Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South
CARES is a registered Trust founded to promote research, study, policy analysis, public education, social work, community service and development.
CARES works to catalyse, support and strengthen civil society in promoting sustainable agriculture, livelihoods, ecological well-being and human dignity, with particular attention to poor and marginalised sections of society. Through research, education, dialogue and collaboration, CARES seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the challenges facing societies in India and the wider Global South, and to strengthen the knowledge and capacities needed to address them.
CARES brings together research and public engagement around questions that are central to the lives and livelihoods of working people. Our work is grounded in the understanding that questions of agriculture, land, labour, livelihoods, ecology and social development are deeply interconnected. We therefore encourage interdisciplinary research and dialogue that can illuminate these connections and contribute to more meaningful approaches to social and economic transformation.
We work independently as well as in collaboration with universities, research institutions, civil society organisations, researchers, students, practitioners and wider networks.
What We Do?
Research & Analysis: We undertake and support research on agrarian transformation, agriculture, land, labour, livelihoods, political economy, ecology, gender and social change.
Knowledge & Publications: We contribute to the production and dissemination of critical knowledge through journal publications, books, research papers and other forms of public scholarship. CARES publishes Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, an international journal providing a platform for critical scholarship from and on the Global South.
Dialogue & Convening: We organise and participate in conferences, workshops, study groups, schools and public discussions that bring together researchers, academics, students, practitioners and civil society actors.
Education & Capacity Building: We undertake training and capacity-building initiatives, independently and in collaboration with other organisations and individuals, to strengthen the skills and knowledge of those working in the public interest.
Collaboration & Networks: We build relationships across institutions, disciplines and countries, with particular emphasis on strengthening intellectual and collaborative connections across the Global South.
India and the Global South
CARES is located in India while engaging with wider intellectual and social questions across the Global South. Our work is informed by experiences and scholarship from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and by collaborations with researchers, institutions and networks across these regions. We believe that perspectives from the Global South are essential to understanding contemporary questions of development, inequality, ecology, labour and social transformation—not simply as subjects of study, but as sources of knowledge, theory and collective learning.
A Collaborative Institution: CARES works through collaboration. Over the years, its activities have brought together universities, research centres, academics, researchers, students, development practitioners, activists and civil society organisations. Through these collaborations, CARES seeks to create spaces where different forms of knowledge can meet—academic research, grounded experience, public policy, community perspectives and the lived realities of working people.
Our Commitment: CARES seeks to contribute to a society in which knowledge serves the public interest and where questions of sustainability, livelihoods, dignity and social justice remain central to development. Our work is guided by a commitment to critical inquiry, collective learning, solidarity and the pursuit of more just and sustainable futures.