Dr. Craig Jeffrey, Oxford University

Dr. Craig Jeffrey
University Lecturer in Human Geography, Oxford University
Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford

Craig Jeffrey is Fellow and Tutor in Geography at St. John’s College, Oxford and teaches human geography in the School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University.  Craig’s research focuses on youth, politics, and education in India and he has spent over four years in north India since 1996, carrying out social research in Hindi and Urdu. He has co-written two books: Degrees Without Freedom? Education, Masculinities and Unemployment in North India (Stanford University Press 2008) and Telling Young Lives: Portraits in Global Youth (Temple University Press 2008), and he has another book forthcoming - Timepass: Waiting, Micro-Politics, and the Indian Middle Classes (Stanford University Press  2010). Craig has also written numerous papers in leading geography, development, anthropology, and area studies journals - see his website for a complete list. Craig is currently co-editing a book series on Global Youth with Temple University Press. He also has a keen interest in developing new teaching innovations, for example around role play and field research.

Rahul- Please share highlights of your forthcoming book -Timepass: Waiting, Micropolitics and the Indian Middle Classes- and how does it relate to Indian education and society?
Dr. Jeffrey- My new book with Stanford University Press examines middle class power, everyday politics and the social experience of "waiting" through reference to Jats in Uttar Pradesh, India. It will interest anthropologists, geographers, development scholars, and anyone concerned to better understand modern India. In the 1990s and 2000s, prosperous Jat farmers and Jat university students were reproducing their power through co-opting the local state: influencing government bureaucrats, in the case of many farmers, or establishing themselves as youth “fixers”, in the case of Jat young men. At the same time, unemployment has become so ubiquitous in the north Indian city of Meerut that Jats, low castes and Muslims all experience prolonged joblessness; they imagine themselves as people “just passing time” (“doing timepass”). United by their shared sense of timelessness, Jats, low castes and Muslims sometimes launch collective protests against the state.

The book therefore documents in rich detail both the mechanisms through which class inequalities are reproduced in provincial India and the "key moments" when young people forge alliances across caste and class divides. Conceptually, these points illustrate the possibilities and limits of Pierre Bourdieu's social theory for understanding Indian social life.

Rahul- In your earlier book, Degrees Without Freedom?, you have discussed the intricate relationship between education, society and poverty in Uttar Pradesh. What are the top two recommendations you have for addressing the problem of educated unemployed youth in India?
Dr. Jeffrey- My top two recommendations for addressing unemployment are as follows:

A. Stop regarding poverty and unemployment as "problems" somehow external to what is happening in the West. The ability of people to lead comfortable and secure lives in the West is intricately linked to the reproduction of unemployment and poverty in places such as India. There are no quick-fix technical solutions to the issue.

B. What might work is a combination of determined advocacy on behalf of the poor, institutional reform (for example preventing politicians from spending money on elections), and reform of the education system to better reflect the needs of north Indian young people.

Rahul- You have been actively engaged with conducting research in India. Please share your experiences as a international researcher in India. What were some of the challenges you faced?
Dr. Jeffrey- Language is an obvious barrier, but I am now fluent in Hindi. I have found people enormously generous with their time. I have learnt a great deal from the generosity and kindness of people in north India.