1936
Mumbai Campus,
Chairperson, Centre for Livelihoods and Social Innovation, School of Social Work - Mumbai Campus
Dean,Academic Affairs, Office Of Vice Chancellor
MSW (MG University),
Ph.D. (IIT Madras)
sunilds[at]tiss[dot]ac[dot]in
E-mail: sunilds@tiss.ac.in / sunilds@gmail.com
Phone: 022-25525442
Sunil Santha is a distinguished academic and social work educator with over a decade of experience at TISS. His research primarily focuses on climate change adaptation, sustainable livelihoods, social innovation, and the sociology of knowledge. He has contributed significantly to the field through his action research and reflective practice methodologies, aiming to strengthen climate action and promote transformative social innovations.
His many contributions include developing the Adaptive Innovation Model, a context-specific framework designed to craft people-centred adaptation strategies. This model challenges dominant narratives around sustainable livelihoods and climate change adaptation, aiming to empower vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
Sunil has an impressive academic portfolio, including a Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. His books "Climate Change and Adaptive Innovation: A Model for Social Work Practice" (Routledge, 2020) and "Climate Change, Small-Scale Fisheries, and Blue Justice: Fishscapes and Alternative Worldviews" (Routledge, 2023) are well-known for their theoretical strengths and evidences from practice in the domains of climate change and sustainable livelihoods.
As an academic with keen interests in the field of posthumanism, climate justice, and sustainable futures, Sunil also strives to engage with Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in Development Practice. His work with rural and tribal communities in India during his tenure at NTGCF gave him the practice pathway to understand, appreciate, and recognise the role of IKS in people’s everyday livelihood practices. Through his doctoral work, he began to analyse indigenous and local knowledge systems that guide communities in the sustainable governance of common pool resources. However, his initial understanding of nature-culture entanglements did not fit then with the prominent Eurocentric models of environmental governance and common property resource management theories. Gradually, he invested much time in devising methodologies that would actually create theories and knowledge from the grassroots rather than borrowing western centric, colonial conceptualisations. Today, Sunil engages with his students in studying IKS in the field of agriculture and fisheries. They also explore these knowledge systems from a nature-culture entanglements perspective rather than maintaining subject/object binaries.
Posthuman Social Work
Climate Change and Small-Scale Fisheries
Climate Change and Natural Farming
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Adaptive Social Innovation
Qualitative Research Methodology
Action Research
Impact Evaluation
Santha, S. D. (Co-authored). 2024. Institutional bricolage and collective action: a case study of a Farmers’ Producer Organisation in Tamil Nadu, South India, International Journal of Rural Management, DOI: 10.1177/09730052241301483
Santha, S. D. (2024). Ethical adaptation to climate change and people-centred development, in N. Bikkina and R.M.R. Turaga (Eds.). Climate Change Adaptation: Traditional Wisdom and Cross-Scale Understanding, Palgrave MacMillan, pp.29-37.
Santha, S.D., Sasidevan, D., Raman, A., Ali, K.N., Yoosuf, S., Panda, D., and Shenoy, G. (2024). Adaptive innovation and ethical dilemmas: a participatory action research study amongst cyclone-impacted households in Tamil Nadu, India, Disaster Prevention and Management, DOI 10.1108/DPM-12-2023-0331
Santha, S. D.; Sasidevan, D.; Balasubramaniam, S.; Afla, C.P.; Steffy, A. K. J.; Kolathur, D.; Jabeen, G., and Raman, A., (2024). Losing touch with mother seed: Insights from action research with small-scale farmers in Tamil Nadu, India”, Journal of Political Ecology 31(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5600
Santha, S.D.; Mandhare, K.V.; and Gajbhiye, D. (2023). In search of the native: A posthumanist approach to community practice, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation. Accessible at https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/glocalism/article/view/22471
Sasidevan, D. and Santha,S. D. (2023) Fostering Adaptive Innovation and Climate Action: A Participatory Research Study Involving Students, Social Entrepreneurs and Community Actors. Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate, Working Paper Series No. 17, ISSN 2754-0308
Sunil D. Santha (2023). Climate Change, Small-Scale Fisheries, and Blue Justice: Fishscapes and Alternative Worldviews, London: Routledge.
Sunil D. Santha, Devisha Sasidevan, Sanchita Das, and Santosh Kadu (2022) Designing Livelihoods Responsibly: Insights from Seed Conservation and Management Practices Among Farming Communities in India. In: Melles, G.B. (eds) Designing Social Innovation for Sustainable Livelihoods. Design Science and Innovation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8452-4_3
Sunil D. Santha (2021) Risk, trust, and social networks: A study among middle-class Nair families near Technopark, Kerala, in Jha, M.K., and Pushpendra (eds.) Beyond Consumption: India's New Middle Class in the Neo-Liberal Times, Routledge India, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003098416
Sunil D. Santha (2020) The Circulation and Politics of Knowledge: Climate Change and Livelihood Struggles in a Coastal Fishing Community, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation. Accessible at https://glocalismjournal.org/the-circulation-and-politics-of-knowledge-climate-change-and-livelihood-struggles-in-a-coastal-fishing-community/
Meghana Eswar and Sunil D. Santha (2020) Periurbanisation and Livelihood Practices: Exploring Everyday Life and Social Inequities in a Changing Agrarian Economy, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation. Accessible at https://glocalismjournal.org/periurbanisation-and-livelihood-practices-exploring-everyday-life-and-social-inequities-in-a-changing-agrarian-economy/
Sunil D. Santha (2020) Climate Change and Adaptive Innovation: A Model for Social Work Practice, London: Routledge.
Sanchita Das and Sunil D. Santha (2019). Political Economy of Vulnerability: A Gendered Analysis of Drought and Livelihood Struggles in Puruliya, West Bengal, India. Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation. Accessible at https://glocalismjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Das_Santha_gjcpi_2019_3.pdf
Bhagyashri Mundhe and Sunil D. Santha. (2019). Modernisation, Vulnerability and Coping Strategies: A Study on Koli Women in Mumbai, India, Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, XXXIII (1), pp. 71-90.
Sunil D. Santha. (2019). Climate Justice and Social Work Practice, Special Editorial, Indian Journal of Social Work, 80(3), pp.263-396.
Sunil D. Santha, Swati Banerjee, and Devisha Sasidevan (2019).’Mapping Social Innovation among Youth and Adolescents: A Situational Assessment of Livelihood Promotion and Enhancement Initiatives in India’, in Shalini Bharat and Geeta Sethi (Eds.) Health and Well-being of India’s Young People: Challenges and Prospects, New Delhi: Springer.
Sunil D. Santha and Devisha Sasidevan (2019). ‘Informal Entrepreneurship as Adaptive Innovation: Strategies among migrant workers in Indian cities’ in Swati Banerjee, Stephen Carney & Lars Hulgård (eds). People Centered Social Innovation: Global Perspectives on an Emerging Paradigm. New York: Routledge
Sunil D. Santha (2019) Critical Transitions in Social Innovation and Future Pathways to Sustainable Development Goals, The Indian Journal of Social Work, 80(1), p. 9-30.
Devisha Sasidevan and Sunil D. Santha (2018) The Social Construction of Water Scarcity: An Exploratory Study along the 'Bharathapuzha' in Kerala, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, 2018(3),http://www.glocalismjournal.net/issues/sustainability/articles/the-social-construction-of-water-scarcity-an-exploration-study-along-the-bharathapuzha-in-kerala.kl
Sunil D. Santha (2018) Social Interfaces in Disaster Situations: Analyzing Rehabilitation
and Recovery Processes Among the Fisherfolk of Tamil Nadu after the Tsunami in India, in Sunita Reddy (ed.) The Asian Tsunami and Post-Disaster Aid, New Delhi: Springer.
Sunil D. Santha et al., (2018) Climate Justice, Capabilities and Sustainable Livelihoods: Insights from an Action Research Project, in L. Dominelli et al., (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Green Social Work, London: Routledge, p. 267 - 277.
Sunil D. Santha et al., (2017) Interfaces in Social Innovation: An Action Research Story on a Tribal Women's Collective, Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation, (2017)3, Accessible at http://www.glocalismjournal.net/issues/beyond-democracy-innovation-as-politics/articles/interfaces-in-social-innovation-an-action-research-story-on-a-tribal-women-s-collective.kl
Sunil D. Santha et al., (2016) Climate Variability, Livelihoods and Social Inequities: The Vulnerability of Migrant Workers in Indian Cities, International Area Studies Review, Special Issue, DOI: 10.1177/2233865915626832
Sunil D. Santha (2015) Early Warning Systems among the Coastal Fishing Communities in Kerala: A Governmentality Perspective, Indian Journal of Social Work, 76(2): 199-222.
Sunil D. Santha et al., (2015) City Adaptation Strategies: Recognising Livelihood Struggles of Migrant Workers in India, Asian Cities Climate Resilience, Human Settlements Working Paper, 19: 2015, IIED, ISBN 978-1-78431-205-3.
Sunil D. Santha et al., (2015) Climate Change, Livelihoods and Health Inequities: The Vulnerability of Migrant Workers in Indian Cities, Asian Cities Climate Resilience, Human Settlements Working Paper 16: 2015, IIED, ISBN 978-1-78431-176-6.
Sunil D. Santha et al., (2015) Climate Change, Vulnerability and Adaptive Social Protection: Innovation and Practice among Migrant Workers in Indian Cities, Asian Cities Climate Resilience, Human Settlements Working Paper 20: 2015, IIED, ISBN 978-1-78431-206-0.
Sunil D. Santha et al., (2014) Exploring risk, resistance and the power of myths among coastal fishing communities in Kerala, India, Natural Resources Forum: A United Nations Sustainable Development Journal, 38: 118-128.
Sunil D Santha et al., (2014) Proverbs on Coastal Hazards: Exploring Community Capacities for People-centred Disaster Risk Reduction in Kerala, Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, XXVIII(1): 23-44.
Sunil D Santha et al., (2014) Local knowledge, early warning and coastal hazards: Participatory inquiry among fishworkers in Kerala, India, Action Research, 12(3): 273-292.
Sunil D Santha (2014) Adaptation to Coastal Hazards: A Case Study on Livelihood Struggles of a Fishing Community in Kerala, South India, Disasters, 39(1): 69-85.
Sunil D. Santha and Ratheeshkumar K S (2010) Population Vulnerability and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Situation Analysis among the Landslide affected Communities in Kerala, India., Jamba: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies, 3(1): 367-380.
Sunil D Santha (2010): Environmental Management and Disaster Risk Reduction: Re-imaging Public-Private Partnerships, Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management, 2(2): 225-243.
Sunil D Santha, Fraunholz B, Unnithan C (2010) A Societal Knowledge Management System: Harnessing Indigenous Wisdom to Build Sustainable Predictors for Adaptation to Climate Change, International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Response., 2(1): 49-63.
Sunil D Santha (2010) ‘Contextual factors, culture, and sustainable Riverine fisheries management in Kerala, South India’, in Pati R N and A K Jain (eds.), Biodiversity and Sustainable Development pp. 261-272.
Sunil D Santha and Bhuvaneswari S (2009): A Malady amidst Chaos: A Study on the Population Vulnerability to the Chikungunya Epidemic in Kerala, Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, 23(2):111-129.
Janki Andharia and Sunil D Santha (2009): Higher Education in Disaster Management: The TISS Experience, Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management, 1(1):79-91.
Sunil D Santha (2009): Norms, Institutions, and Collective Action: The Changing Face of Inland Fisheries in Kerala, Resources, Energy and Development, TERI, IOS Press, 6(1): 9-22.
Sunil D Santha (2008): Local Culture, Technological Change, and Riverine Fisheries Management in Kerala, India, International Journal of Rural Management, Vol. 4 (1-2), pp. 25-45.
Sunil D Santha (2008): A Cultural perspective on markets: A study on fish trade among riverine fisherfolk in Kerala, SIES Journal of Management, 5(1), pp.39-47.
Sunil D Santha (2008): Local ecological knowledge and riverine fisheries management: A study among the riverine fishing communities in Kerala, India. Local Environment: International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 13 (5), pp. 423-435.
Sunil D Santha (2007): Conflicts in Fish Trade: A Study among the Riverine fishing communities in Kerala, India, ISA E- Bulletin, 8, pp:22 -35.
Sunil D Santha (2007): State interventions and natural resource management: A study on social interfaces in a riverine fisheries setting in Kerala, India. Natural Resources Forum: A United Nations Sustainable Development Journal, 31(1), pp:61-70.
Sunil D Santha (2003): “Community Responses to Modernisation: A Case Study on the Kolleru Lake Fishing Community in Andhra Pradesh”, Kerala Sociologist, Vol.XXX1 No.1, June 2003, pp: 50-58.
"Adaptive Innovation and Climate Action: A PAR with Students, Social Entrepreneurs, and Community Actors" [Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate (Climate-U) Project]
Transformative Social Innovation in Small-Scale Fisheries along the Indian Ocean, SSRC [https://www.ssrc.org/grantees/transformative-social-innovations-in-the-governance-of-small-scale-fisheries-in-the-indian-ocean-region/]
Archiving Environmental Change, SSRC.
Participatory Action Research for Livelihood Promotion and Sustainable Development, IRHDP, Aghai.
Climate Change, Vulnerability and Adaptation in Cities, IIED, London.
Local Knowledge and Early Warning Systems to Coastal Hazards, ICSSR, New Delhi.
Action Research
Project Planning Tools for Livelihood Promotion
Livelihoods Impact Assessment and Evaluation
Livelihoods Innovation Lab
Introduction to Social Theories
Qualitative Research Methods
Environmental Studies
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