BASAS Graduate Essay Prize 2024 – Winner Announced

Tanuj Luthra, “Conviviality in the Clinic: Chhota daktars and the Work of Care in Delhi”

There was very stiff competition this year, with more entries than in any previous year of the conference.  Nevertheless the judging panel were fully in agreement that this paper stood out as a clear winner.  The below paragraph is a curation of panellists’ comment on the paper – showing their appreciation of the approach and the scholarship that has gone into this article:

This is substantive, well-researched, well-written and offers a new perspective on the practice of medicine in the informal sector.  The author clearly articulates their central argument and how their use of the concept of “conviviality” departs from existing understanding in the discipline. It is very well contextualized, theorized and corroborated with rich ethnography.  The situation of the paper in a post-pandemic society throws up a very insightful understanding of the economy of care. Even more than this, the paper is very much of the moment – it raises issues that are critical to contemporary public discourse, and has valuable policy implications.

Congratulations, Tanuj!