School of Social and Political Science

Background

I am a political sociologist interested in unravelling the processes of social mobilisation and change in the Indian democracy. I have worked with diverse social movements, including the Right to  Food Movement in Jharkhand, the Dalit Vidrohi Movement in Maharashtra, and feminist and students’ groups in Mumbai city, as well as NGOs, in the development and performing arts sector, in India. I am associated with the Economic & Political Weekly, a leading Indian social science journal, as an editor since 2017.

My doctoral research is a study of local politics in rural west India. I conducted an ethnographic study of a village and its gram panchayat (village council) in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra state to explore the everyday sociopolitical negotiations between caste groups. In that, I focus on the ways and means of doing politics by Dalit pudharis (politicians). I was awarded the Commonwealth PhD Scholarship 2018 to undertake this study.

Supervisors

Dr Hugo Gorringe

Prof Roger Jeffery

Education

PhD in Sociology, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh (ongoing)

MPhil in Women’s Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai

MA in Sociology, Institute of Distance & Open Learning, University of Mumbai

MPP, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

BA in Economics, St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai

Conferences 

“Dalit Politics Upside Down: Democratisation at the Margins,” Annual Conference of the British Association of South Asian Studies (BASAS), University of Edinburgh, April 2021

“A Critical Survey of Research Methods in Election Studies in India,” guest lecture delivered at the Introduction to Psephology and Electoral Reforms course, Department of Political Science, University of Mumbai, October 2019.

“Storying Democratisation: Caste and Decentralisation in India,” New Directions Conference, University of Edinburgh, April 2019.

“Dalit Women: Narratives of Assertion and Resistance in Rural West India,” presented at the Exploring Legacies of Injustice and Inequality Conference, organised by the Ongoing Legacies International Research Network and Centre for Research on Families and Relationships, at the University of Edinburgh, December 2018.

“Class in Itself? Caste for Itself? Exploring the Latest Phase of Rural Agitations in India,” presented at the 5th International Conference of BRICS Initiative for Critical Agrarian Studies, Moscow (Co-author), October 2017

“Maratha Morchas: Tensions between Gender, Caste and Atrocity?” presented at the 15th National Conference of Indian Association for Women Studies (IAWS), Chennai, January 2017

Publications

“Death and Deceit” (cover story), Frontline, 4 June 2021, 26–30. (see here)

“Covid-19: Status Report from Two Villages in Latur, Maharashtra,” CoronaPolicyImpact. org, 13 April 2020. (see here)     

“Review of Why Democracy Deepens: Political Information and Decentralisation in India (2017),” Contemporary South Asia, 27 (1), 2019, 139–40. (see here)

“Caste-blind Justice” (opinion), Indian Express, 3 April 2018. (see here)

“All the Maharajah’s Men: A Case Study for Public Management,” Asian Journal of Public Affairs, 5(2), Fall 2012, 115–30.

Awards 

Commonwealth PhD Scholarship 2018–2022

Li Ka Shing Foundation Scholarship 2010–2012

Association for India (AID) Saathiship Award 2009–2010

Goldman Sachs Global Leaders Award & Scholarship 2007–2008