Oxford scholar Urvi Khaitan will be presenting the topic of her doctoral thesis in this upcoming talk on female labour during the Second World War in India:

Hidden beneath traditional historical narratives of the Second World War are the profound effects of war and famine on women in British India. With a colonial state that failed them, low-caste and indigenous (Adivasi) women disproportionately bore the impact of the resulting displacement and destitution. This talk seeks to demonstrate that these women were not simply passive recipients of charity but actively looked for ways to survive, and in doing so, became part of an immense global supply chain supporting the Allied Second World War effort.