SustainabiliTEA

Discussion

Tea. Chai latte. Comforting and delicious, right? But have you ever wondered who grows it, who profits from it — and what stories get left out of the picture?

In this lively conversation, Ashoka Manchala chats with geographer Dr. Jasnea Sarma about the long, tangled, and bittersweet journeys of tea — from the lush (but politically loaded) gardens of Assam in Northeast India to your reusable mug in Zürich. Think colonialism, empire, class, caste, gender, land, labour, indigeneity, labour and biodiversity… all brewed into a single cup.

Come for the chai. Stay for the (geo)politics.

Free Assam tea courtesy of the Sustainability Week Zurich — and yes, all your questions and curiosities are very welcome.

Dr. Jasnea Sarma is a feminist ethnographer and political geographer of Global Asia. Her research spans borders, migration, and extractive zones, with fieldwork across Northeast India, Burma, and China. She holds a PhD from the National University of Singapore and teaches political geography at the University of Zurich. She is also an editor at Geopolitics.

Ashoka Manchala researches on the history of energy and coal, and is currently a PhD student at the University of Zurich. He is also a member of the Lead Team of Sustainability Week Zurich / Nachhaltigkeitswoche Zürich.