Pranav Menon (he/him/his) is a Graduate Student at the Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota. He has pursued graduation in law from NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad and Masters from South Asian University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Although formerly trained and practicing lawyer, he was increasingly drawn to adopt an interdisciplinary frame to understand socio-cultural implications of rigid legal frameworks amongst forest dwelling populations in India. Since 2020, he has been closely engaging with the Van Gujjar Tribal Yuva Sanghatan in an attempt to understand how their pastoral work practices and nomadic lifestyles were constantly tussling, negotiating and carving out legitimate claim making practices amidst contesting and overlapping codes of forestry and conservation frameworks. His research interests lie in environmental anthropology, anthropology of the state, legal history, caste and indigenous studies, developmental studies and critical GIS frameworks. In his free time, Pranav likes to play Table tennis, watch cricket, write poetry, partake in freestyle dancing and go on hikes and trails.
Pranav is in residence with ICGC during the 2023-24 academic year.