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Political Representation in South Asia

This course will cover major political developments in the postcolonial period from the standpoint of those—elected or not—who claim to represent constituents. Thematic in scope, the course will aim at unravelling the mechanisms that legitimize power in so-called ‘distributive’ democracies.

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The Abstentionist Trap

In a paradoxical turn of events, the brutal invasion of the democratic state of Ukraine by Russia has, despite its many international condemnations, fostered a certain convergence of views in India between the government, opposition, and various sections of the intelligentsia.

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Guru ki Baat

What constitutes a convincing expressions of political connect, relatedness and commonness? Exploring Narendra Modi’s Mann ki baats, we suggest that part of the answer lays in the overlapping lexical and stylistic realm of Modi and another set of audience-pullers: spiritual gurus.

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{Slides} Social Research Methods: Ethnography

This guest lecture is part of Dr. Baris Ari’s class Social “Research Methods: Ethnography”, School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication, University of East Anglia. It discusses ethnographic inquiry in the context of a deepening divide between “positivist” and “interpretivist” research traditions.

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The Pandemics also Diagnoses India’s Populist Turn

The management of the coronavirus spread is not only a global rupture, it also signals the consolidation of the personalistic and intimate rapport between Modi and the people, which routinizes direct populist appeals through disfiguring democratic institutions.