Rohan Preece
Key information
- Department
- Department of Development Studies
- Qualifications
- BA Theology and Religious Studies, University of Cambridge; MA Education and International Development, Institute of Education, University of London
- Thesis title
- Labouring in Unfreedom? A Case study of textile workers in the National Capital Region, India
- Internal Supervisors
- Dr Alessandra Mezzadri
Biography
Rohan’s present research builds on around 11 years working within a range of local, national and international civil society organisations in India, particularly in Delhi.
This included leading a project on behalf of Transform Trade, and in partnership with Homeworkers Worldwide and HomeNet South Asia, to improve working conditions for homeworkers in textile and apparel supply chains in South Asia. With Partners in Change, Rohan contributed to various responsible business initiatives and led efforts to encourage the integration of sustainable finance standards among Indian banks.
Rohan’s initial work in India centered primarily on education, including grassroots projects with socially excluded communities. He has contributed to a wide range of civil society publications, and, with colleagues from the Praxis-Institute for Participatory Practices, to a book on participatory approaches to development published by Practical Action. Before working in the development sector, Rohan taught religious studies, philosophy, and ethics at the secondary school level in the UK and co-authored a Rhinegold students’ guide to A2 Religious Studies.
Research interests
Rohan’s PhD research focuses on the labouring lives of workers within the textile and apparel sector in India. Centred on individuals occupied within globally oriented supply chains in the National Capital Region, it seeks to bring workers’ experiences and analyses of their own labour into dialogue with contemporary political economy, feminist and policy debates.
Rohan sees research as offering powerful opportunities for solidarity and learning with local communities and institutions and is concerned with exploring both the potentials and pitfalls of research vis à vis these ends. Epistemologically, Rohan is interested in the possibilities for and trajectories of knowledge in a post-truth landscape, particularly in relation to struggles for sustainable development.