Aprajita Sarcar

Dr. Aprajita Sarcar is a historian and postdoctoral researcher at the Laureate Centre for Population and History at UNSW Sydney. Her work focuses on the intersection of postcolonial South Asia, population control policies, urban histories, and reproductive politics, with a particular interest in bridging archival research and everyday lived experiences.

She earned her PhD in History from Queen’s University (Canada, 2020) and completed postdoctoral research at the Centre de Sciences Humaines (New Delhi, 2020-2022). Her qualifications include an M.Phil in Social Medicine (JNU, 2013) and a Master’s in Political Studies (JNU, 2010).

Her research explores how small family norms in postcolonial India shaped economic planning and national identity, while examining municipal records alongside transnational archives. She employs mixed-method approaches to analyze the built environment’s role in population planning and the cultural impacts of contraceptive advocacy.

Recent publications address India-China demographic comparisons, critiques of one-child policy proposals, and historical case studies on Delhi’s urban development. She has received grants including the ADA ECR Research Support Enhancement Scheme (2022) and Laura Bassi Editorial Scholarship (2019).

• UNSW Sydney (Current Affiliation)
• Queen’s University, Canada (PhD, 2020)
• Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2020-2022)