->Scorpions13256: Removing from Category:21st-century Indian scientists using Cat-a-lot

2021-07-10T04:50:39Z

Removing from Category:21st-century Indian scientists using Cat-a-lot

New page

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Orphan|date=June 2014}}

{{infobox writer 
| name = Rani Dhavan Shankardass
| image = Rani Dhavan Shankardass - Kolkata 2016-04-07 3464.JPG
| imagesize =
| caption = Rani Dhavan Shankardass in 2016
| occupation = Historian, author
| nationality = Indian
| education = [[University of Cambridge]], [[University of London]], [[University of Pennsylvania]], [[University of Allahabad]]
| spouse = [[Vijay Shankardass]]
| genre = History, social science, criminology
| notableworks = ''Of Women Inside: Their Yesterdays Todays and Tomorrows'' (2011),
''In Conflict and Custody: Therapeutic Counselling for Women'' (2012)
}}

'''Rani Dhavan Shankardass''' is an Indian [[social historian]] and global expert on [[prison reform]]. She is the Secretary General of Penal Reform and Justice Association (PRAJA) and the President of [[Penal Reform International]].

== Education and career ==

Dr Dhavan Shankardass was born in [[Allahabad]], [[India]] to parents from the [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|North West Frontier Province]] and schooled in [[Allahabad]], [[Nainital]], and [[Lucknow]]. She read History and Political Science at the [[University of Allahabad]]. She has five graduate degrees across the academic divisions of Social, Political and Economic History, including two MA degrees from [[University of Allahabad]] and [[University of Pennsylvania]], MSc and M.Litt degrees from [[Girton College]], [[University of Cambridge]] and a PhD from [[School of Oriental and African Studies]], [[University of London]].<ref name="about author">[http://www.sagepub.com/authorDetails.nav?contribId=518869 Author Details], Sage Publications</ref> She began her career as a lecturer in Political Science at Kamla Nehru College, [[University of Delhi]], India. Her earlier work was focused primarily on political history. Subsequently, she became a senior research fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, [[Nehru Memorial Museum and Library]], New Delhi, India.<ref name="about author"/> During this time, her interests gradually moved to issues relating to social change and the factors that have facilitated or hindered such change in colonial and postcolonial India. Her first project at [[Teen Murti Bhavan|Teen Murti House]] was on [[debt bondage]] (bonded labour), a pervasive form of slavery across India. Her next project was on the history and workings of the [[prison system]] in India. Her current research area continues to be on [[penal reform]] across South Asia with a specific focus on the mental health and care of women in prisons and custodial justice.

She is a leading figure in prison reform and prisoner rehabilitation movements in various parts of the world, and regularly designs and oversees workshops that train judicial and law enforcement officials on crucial developments in penal reform policy and human rights centred approaches to the penal system.<ref>[http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/where-people-component-matters/article4289491.ece Where People Component Matters], The Hindu, Jan 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.worldcat.org/title/workshop-on-new-models-of-accessible-justice-the-india-experience-special-focus-on-women-and-juveniles/oclc/55679240?referer=di&ht=edition Workshop on New Models of Accessible Justice], New Models of Accessible Justice Project</ref> She speaks extensively at conferences and seminars<ref>[http://duihua.org/wp/?p=8567 Women Prisoners, Gender Specific Treatment], The Dui Hua Foundation</ref> as well as at the United Nations<ref>[http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/03/panelchildren-deprived-of-liberty-26th-meeting-19th-session.html Panel: Children Deprived of Liberty], United Nations Webcast</ref> and has appeared as an expert on punishment and prisons on numerous radio and TV shows.<ref>[http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/we-the-people/we-the-people-time-to-re-think-capital-punishment/257669 Time to Rethink Capital Punishment], We the People</ref> She is the author and coauthor of numerous books on criminal justice, prisons and penal reform and has contributed articles on these issues to numerous newspapers and journals, including ''[[Times of India]]'', ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'', ''[[Economic and Political Weekly]]'', ''Seminar'', and ''Social Welfare''. In 2014 she spoke at the Jaipur Literature Festival in two sessions, ''Prisons of the Mind'' and ''The Political Imagination''.<ref>[http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/rani-shankardass/ Rani Shankardass] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107062218/http://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/rani-shankardass/ |date=7 January 2014 }}, Jaipur Literature Festival</ref> During her tenure as a [[Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship|Nehru Fellow]] she was invited to join the Board of [[Penal Reform International]], a non-government organisation based in the UK, with consultative status with the United Nations. She served as its Chairperson from 2006 to 2011 and currently serves as its Honorary President.<ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060130/world.htm#7 Shankardass is PRI chief], The Tribune, 30 January 2006</ref>

== Writing ==

Dr Dhavan Shankardass has written extensively on social history and human rights. Notable published works include ''The First Congress Raj: Provincial Autonomy in Bombay'' (Macmillan, 1982), ''[[Vallabhbhai Patel]]: Power and Organization in Indian Politics'' (Orient Longman, 1986), ''Punishment and the Prison: Indian and International Perspectives'' (Sage, 2000) (an edited multi-disciplinary volume that spanned history, sociology, law, justice and gender), and ''Barred from Life and Scarred for Life: The Experiences of Women in the Criminal Justice System in India'' (PRAJA, 2004). Her most recent publications are ''Of Women Inside: Prison Voices from India'' (Routledge, 2011) and ''In Conflict and Custody: Therapeutic Counselling of Women'' (Sage, 2012). The books were launched together in the House of Lords at the British Parliament in 2012.<ref>[http://www.penalreform.org/news/pri-launches-books-women-criminal-justice-system-house/ PRI launches two books on Criminal Justice System in the House of Lords], PRI</ref> and were introduced by [[Baroness Helena Kennedy]] and Baroness Vivien Stern. Both volumes complement each other: one sets out the trials and tribulations of women sent to prison, sometimes avoidably, and questions the role of the law on the subject, and the other suggests how those problems that relate exclusively to women in custody might be addressed.<ref name="about author"/> She is currently researching and working on the subject of ‘Children of Incarcerated Parents’ with a special focus on South Asia.

== Awards ==

In 1996, she was awarded the prestigious [[Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship]] for her work ''Prison, Punishment and Criminal Justice''.<ref>[http://www.jnmf.in/flist.html Fellows List], Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund</ref>

== Personal ==

She is the daughter of [[Shanti Swaroop Dhavan|His Excellency Shanti Swaroop Dhavan]], Governor of West Bengal and [[High Commissioner|Indian High Commissioner]] (Ambassador) to the United Kingdom and the granddaughter of Rai Bahadur Bali Ram Dhavan of the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North West Frontier Province]], formerly of India.<ref>[http://hosted.law.wisc.edu/wordpress/sharafi/files/2010/07/Middle-5.01.pdf South Asians at the Inns of Court], Middle Temple 1863–1944</ref> She is the wife of celebrated Indian lawyer Vijay Shankardass,<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/dec/08/weekend.williamdalrymple William Dalrymple on the Rulers of Hyderabad], The Guardian, 8 December 2007</ref> whose clients have included His Royal Highness [[Nizam of Hyderabad]], author [[Salman Rushdie]], actor [[Michael Douglas]], [[Amnesty International]], [[Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces]], [[Penguin Books]] and [[Virgin Group]].

She spends her time between her homes in New Delhi and London.

== References ==

{{reflist|2}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankardass, Rani Dhavan}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian women historians]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]]
[[Category:Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows]]
[[Category:Scientists from Allahabad]]
[[Category:University of Allahabad alumni]]
[[Category:University of Delhi faculty]]
[[Category:Scientists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:Social historians]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:Women scientists from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Scholars from Allahabad]]
[[Category:Women educators from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Educators from Uttar Pradesh]]

Rani Dhavan Shankardass - Revision history

->Scorpions13256: Removing from Category:21st-century Indian scientists using Cat-a-lot