Populism & Populist Politics-Researchers & Experts

CHAIR & DISCUSSANTS

ABSTRACTS

Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury

Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury is Professor, Department of Political Science and Director, Centre for Nepal Studies at the Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. His areas of interest include South Asian studies, in particular, politics of globalisation, democracy, development, displacement, human rights and justice in South Asia. He is among the few experts on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands that India has. He is a regular contributor to academic journals, periodicals, dailies, news channels and portals. His recent publications include: Indian Autonomies: Key Words and Key Texts, (co-edited with Ranabir Samaddar and Samir Kumar Das), Sampark, Kolkata, 2005, and Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance of UN’s Guiding Principles, (co-edited with Paula Banerjee and Samir Kumar Das), Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2005.

Prasanta RAY

Prasanta RAY, the president of the Calcutta Research Group (CRG), is currently an Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Political Science, Presidency College, Kolkata; Honorary Visiting Professor, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata; Guest, Professor, Department of Sociology, Calcutta University; and Member, CRG

Ranabir Samaddar

Ranabir Samaddar belongs to the critical school of thinking and is considered as one of the foremost theorists in the field of forced migration studies. He has worked extensively on issues of forced migration, the theory and practices of dialogue, nationalism and post-colonial statehood in South Asia and new regimes of technological restructuring and labour control. The much-acclaimed ‘The Politics of Dialogue: Living Under the Geopolitical Histories of War and Peace’ was a culmination of his long work on justice, rights and peace. His recent political writings published in the form of a two-volume account, The Materiality of Politics (2007), and The Emergence of the Political Subject (2009) have challenged some of the prevailing accounts of the birth of nationalism and the nation-stat, and have signalled a new turn in critical postcolonial thinking. His co-authored work on new town and new forms of accumulation ‘Beyond Kolkata: Rajarhat and the Dystopia of Urban Imagination’ (Routledge 2013) takes forward urban studies in the context of post-colonial capitalism. He is currently the Distinguished Chair in Migration and Forced Migration Studies, Calcutta Research Group.

Samir Kumar DAS

Samir Kumar DAS currently honorary director of CRG and Professor of Political Science at the University of Calcutta, Kolkata. Previously the Vice-Chancellor of the University of North Bengal, and a Post Doctoral Fellow (2005) of the Social Science Research Council (South Asia Program) based in New York, he is the Coordinator of the University Grants Commission Departmental Research Support (UGC-DRS) Programme (Phase II & Phase III)) on ‗Democratic Governance: Comparative Perspectives‘. He served as an Adjunct Professor of Government at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (2014), a Visiting Professor of the North East India Studies Programme at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi in 2015 and at the Universite 13 Sorbonne Paris Cite in 2016 among many of his assignments. He specializes in and writes on issues of ethnicity, identity, security, migration, rights and justice and has contributed over 190 research papers to highly esteemed national and international journals and edited volumes. Besides, he has been a regular reviewer of some of the top journals, publishing houses and research bodies including Minority Rights International (London), EU-India Social Science and Humanities Platform (Ljubljana)) and European Research Council (Brussels) etc. Some of his recent publications include Migrations, Identities and Democratic Practices in India (2018), India: Democracy and Violence (OUP, 2015, edited), Governing India’s Northeast: Essays on Insurgency, Development and the Culture of Peace (Springer 2013), ICSSR Surveys and Explorations: Political Science: Volume I: Indian State (OUP 2013 edited), Conflict and Peace in India’s Northeast: The Role of Civil Society (East West Center, 2006), Blisters on Their Feet: Tales of Internally Displaced Persons in India’s North East (Sage 2008 edited), Terror, Terrorism, Histories and Societies: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective (Women Unlimited 2010 coedited) among others.

Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty

Subhas Ranjan Chakraborty , an invitee board member of CRG, is one of the well-known teachers of History, who has inspired generations of students of the city in the musings of Cleo. He specialises in European History, and combines with this knowledge of European history his deep understanding of the society and politics of Darjeeling, which has brought a distinct edge to CRG researches on conditions of autonomy in India. He has authored several essays on the history Darjeeling, and was one of the organisers of the first Critical Asian Studies Workshop in West Bengal in 1998.

Paula Banerjee

Paula Banerjee, best known for her work on women in borderlands and women and forced migration, is the President of International Association For Studies in Forced Migration. She is currently Vice-Chancellor of Sanskrit College and University. She is also the Director of the avant guard South Asian think tank called Calcutta Research Group. Winner of many awards and accolades, in 2013 she was awarded the Distinguished Fulbright SIR Award and a Visiting Professorship to SUNY, Oswego. Her recent publications include Statelessness in South Asia (2016), Unstable Populations, Anxious States (edited 2013), Women in Indian Borderlands (edited, 2012) and Borders, Histories, Existences: Gender and Beyond (2010) which has been acclaimed as a best seller. She is the editor of Refugee Watch and the editorial board member of a number of international journals such as Oxford Journal of Refugees. She has written and edited over 15 books and monographs and has published widely in international journals such as Journal of Borderland Studies, Canadian Journal of Women’s Studies, Forced Migration Review and Journal of International Studies. Acknowledged as a radical and prolific speaker she has delivered lectures in all five continents. She has been a visiting professor in a number of universities including Helsinki University (Finland), Yunnan University (China) University of Paris 7 (France) and New School, New York (USA) and others.

Kharat Rajesh

Kharat Rajesh joined South Asian Studies Division as Associate Professor in November 2008. He received his M. Phil and Ph. D. from South Asian Studies, SIS, JNU. Earlier he worked as Lecturer and Reader at Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai since July 1991. His areas of interest include study of Himalayan states of South Asia (Bhutan and Nepal), and other contemporary issues like forced migration, terrorism and regional cooperation

Samata Biswas

Samata Biswas is currently an assistant professor at Sanskrit College & University, and a board member of CRG. She has been involved in a research project titled "Haldia: the Makings of a Logistical Space", in collaboration with Calcutta Research Group and Western Sidney University. She completed UGC Minor Research Project titled "Reading the Fit (?) Body: Body Cultures in Contemporary Bengal", August 2013.

Iman Mitra

Iman Mitra is presently a Research and Programme Associate at Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group. He has registered with Jadavpur University as an ICSSR Doctoral Fellow for his PhD in 2009 and submitted his thesis for examination in 2013. His PhD dissertation explores the history of dissemination of economic knowledge in colonial Bengal through various pedagogical and institutional networks. His research interests include modes of popularization of the discipline of economics in colonial and post-colonial India and the appropriation of and negotiations with disciplinary knowledge at the level of practical application. At MCRG, He is involved in a project on the interconnectedness between rural to urban migration, urbanization, and social justice in post-liberalization India. He has also contributed in many Bengali and English dailies on issues of political and social import.

Byasdeb Dasgupta

Byasdeb Dasgupta, is a associate professor, Department of Economics, Kalyani University Nadia, West Bengal. Ph. D in Economics from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi under the supervision of Professor Sunanda Sen. Degree was awarded in 1996 and the thesis was on International Debt Crisis and Debt Management Policies in the Eighties - The Problem of Net Transfer of Financial Resources. M. Phil in Economics from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Degree was awarded in 1992.

Nasreen Chowdhory

Nasreen Chowdhory is currently an Assistant Professor, at Department of Political Science, University of Delhi. She has done PhD in political Science from McGill University, and Masters and MPhil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has published several research papers in national and international peer-reviewed journals such as Refugee Watch A South Asia Journal on Forced Migration, Journal for the Centre of South Asian Strategic Studies among others. Presently she is guest editor of a special issue on “Displacement – a ‘state of exception’ and beyond: Issues and Perspectives in Forced Migration in South Asia” under review with the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies. She was awarded Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship during 1999-2003 and also a recipient of JRD Tata Award in 1998-99. She is also a member of International Studies Association, Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata, International Studies Association, Canadian Association of Forced Migration Studies, American Political Science Association and an Executive Board Member of International Association for the Study of Forced Migration. In the past, she worked as Assistant Professor in the Asian University for Women and Concordia University and McMaster University.

Kalpana Kannabiran

Kalpana Kannabiran , the Vice-President of the CRG, is Chairperson of the Chityala Ailamma Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, set up by Asmita Resource Centre for Women. She was Professor of Sociology at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad. She was the Chair of RC32 (Women in Society) of the International Sociological Association from 2002-2006 and General Secretary of the Indian Association for Women’s Studies in 1998-2000. She was a member of the Expert Group on the Equal Opportunity Commission, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, 2007-2008, and is currently member of the Expert Group on Legal Education Reform in Kerala, Government of Kerala. Apart from a doctorate in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi she received the Rockefeller Humanist in Residence Fellowship at Hunter College, CUNY 1992-1993 and VKRV Rao Award for Social Science Research in the field Social Aspects of Law in 2003 from the Indian Council for Social Science Research. Her areas of specialisation are sociology of law, jurisprudence and gender studies. Most recently, she has co-edited, Challenging the Rule(s) of Law: Essays on Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights (2008), Sage Publications, New Delhi.

Sudeep Basu

Sudeep Basu was the CR Parekh Fellow 2012-13 at the LSE Asia Research Centre. He is currently Assistant Professor at the Centre for Studies in Social Management, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, India. At LSE, Dr Basu's research project titled Migration, Diasporas and Social Transformation in India, examines the actual influence of the Indian diaspora on the homeland economy and culture. Dr Basu has conducted research in the areas of forced migration and the anthropology of displacement. His doctoral dissertation on exploring aspects of social change among the Tibetan refugee community in India was obtained from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Dr Basu received his Masters and MPhil degrees in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics. He has been a guest faculty for the Annual Winter course in Forced Migration organised by the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata.

Bharat Bhushan

Bharat Bhushan is an Editor of Catch News, New Delhi. Bharat has been a hack for 25 years. He has been the founding Editor of Mail Today, Executive Editor of the Hindustan Times, Editor of The Telegraph in Delhi, Editor of the Express News Service, Washington Correspondent of the Indian Express and an Assistant Editor with The Times of India.

Anjuman Ara Begum

Anjuman Ara Begum, LLM, PhD, is a freelance journalist, blogger and human rights activist from North East India. Her main work area is research, documentation and intervention in issues of human rights and gender-based violence in armed conflict situations in North East India. Anjuman is part of the right to information and movement in India and works for popularising this as a tool for accountability. She volunteers with several networks and is a member of Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group and Women in Governance Network, India (WinG) amongst others. She is currently based in Kathmandu, Nepal, and works for FORUM-ASIA as South Asia Programme Officer. Her primary work is to support advocacy initiatives towards the establishment of a South Asia Human Rights Mechanism.

Anjoo Sharan

Anjoo Sharan has a Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University (1981), she did an Advance International Diploma in Conflict Resolution in Uppsala University, Sweden (1990), and she has held post-doctoral positions in London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK (1986-1990), at the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars, Washington DC, USA (1992) and in Brown University, Providence, United States (1997). She is currently engaged in a number of on-going funded research projects. She works with the German Foundation for Peace Research, (DSF, Deutsche Stiftung Friedens forschung), on “Peaceful Coexistence? ‘Traditional’ and ‘Non-traditional’ Conflict Resolution Mechanisms”, with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway on “Peace building, Diversity and Human Security”, and also with the Research Council of Norway on “Making Women Count for Peace”.

Anup Shekhar Chakraborty

Anup Shekhar Chakraborty was the CR Parekh Fellow 2011-12 at the LSE Asia Research Centre. Dr Chakraborty is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, St Joseph’s College, University of North Bengal. His doctoral work was on identity politics in the North East Indian state of Mizoram from the University of Calcutta. He was awarded the ‘India Social Science Research Award 2009’ by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and India Development Foundation for his research work on ‘Politics of Social ‘Exclusions’ and ‘Inclusions’ in Mizoram’. For his post doctoral studies he is researching on identity politics and smaller states movements in and around north Bengal in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Mouleshri Vyas

Mouleshri Vyas is currently a professor at TISS and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Mumbai University, Master of Arts in Social Work (with Specialisation in Urban and Rural Community Development) from TISS, Mumbai, and PhD in Sociology from Mumbai University. Has nearly three decades of teaching, research, field action and training expertise in the areas of urban and rural community development, community organisation, informal labour, post-disaster interventions, social impact assessments and monitoring and evaluation of development projects, social accountability and social audit of government programmes, and capacity building for corporate social responsibility initiatives. Has worked closely with grassroots organisations, government departments, corporates and trade unions. Associated with the International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD), a global consortium of universities. Has visited and engaged with universities in various countries as part of teaching and research collaborations. Member, Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group Member, Board of Studies, Faculty of Social Work, MS University, Baroda

Sanjay Barbora

Sanjay Barbora is currently working as an Associate Professor at TISS’ Guwahati campus. Research interests include agrarian change, resource conflicts, media studies and human rights. Having worked as a human rights activist on issues pertaining to militarization of Northeast India, I managed an advocacy and research based media initiative on peace building in South Asia from 2005 to 2011. Other than my stated academic interests, I continue to be energized by my involvement in community media and radio journalism, as well as the democratization of public spheres. Email: [email protected]

Mahalaya Chatterjee

Mahalaya Chatterjee is a professor at the Centre for urban Economic Studies, Department of Economic at the Calcutta University. Her research areas are Patterns and Process of Urbanisation and Demographic Changes in India, Structural Change and Spatial and Occupational Diversification, Changes in Urban Economy , Environmental Issues Related to Urbanisation , Informal Transportation , Locational Changes and Informal Economy

Arup Kumar Sen

Arup Kumar Sen is Associate Professor at the Department of Commerce, Serampore College, Serampore, Hooghly, West Bengal. He is a member of Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata. His area of specialisation is Finance and Management and research interests include Labour History and Political Economy. He has published various research papers on capital, labour, mode of labour control in colonial India, finance capitalism and politics of rural governance. He is the author of ‘Nandigram: A Tale of Developmental Violence’ (EPW 2008), ‘Finance Capitalism and the Spectre of Crisis’ (Mainstream 2008), ‘Politics of Governance in Rural West Bengal’ (The Calcutta Journal of Political Studies, April 2007-March 2009).