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
As a professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, I focus on connecting social theories with practical solutions to tackle today’s urgent socio-ecological issues. My work centres on helping communities adapt to climate change and promoting sustainable livelihoods, believing that real change must start with the most vulnerable people.
I developed the Adaptive Innovation Model, a framework that empowers communities to create their own strategies for dealing with climate impacts. This approach is based on Action Research, which involves participatory methods to gather knowledge from local communities rather than relying on Western perspectives. In my research on the Oceanic Humanities, I study “fishscapes” and the management of shared resources, advocating for Blue Justice by incorporating diverse worldviews into environmental practices.
Recently, my interests have shifted towards Posthuman Cultures and Ecologies, where I question traditional views of nature and culture to better understand their connections. This has led me to explore Indian Knowledge Systems, which I see as crucial for guiding a modern green transition. My upcoming book, Living Wisely, examines sustainability through the lens of Indian philosophy.
My academic pursuit is centred on the emergence of Posthuman Social Work, a transformative field that seeks to decentre the human subject and instead focus on the complex nature-culture entanglements and assemblages that define our world. This perspective is critical for addressing the multifaceted impacts of Climate Change, particularly within the context of Small-Scale Fisheries and Natural Farming. In these sectors, my work bridges the gap between abstract policy and lived reality by documenting and integrating Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) into modern governance and sustainability practices.
The cornerstone of my practical contribution is the Adaptive Social Innovation model—a framework I developed to empower vulnerable communities to navigate climate-related shocks through people-centred, context-specific adaptation strategies. To ensure these interventions are deeply rooted in grassroots realities, I employ a pluralist mix of Research Methodologies including Indigenous Research Methodologies and a dedicated Action Research approach, to co-create knowledge and solutions directly with community actors.
Sasidevan D, Santha S, McCowan T, Balasubramaniam S (2025), "Bridging the gap: participatory action research for climate change adaptation in rural India". International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 26 No. 6 pp. 1492–1511, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-10-2024-0710
Patange, H., and Santha, S.D. 2025. Nature-Culture Entanglements and Indigenous Ethics of Care Reflections on Community Practice in Aarey Colony, Mumbai, in C.Subudhi and B.M. Dash (eds) Handbook of Indian Social Work, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, pp.133-148.
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.
My research experience includes leading the ‘Adaptive Innovation and Climate Action’ project, funded by Transforming Universities for a Changing Climate, which focuses on capacity building and institutional transformation for climate resilience and participatory action. I have collaborated internationally with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) on the ‘Transformative Social Innovation in Small-Scale Fisheries’ project in the Indian Ocean Region, aiming to strengthen common pool resource governance and advance Blue Justice. I have also worked with IIED, London, on the ‘Climate Change, Vulnerability and Adaptation in Cities’ project, enhancing livelihood security and adaptation policies for vulnerable migrant populations in urban centres. My efforts also include the ‘Archiving Environmental Change’ project with the SSRC, documenting Indigenous Knowledge Systems and longitudinal environmental shifts to inform sustainable development goals.
My pedagogical and methodological approach is built on a foundation of Introduction to Social Theories and rigorous Qualitative Research Methods, which I utilize to explore the complex intersections of human society and the natural world in Environmental Studies. I translate these theoretical insights into practice through the Livelihoods Innovation Lab, where I employ Project Planning Tools for Livelihood Promotion to design community-led resilience strategies. Central to my work is a commitment to Action Research, specifically participatory methodologies that engage community actors as co-creators of knowledge to address climate-related shocks. To ensure the long-term effectiveness and ethical integrity of these interventions, I integrate Livelihoods Impact Assessment and Evaluation to measure their success in fostering sustainable and equitable futures for vulnerable populations
Close
Search
2026 All Rights Reserved.