Conversation with Philosophers - Priya Sharma

Priya Sharma is PhD Scholar at IIT, Bombay researching commercial surrogacy in India through an ethical lens. With a background in natural sciences, sociology, and anthropology, she discusses the transdisciplinary approach towards her doctoral research among other valuable aspects of philosophy and gender disparity with Dr. Richa Shukla.
Bibliographic details of some references in the conversation –
- Prof. Amrita Banerjee, Associate Professor of Philosophy at IIT, Bombay, research interests lie in moral, social, and political philosophy, especially in feminist philosophy and bi-ethics, and reproductive technologies.
- Prof. Kushal Deb, IIT Bombay. A sociologist with interests in ethnicity, multiculturalism, urban studies, and development.
- Sociologist Sharmila Rudrappa in Making India the “mother destination”: Outsourcing labor to Indian surrogates, published in Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace, Sept 2010.

Feminist philosophers and ethicists discussed in reference to surrogacy and reproductive rights
- Alison Bailey, Professor of Philosophy, Illinois State University. Works at the intersections of feminist theories, race, critical white studies, and social epistemology.
- Jennifer Parks, Loyola University, Chicago. (bioethics, feminist theory, and gender studies)
- Iris Marion Young, political theorist, and social feminist. Mentioned in the conversation in reference to her work on systemic oppression and structural injustice. (“Five Faces of Oppression”, originally a chapter in Oppression, Privilege, and Resistance edited by Lisa Heldke and Peg O’Connor, published by McGraw Hill, Boston, 2004)
- Joan Tronto, Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, research interests include gender and ethics of care, political thought, and theories. (Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of care, New York, Routledge, 1993) and (Caring Democracy: Markets, Equality, and Justice, NYU Press, 2013)
- Sara Ruddick, 1935-2011, feminist philosopher (Maternal Thinking: Towards a Politics of Peace, 1989, The Women’s Press)
- Eva Kittay, a philosopher with primary interests in feminist philosophy, ethics, social and political theory, and application of these disciplines to disability studies (Love’s Labor, Essays on Women, Equality and Dependency, Routledge, 2019)
- Asha Bhandari, University of Iowa, political philosopher and feminist ethicist.
- Bell Hooks (American author and social activist)
- Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, Syracuse University, (Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity, Durham, London, Duke University Press, 2003)
- Prof. Kanchana Mahadevan, Philosopher, University of Mumbai, works on critical and cultural theory. (Between Femininity and Feminism: Colonial and Postcolonial Perspectives on Care, Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) and DK Printworld, 2014)
- Gail Omvedt (1941-2021). A sociologist with works on gender, environment, rural development, with extensive works on caste and Dalit politics (Dalits and the Democratic Revolution: Dr. Ambedkar and the Dalit Movement in Colonial India, Sage Publications, New Delhi,1994)
- Further digital and open access educational resources on the themes of gender and feminist studies
o Publications of Priya Sharma who is in conversation in this episode include – Ashley R, Goodarzi B, Horn A, de Klerk H, Ku SE, Marcus JK, Mayra K, Mohamied F, Nayiga H, Sharma P, Udho S, Vijber MR, van der Waal R. A call for critical midwifery studies: Confronting systemic injustice in sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn care: Critical Midwifery Collective Writing Group. Birth. 2022 Sep;49(3)