Rita Banerji

Rita Banerji is an author, photographer and  gender activist.

Her book  Sex and Power: Defining History, Shaping Societies was released by Penguin Books in 2008 (Penguin Global, 2009).  She is also the founder and chief administrator of The 50 Million Missing, an online, global campaign working to stop the ongoing female genocide in India.

WRITINGS & PHOTOGRPAHY

Sex and Power: Defining History, Shaping Societies  was a  culmination of a five-year, in-depth, social and historical study of gender and sexuality in context of power in India.  The book looks at how and why the concept of sexual morality and the sexual customs changed in each historical period in India, and has been described as “An extraordinary take on a subject still a taboo [and].. a new interpretation of Indian history.”  The book also looks at how this power hierarchy of gender and sexuality has lead to India’s female gendercide.  The book was long-listed for the 2008 Crossword-Vodaphone Non-fiction Book Award.  In 2009 the book reached the no.1 spot on Crossword’s best-sellers list in Kolkata. For the reviews, excerpts and other details about the book visit www.sexandpower.info

Banerji  received the Apex Award of Excellence for Magazine and Journal Writing (U.S.A.) in 2009.  She is also a contributing photographer for Getty Images.

Her writings and photography have been published in magazines and newspapers in the USA, U.K., India, Nepal, Hong Kong and Australia.  The publications include The London Magazine, New Orleans Review, and India Today.

BLOGS: She runs two personal blogs

Rebellions in My Space : has posts on a number of subjects of personal interest including politics, religion, society, environment, literature, art and gender. (click here)

The Sex and Power Discussion Blog has posts that explores topics related to sex, sexuality and gender in context of power. (click here)

BACKGROUND

Rita was born and raised in 17 towns and cities all over India. At 18 she moved to the U.S.A. where she lived for 11 years.  She attended Mount Holyoke College and George Washington University in the U.S.   Her fields of study were Ecology, Conservation Biology, and Cultural Anthropology, and she worked largely in the environmental field.  Many of her projects had a gender perspective.  She has worked with the Chipko women’s movement in India (under the supervision of Dr. Vandana Shiva), and with the Institute for Policy Studies and The World Resources Institute in Washington D.C.

AWARDS AND HONORS:

Apex Award of  Excellence for Magazine and Journal Writing (U.S.A.)

Long-listed for the Vodaphone-Crossword Non-Fiction Book Award (India)

National Award from the Association for Women in Science, Washington D.C. for Ph.D. research on acid rain (U.S.A.) [click to view announcement]

Morgan Adams Award in Biology for Ph.D. Research (U.S.A.)

Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, Associate member (-Ex)

Botanical Society of America’s Young Botanist Recognition Award

Howard Hughes Grant for research in genetics

Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities

Award for Student Leadership and Service, Mount Holyoke College

Charles A. Dana Fellowship for Research in Ecology

President’s Award for Commitment and Contribution to Campus Life, Mount Holyoke