Manisha Anantharaman

Manisha Anantharaman is an Assistant Professor at the Center for the Sociology of Organizations (CSO), Sciences Po in Paris, where she joined in January 2024. She was previously an Associate Professor at Saint Mary’s College of California in the Global Studies and Environmental Studies programs. Her research lies at the intersection of sociology, environmental studies, and political ecology, with a focus on the socio-cultural and political dynamics of ecological transitions in the Global South.

• PhD, Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley (2015)
• MA, Integrative Bio-sciences, University of Oxford (2008), Inlaks Scholar
• Alba Viotto Visiting Professorship, University of Geneva (2019)

Her research critically examines how economic ideologies, socio-cultural identities, and power relations shape sustainability practices and environmentalism, particularly focusing on intersectional inequalities of race, class, caste, and gender. She is the author of the book Recycling Class (MIT Press, 2024), which presents an ethnographic study of waste labor and middle-class environmentalism in Bengaluru, India, critiquing 'performative environmentalism' and the limitations of inclusion without structural reform. Her work spans themes of circular economy, informal labor, green public spaces, digital infrastructures of consumption, and sustainable well-being.

Her recent publications reflect a strong trend in critical sustainability, analyzing everyday practices, urban green spaces, and the politics of consumption through feminist, postcolonial, and intersectional lenses. She employs ethnographic and community-based methodologies to understand how marginalized communities navigate environmental transitions and assert their rights.

• Pandemic Pedagogic Excellence Award (2021)
• Inlaks Scholar (2008)
• Alba Viotto Visiting Professorship, University of Geneva (2019)

Anantharaman is actively engaged in advising and research grants. She is a co-Principal Investigator on a €1.3 million Belmont Forum project studying digitalization and sustainable consumption across five countries. She also serves as an Associate Editor for Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene and Consumption and Society. Her policy work includes collaborations with Chatham House and UNEP, where she contributes to reports on circular economy and consumption, emphasizing marginalized perspectives. She teaches courses in Environmental Justice, Environmental Sociology, and Qualitative Methods at Sciences Po, and has extensive teaching experience at institutions like UC Berkeley and the University of Geneva.

She is a key member of the Center for the Sociology of Organizations at Sciences Po, participating in seminars on ecological sense and social-ecological transitions. Her research projects involve collaboration with scholars from Sweden, Norway, Turkey, and Japan, as well as engagement with municipal governments, civil society, and digital designers through design workshops. She is currently launching a comparative study on informal work in the circular economy across Asian and African cities.