School of Social and Political Science

Dr Awanish Kumar

Honorary Fellow

A person wearing black shirt sitting around books
awanish.kumar@ed.ac.uk
Orcid Profile
Chrystal Macmillan Building
15a, George Square
Edinburgh
EH8 9LD

Research interests

Health & Well-being Identities & Inequalities International development South Asian studies Work & Economy

My primary interest is in the following areas: development studies, political economy, land, commons, and public health.

Background

Awanish Kumar is an Associate Professor at the School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. He is also an Honorary Fellow at the School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, and Consulting Editor (Book Reviews) at Economic & Political Weekly. He previously held a British Academy Newton International Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh and taught at Masters in Public Policy programme at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Trained in development studies, Awanish’s work is transdisciplinary in form and essence, seeking to meaningfully engage with reality in its fullest and widest possible canvas while working towards the common good. 

Consequently, his research spans different regions (Maharashtra, Bihar, Punjab and Jharkhand) and varied themes (agricultural economics, commons, public health, language politics), drawing from critical political economy, social anthropology and history. Apart from his formal academic and research activities, he is deeply interested in theoretical physics, philosophy of mind, science fiction, linguistics, and popular culture (especially Bombay cinema and Bhojpuri music). 

University Education

  • PhD Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, 2012–19.
  • MPhil, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, 2010–12.
  • MA Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, 2007–09.
  • BA (Hons) in Economics, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, 2004–07.
  • Certificate of Specialization in Sustainable Development, International Graduate School North-South (graduate school of Universities of Basel, Bern, Lausanne, and Zurich) 2019.

Employment

  • Assistant Professor, School of Development, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. July 2020 to March 2021.
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Public Policy at St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Mumbai. June 2015 to June 2020.

Works within

Publications by user content

Publication Research Explorer link
Kumar A. Agricultural insurance in India: History, issues and recent performance. In Ramakumar R, editor, Distress in the Fields: Indian Agriculture After Economic Liberalisation. Tulika Books, New Delhi. 2022. p. 390-410
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Kumar A. A conspectus on land and caste in India. Agrarian South Network Research Bulletin. 2022 Sept 16;15:9-13.
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Kumar A. Why caste, gender inequality worsen India’s public health crisis. 2022. 1 p.
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Kumar A. Now or never in Bihar? Economic and Political Weekly. 2022 Aug 20;57(34):8.
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Kumar A. Land and caste relations in North Bihar: Observations from two villages. Review of Agrarian Studies. 2022 Jun 30;12(1).
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Sekhar Dhar N, Pandey M, Kumar A. Identifying socio-economic classes in two villages of Bihar. Review of Agrarian Studies. 2022 Jun 1;12(1).
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Kumar A. The artist's manifesto. The Hindu. 2022 Feb 4.
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Kumar A. Reservations: A project of nation-building. Economic and Political Weekly. 2021 Nov 6;12(45-46):10-12.
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Kumar A. Reimagining public policy studies in India. Economic and Political Weekly. 2020 Sept 19;55(38):30-32.
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Kumar A. Caste and public health. 2020.
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Kumar A. Reading Ambedkar in the time of Covid-19. Economic and Political Weekly. 2020 Apr 18;55(16):34-37.
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Surendran A, Kumar A. Have RCTs brought back the “empirical” into economics? World Development. 2020 Mar;127:1-2. 104828. Epub 2019 Dec 14. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104828
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Kumar A. B R Ambedkar on caste and land relations in India. Review of Agrarian Studies. 2020 Jan 1;10(1):37-56.
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Kumar A. Autobiography of an iconoclast. Economic and Political Weekly. 2019 May 18;54(20):25-28.
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Kumar A. The crisis of the small farm economy in India. Review of Agrarian Studies. 2018 Jan 1;8(1):125-132.
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Kumar A. India's unique enigma of high growth and stunted children. 2017.
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Kumar A. Village India: Change and continuity. Review of Agrarian Studies. 2017 Jul 1;7(2):130-139.
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Kumar A. Agrarian questions: Old and new. Review of Agrarian Studies. 2017 Jan 1;7(1):149-161.
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Kumar A. The great masquerade. 2016.
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Kumar A. Where is caste in development? Bihar Assembly Elections 2015. Economic and Political Weekly. 2015 Nov 7;50(45).
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Shy Chau H, Kumar A, Lieberherr S. Non-family labour in the Swiss agriculture: A status report and future prospects. Journal of Socio-Economics in Agriculture. 2015;8(1):1-10.
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Kumar A. Nitish Kumar's honourable exit: A brief history of caste politics. Economic and Political Weekly. 2013 Jul 13;48(28):15-17.
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Kumar A. A class analysis of the 'Bihari menace'. Economic and Political Weekly. 2009 Jul 11;44(28):124-127.
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Awanish Kumar's Research Explorer profile