Dr Nibedita S Ray-Bennett
Lecturer
Location: Shrivenham Campus
E: n.raybennett@cranfield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1793 785064
Department of Management and Security
Current activities
Dr Nibedita S. Ray-Bennett is a Lecturer at the Resilience Centre. Currently she is convening the MSc modules on Managing Natural Disasters 1&2 and Crisis Management.
Dr Ray-Bennett’s expertise lies in understanding and extrapolating the complex nature of small and large scale natural disasters and disaster management by taking an interdisciplinary approach. More concretely her strengths include the management of ‘multiple disasters’ (flood, cyclone and drought affecting one specific place) and critical analysis of disaster and development policy for risk reduction in South Asia and beyond, by taking sociological and anthropological approaches. Furthermore her scholarly knowledge includes gender and development (GAD) theories, including empowerment approach, gender mainstreaming; NGO and governance; gender in disasters and feminism. Her knowledge also expands to understand the specific vulnerability of women-headed households, and the manifestation of social stratification and social inequality during and after disasters.
More recent works focus on gender mainstreaming in DRR, fluidity of rural livelihoods in disaster prone areas, and understanding the meaning of and responses to disaster resilience at community and household levels in the majority world.
Dr Ray-Bennett has BA in English Literature from Delhi University and MA in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. In 2007 Dr Ray-Bennett obtained her doctorate in Sociology from Warwick University, which was funded by the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Programme, New York. Her PhD research explored the specific ways multiple disasters affect women-headed households from different social castes and classes and what is required to reduce their vulnerability to multiple disasters in the context of Orissa, India. This study was published as a monograph (2009) as well as several peer reviewed journal articles.
Background
Before joining Cranfield University Dr Ray-Bennett was a part-time Lecturer at Warwick University and convened the core MA module ‘Gender Analysis and Development Practice’ in the Department of Sociology. Previously she taught ‘Field Studies in Social Research’ and ‘Gender, Class and Empire: British imperialism and British society 1750 – 1914’ at Warwick. She also delivered lectures at Northumbria University and BRAC University in Dhaka.
From 2007 to 2009 Dr Ray-Bennett was an ESRC Research Associate at the Disaster and Development Centre (DDC) at Northumbria University. This two-year ESRC-DFID funded project explored the meaning of health security for disaster resilience in the context of Bangladesh. More concretely, the research aimed to understand how secured health or good health can have an impact on disaster vulnerability and explore what people do that keeps them healthy before, during and after disasters in order to mitigate their impact. This study was graded as ‘good’ by ESRC.
Before coming to the UK, Dr Ray-Bennett worked with CAPART in New Delhi, Maharastra Mahilla Parishad and Bhartiya Mahilla Federation in Mumbai and Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) in Jamshedpur, India. In doing so Dr Ray-Bennett was involved in processing rural developmental projects, facilitated urban micro-credit groups and involved in hardcore activism on women’s rights and their basic needs.
She also acted as Consultant to the district government in West Bengal, the Ministry of Rural Development and the Government of Orissa.
Selected publications
Books
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2009. Caste, Class and Gender in Multiple Disasters: The Experiences of women-headed households in an Oriya Village. VDM Verlag: Germany.
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2011. History of disaster relief in India. In Pnuel, K., Bradley, S., Mathew, G and Geoffrey, J (Eds) Encyclopedia of Disaster Relief. Sage Publications: New York. Forthcoming
Ray-Bennett, N.S 2011. Indian Famines (1896-1902). In Pnuel, K., Bradley, S., Mathew, G and Geoffrey, J (Eds) Encyclopedia of Disaster Relief. Sage Publications: New York. Forthcoming
Selected journal articles
Ray-Bennett, N.S. et al. 2010. Exploring the meaning of health security for disaster resilience: Through people’s perspectives in Bangladesh. Health and Place 16 (3): 581-589.
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2010. Multiple disasters and micro-credit: Can it reduce women’s vulnerability?: The case of Tarasahi in Orissa, India. Disasters 34(1): 240-260.
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2009. Multiple disasters and policy responses pre and post indepenance Orissa, India. Disasters 33(2): 275-290.
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2009. The influence of caste, class and gender in surviving multiple disasters in Orissa, India. Environmental Hazards 8(2009): 5-22.
Ray-Bennett, N.S 2009. Coping with multiple disasters and diminishing livelihood resources: Caste, class and gender perspectives: The case from Orissa. Regional Development Dialogue. Special issue on Gender and Disasters. United Nations Centre for Regional Development, 30 (1): 108-120.
Ray-Bennett, N.S 2008. Orissa: The Land of Multiple Disasters. The Eastern Times, Bhubaneswar, 4th April.
Ray-Bennett, N.S 2007. Environmental disasters and disastrous policies: An overview from India. Social Policy and Administration: Regional Issue: South Asia. 41(4): 419-424.
Reports
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2009. Developing Disaster Risk Reduction in Higher Education: A Scoping Study. All India Disaster Mitigation Institute, Gujarat, India
Mohapatra, M and Ray, N.S. 2004. 'Jhada Batasha Re Luchi Jae Jara Naam': A story book on flood coping expereinces of women. Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority. A Governmnet of Orissa Publication. [Published in Oriya].
Ray, N.S and Pan, S. 2001. The awareness level of vasectomy among men in rural and adjoining areas of TISCO. TISCO, Jamshedpur, India.
Selected International conference and seminar papers
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2009. Gender mainstreaming and disaster reduction: Towards a feminist approach. Second India Disaster Management Congress, New Delhi 4-6 November, India.
Ray-Bennett, N.S. and Collins, A. 2009. Health security and disaster resilience: Elderly as assets or victims in rural Bangladesh? Annual Regional Conference, Medsin, 21 February, Newcastle University, UK.
Ray-Bennett, N.S., Collins, A and Edgeworth, R. 2008. Exploring the Meaning of Health Security for Disaster Resilience in Bangladesh: A Mixed Methods Investigation. ESRC-DFID funded International Meeting on “The Meaning of Health Security for Disaster Resilience in Bangladesh” at the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research (ICDDR), 12 November, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Ray-Bennett, N.S. 2007. Coping with multiple disasters and diminishing livelihood resources: Caste, class and gender perspectives: The case from Orissa. IIASA DPRI Forum and Workshops 16-21 September, Stressa, Italy.
Ray, N.S. 2006. Success of women’s labour participation: Evidence from a disaster affected rural village in Orissa, India. 24th Annual International Labour Process Conference. 10-12 April, London.
Ray, N.S. 2004. Women-headed households and multiple disasters: Discussion on research findings from Orissa. Presented at the Postgraduate South Asia Seminar Series, Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics & Political Science, November, London.
Zao, F., Ray, N.S and Pellissery, S.A. 2003. Movements as evidence or ideology?: Comparative study for women’s policy making process in three transitional countries - India, China and Pakistan. Social Policy Association, Teesside University, 2003. Middlesbrough.
