AUS), Innovation for Change — East Asia, and Adi Magazine (US).

Enbah Nilah will lead the co-development of arts-based methods such as storytelling and is managing the various administrative and logistical aspects of the project.

Enbah Nilah and Rupa hosted their poetry event in April 2024, "Words' Worth" pictured to the left.

This team has long championed representation in the community, especially for marginalised folks within Malaysian community, by nurturing local talent.