21st Annual Solanki Lecture: How Inclusive is “Inclusive Innovation”? Understanding Technology-Enabled Empowerment in India

The Yadunandan Center for India Studies is proud to present the 21^st Annual Solanki Lecture

How Inclusive is “Inclusive Innovation”? Understanding Technology-Enabled Empowerment in India

with

Shobita Parthasarathy

International development institutions, governments, and social entrepreneurs have become increasingly enthusiastic about ‘inclusive innovation.’ The term refers to efforts to use science and technology to alleviate poverty and inequality. What separates inclusive innovation from previous efforts is the urge to bypass infrastructural projects in favor of devices that are easy to make and circulate. Through an examination of innovation efforts in sanitation and women’s health in India, this talk explores how these practices may empower but also limit civil rights and liberties. 

Shobita Parthasarathy is Professor of Public Policy and Gender and Women’s Studies, and Director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the University of Michigan. She is the author of numerous articles and two books: Building Genetic Medicine: Breast Cancer, Technology, and the Comparative Politics of Health Care (MIT Press 2007), which influenced the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court case challenging the patentability of human genes, and Patent Politics: Life Forms, Markets, and the Public Interest in the United States and Europe (University of Chicago Press, 2017) which won the Robert K. Merton Prize from the American Sociological Association. She is currently writing a book about the politics of inclusive innovation for international development, with a focus on India.

The Solanki Lecture will be held in person in the College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPaCE) building. 

You can RVSP by scanning the QR code on the flyer or by following this link: https://forms.gle/KLpfMj6uo2Dqt3jA9