Research Fellow and former Post-doctoral Fellow,
Parasol Fellow
Dr. Ayushman Bhagat
Ayushman Bhagat was previously a Post-Doctoral Fellow – TraffLab (ERC) and Parasol Fellow, Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel-Aviv University, Israel. He received a Ph.D from the Department of Geography at Durham University, UK. Before enrolling as a research postgraduate, Ayushman implemented and evaluated several programmes related to human trafficking, migration, forced/bonded labour, and modern slavery at the policy level (the ILO, social sector consultancies, and government departments), and assisted several communities in the evolution of self-governing institutions in and around wildlife sanctuaries at the grassroots level (NGOs). With more than eight years of social issue-based engagement across multiple geographic locations, Ayushman positions himself as an action-oriented and output-driven development professional.
Research at TraffLab: Bhagat aims to conduct a pilot research project in Qatar and Malaysia to highlight Nepali workers’ everyday practices and responses against rightlessness, oppression, and exploitation they experience. On the basis of that, Ayushman plans to write a larger research project to examine the interplay between diverse practices of people on the move and the effect of (anti-) trafficking and modern slavery discourse along the South-Asia-Middle East Migration corridor.
CV
Relevant Publications
Ayushman Bhagat,“Who is Not an Agent Here?”: The Collateral Damage of Anti-Trafficking in Nepal, Antipode 1 (2022). [Full Text]
Ayushman Bhagat, Entrapment Processes in the Emigration Regime: The Presence of Migration Bans and the Absence of Bilateral Labor Agreements in Domestic Work in Nepal, 23(2) Theoretical Inquiries in Law, Special Issue: Bilateral Agreements 222 (2022). [Full Text]
Ayushman Bhagat , The Impact of Migration Bans on Female Nepalese Citizens, Policy
Briefing ((2022). [Full Text]
Ayushman Bhagat, 2020, ‘Departure Avenues: the politics of (anti-) trafficking and emigration control in Nepal’, Department of Geography, Durham University, UK (Ph.D. Thesis)
Ayushman Bhagat, 2020, ‘Trafficking Borders, Political Geography (In review).
Ayushman Bhagat, Labour Migrants’ Struggle to Subvert Anti-trafficking Interventions in Nepal, OPEN DEMOCRACY, January 20, 2021. [Full Text]