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ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 162/163 (2022): ASIEN (Januar/April)

Empirical research is essential for Geography as a discipline. However, due to the current pandemic, collecting data and conducting fieldwork abroad has become an impossibility. Under current circumstances projects can only be carried out with reduced scope or have been completely put on hold, while researchers and PhD candidates are struggling with a very difficult situation – not only data-wise. Against this backdrop, we would like to use the scope of this editorial to reflect upon the meaning of the current COVID-19 pandemic both for geographical research in South Asia and for Geography as discipline. First, we will provide an overview of empirical studies that members of the South Asia Study Group have recently conducted and published. Afterward, we will briefly illustrate how the pandemic has unfolded in South Asian countries and affected their societies. Finally, we will discuss how geographers are dealing with the current situation and what we can learn from it for the future of Geography as a discipline with regional competences., Asien, Nr. 156/157 (2020): ASIEN (Juli/Oktober)

Asien, Nr. 134 (2015): ASIEN (Januar)

Rapid urbanization in Africa and Asia is currently changing environmental and societal living conditions for a large number of people. In urban India specifically, the deterioration of local natural environments, the inadequate provision of infrastructure, and socioeconomic disparities are collectively resulting in a “double burden” of disease — namely, high morbidity from both communicable diseases and from environment- and lifestyle-related non-communicable ones non-communicable ones. Using the example of Pune, the paper illustrates intra-urban differences in health status and access to healthcare by analyzing: a) the prevalence of diabetes and associated risk factors and b) access to healthcare services. The analysis of the prevalence of diabetes among different socioeconomic groups reveals that although the disease is currently still more common among the more affluent members of the Indian population, those from poorer backgrounds are also now demonstrating an increasing susceptibility to it due to recent changes in their behavioral choices. The course of the disease also differs across social levels, with a much higher number of complications and comorbidities being found among the lower socioeconomic groups. One reason for this lies in the major disparities that exist in access to adequate healthcare services. Pune's healthcare system is scarcely able to meet the challenge posed by a growth in population occurring alongside simultaneous changes in local epidemiological patterns. Major barriers to healthcare access exist in terms of affordability and awareness. These intra-urban differences in exposure to health risks and the varied ability to cope with ill health are now resulting in an epidemiological diversification within Indian urban society. Targeted interventions aimed at different social levels are thus needed if the urban health situation in India is to improve., Asien, Nr. 134 (2015): ASIEN (Januar)

ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 135 (2015): ASIEN (April)

ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 125 (2012): ASIEN (Oktober)

Periurban farmers in India are operating in fast-paced transformative environments of uncertain, quickly changing hydrosocial landscapes while simultaneously responding to different urban, rural and periurban demands. The urge is growing toward a more sustainable, integrative agricultural transformation, in which local stakeholders have more agency to control their own development. Yet, farmers are mostly passive in the process of shaping periurban futures as they face challenges in dealing with growing uncertainties in their hydrosocial environments. From a political ecology perspective, the concept of the hydrosocial cycle helps in understanding these uncertainties and their impacts on farmers' livelihoods and in classifying water-society dynamics. We adopted this concept to critically assess different perceptions of uncertainties based on the effects of uneven hydrosocial development. Extending beyond this analysis, we then followed a multi-perspective, scenario-based planning approach to show a methodology to support farmers in adapting and planning accordingly. We applied a modified Delphi method that combines local knowledge of actors from the village Paud in periurban Pune (India) with the expertise of Indian and international experts. We used the method to determine actions and institutions for different future scenarios and to understand which drivers and signals interfere and affirm each scenario's feasibility. From both bodies of knowledge, we could identify one realistic preferred/business-as-usual scenario and two alternatives with eight different drivers that cause complex, hydrosocial uncertainties. Both bodies of knowledge suggest that farming will continue to be an important water-based livelihood in Paud in the future. Yet, we were able to contrast different mechanisms involved in the future thinking of actors and experts. This research contributes to understanding possible processes of adaptation through co-creation of knowledge. The applied methodology can enable farmers to reflect on possible futures, activate their available capabilities, and may facilitate more sustainable and adaptive decision-making. After further refinements, the method employed could in future be useful for policy making and planning.

Seit dem Jahr 2000 nahm die Migration aus Indien nach Deutschland stark zu. Nun liegt eine Studie vor, die über drei Jahre im Rahmen eines Forschungsprojektes an der Universität Köln die Situation indischer Migrant(inn)en untersuchte. Mittlerweile leben rund 100.000 Menschen indischen Ursprungs in Deutschland. Die Studie „Transnationales Handeln indischer Migranten in Deutschland“ beschreibt die vielen verschiedenen Beweggründe und Lebensumstände der indisch-stämmigen Mitbürger/-innen und ihre Beziehungen ins Heimatland. Sie soll Ende 2018 als Buch erscheinen. Im Folgenden fasst der Autor seine Forschungsergebnisse zusammen. Der Text erscheint im Rahmen der Zusammenarbeit der Zeitschriften MEINE WELT und SÜDASIEN und wurde in MEINE WELT Heft 2-2018 erstveröffentlicht., Südasien, Bd. 38 Nr. 3 (2018): 200 Jahre Indologie - ein geistiges Abenteuer

ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 154/155 (2020): ASIEN (Januar/April)

ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 150/151 (2019): ASIEN (Januar/April)

In the last three decades, Delhi has witnessed the emergence of an independent textile industry that focuses on the production of highly specialized luxury garments. Until the 1980s, the Indian garment industry was mainly characterized by self-employed, locally operating tailors, and unorganized retailers. By that time, a few innovative entrepreneurs had identified the potential of the traditional Indian textile handicrafts for contemporary fashion however, and thus laid the foundations for today’s luxury garment industry. This development was actively fostered by the Indian government, which created supportive institutional framework conditions for this emerging industry. Against this background, different value chains within the heterogeneous luxury garment industry in Delhi are analyzed in this exploratory study. While production processes are similar in all of the researched companies, there are significant differences regarding the size of these companies and related to the networks in which they are embedded. Although these value chains are mainly organized regionally, the designers act as lead firms and are embedded in global networks. In contrast, the suppliers are globally disconnected and often marginalized. The findings indicate that the emerging industry still mainly serves national or regional markets, but especially larger and established companies consider expanding to global markets., ASIEN: The German Journal on Contemporary Asia, Nr. 150/151 (2019): ASIEN (Januar/April)