Profile

Prof Searle’s research explores the social, cultural, and geographical changes that have accompanied globalization in South Asia and the ways in which capitalist practices shape urban space. Her first book, Landscapes of Accumulation: Real Estate and the Neoliberal Imagination in Contemporary India, has just been published with the University of Chicago Press. The book explains the rapid growth of Indian cities and the proliferation of new malls, high-rises, and office parks across India by examining the practices and ideas of those who fund real estate projects. Prof Searle worked with international financiers and real estate developers to understand how they transform Indian buildings into legible assets available to international networks of speculative finance. Building on her interest in cultures of capitalism, urban space, and consumer practices, her next project will investigate domestic consumer culture to understand emerging ideals of class and gender in India’s new high-rises.