Govindan Venkatasubramanian holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Pondicherry. He works as a sociologist in the Department of Social Sciences at the French Institute of Pondicherry (India). Over the last 25 years, he has been working on a large range of issues in the fields of rural geography, rural-urban linkages, migration, livelihood, labor, finance, and environment, while paying specific attention to gender and caste inequalities.