Bio

Prerna’s PhD research investigates what cultural, economic and political factors affect people’s acceptance or rejection of nuclear energy in India. She has been engaging with nuclear issues for more than six years both academically and through civil action. Prerna’s Master’s thesis “Normalising Nuclear: A cultural study of how India learnt to love the bomb” was completed at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. It explores how a nation once invested in the Gandhian ideals of non-violence came to embrace a weapon of mass destruction from a cultural studies perspective. Her experience with various social movements drives her passion for socially relevant research and creative projects. She is also a documentary filmmaker and is interested in exploring the relevance of the form of documentary for research in social sciences. Her previous documentary films include: “Kadak Bai”, the story of a daily wage female worker who struggles to feed her family during India’s demonetization and “Like Dust We Rise”, the struggles of contract sanitation workers at the Bombay Municipal Corporation.

Featured Publications

Gupta, Prerna. “Reason and Risk: Challenging the Expert and Public Divide in the Risk Debates on Uranium Mining in India.” In Jacob Darwin Hamblin and Linda M. Richards, Eds., Making the Unseen Visible: Science and the Contested Histories of Radiation Exposure. Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2023.

Gupta, Prerna and M. V. Ramana. “India Update.” Assuring Destruction Forever: Nuclear Weapon Modernization Around the World. Edited by Allison Pytlak and Ray Acheson. January, 2022. https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Publications/modernization/india-2022.pdf.

Gupta, Prerna, and M.V. Ramana. “India.” Assuring Destruction Forever: 2020 Edition. Reaching Critical Will, June 2020. https://www.reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Publications/modernization/india-2020.pdf.

Gupta, Prerna and M. V. Ramana. “A Decade After the Nuclear Deal.” The India Forum, April 3, 2019. https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/decade-after-nuclear-deal.

Gupta, Prerna. “Why the TN Electricity Distributor Is in Conflict with Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.” The News Minute, August 28, 2019. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/why-tn-electricity-distributor-conflict-kudankulam-nuclear-power-plant-107983.

Gupta, Prerna, and Kumar Sundaram. “India’s Nuclear Dream Is Turning out to Be a Nightmare for Adivasis in Jharkhand.” Scroll.In. May 31, 2016.
http://scroll.in/article/809049/indias-nuclear-dream-is-turning-out-to-be-a-nightmare-for-adivasis-in-jharkhand.