Active participation
Ajinkya began her activism as part of the Progressive Students' Alliance (PSA), formally known as the Amherst Student Acting Politically (ASAP). She also participated in groups such as the Amherst Feminist Alliance and Community Outreach. With the ASAP/PSA, Ajinkya has been active in issues such as worker's rights, social and economic equality issues and sweatshop labor.
One activity that stands out in her memory is the ASAP's protest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). She went with a group of students to Quebec City during the spring of 2001 to join a Western Massachusetts coalition in protest of a secret FTAA meeting. "The ramifications of the agreement were devastating for workers' rights, the environment, and state autonomy against corporate power-hence, the need to hold the meeting democratically," Ajinkya said. "But instead, it was being held in secrecy." Her group marched straight up to the conference center, but despite their use of vinegar-soaked handkerchiefs to protect themselves from tear gas, they had to turn back. This protest remains vividly in Ajinkya's memory. "It seemed like the whole city was beating with this intense heartbeat, because protesters were banging objects in sync with one another," Ajinkya said.
Ajinkya's passion for activism was sparked during her high school years at Randolph High School in New Jersey. She was on the debate team and often dealt with issues concerning social inequalities in terms of healthcare, employment discrimination and affirmative action. But it wasn't until she arrived at the College that she delved thoroughly into political activism. "Here, I met upperclassmen I deeply respected, and developed an interest in spreading information through tabling, rallies and other activist means," Ajinkya said.
Summer activities
Ajinkya has continued pursuing her passion during her summers. The summer after her freshman year, she trained as a union organizer with Union Summer, a program based in Milwaukee. The next summer, Ajinkya interned at the Center for Community Change in Washington, D.C. There, she lobbied for welfare reform, refugee rights, public policy work and support for low-income communities. Last summer, Ajinkya worked at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), where she worked on the Foreign Policy in Focus project and ran a weekly documentary screening. She will return to the IPS after graduation for a two-year fellowship, which will involve interaction with grassroots groups across the country, ensuring that their foreign policy concerns are addressed in Washington. Ajinkya will work though the New Voices fellowship program, which is awarded by the Ford Foundation for individuals to work with an organization in the field of international security. "I'm hoping that this experience will help me decide between going to graduate school for international relations or going into international law," Ajinkya said. "Regardless, my future is going to have an international focus."
Going nowhere, almost
Ajinkya studied abroad in Bangalore, India during the fall of her junior year. Ajinkya had to petition for two and a half months to prove that the program included a full academic load as well as experiential learning. Ajinkya's petition was at first denied. "The only reason I finally got to go was because a wonderful professor knew scholars I'd be learning from and vouched for me," Ajinkya said. It was approved only with the support of Professor of Political Science Uday Mehta, who helped her negotiate with the registrar.
In Bangalore, Ajinkya took the four required courses (in economic development, religion and culture, Kannada language and an independent study in politics), and also traveled to historic locations throughout India. During their free time, the students in the program worked with reputable non-governmental organizations. Ajinkya lived with a Bangalore family for the first three months and then moved to Mysore to live on her own during the last month of the program, which dealt with independent research. "I worked with some of the best scholars in the country, " she said.
Back to work
Ajinkya wrote her thesis on Hindu Nationalism, focusing on how the state instigates riots between Hindus and Muslims for its own benefit. Her abroad program in India trained her in field research, but also made Indian politics a practical interest for her. "My thesis writing experience was, in retrospect, a really powerful experience," Ajinkya said. "There were so many times during the past year when I was sure I had to drop the beast. But, ultimately, my advisor encouraged me ... that I had something and I should keep it up." At one point, Ajinkya discarded three months of her research when her thesis assumed its own path. "More than getting my argument right, the process was about educating myself," Ajinkya said. "I took it upon myself to learn the equivalent of two or three courses in Indian politics, something our school doesn't offer, and I did it."
Professor of Political Science and Women and Gender Studies (WAGS) Amrita Basu, Ajinkya's advisor and first thesis reader, is an expert on Hindu nationalism. She was impressed with Ajinkya. "She was a wonderful student-respectful and irreverent, serious and playful," Basu said. "She brought to the course and to her thesis a personal engagement that grew out to her enormous involvement with India."
Ajinkya's third thesis reader, Professor of Political Science and WAGS Kristin Bumiller felt similarly. "Julie is driven by a wonderful combination of seriousness of purpose, compassion for others and deep sense of personal responsibility," Bumiller said.
Ajinkya says she has enjoyed the benefits of going to a small liberal arts school. "The best part of Amherst for me was the closeness I felt towards different professors," said Julie. "I've had dinners with professors, regularly hung out at coffeehouses with them, attended their weddings ... It's an amazing place to feel like a student and not a number."