Debraj Bhattacharya
Azim Premji University, University Research Centre, Department Member
- Marxism, South Asian Studies, Modernity, Colonialism, Development Studies, Migration Studies, and 98 moreCinema, Photography, Urban Studies, Rural Development, Decentralization, India, History, Postmodernism, Post-Colonialism, Postcommunist studies, Democracy, Postcommunism, Policy Analysis/Policy Studies, Civil Society, Gender, Populism, Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, Latin American Studies, Film Studies, Film Theory, Social Democracy, Microfinance, Poverty, Sustainable agriculture, Public Health, Preschool Education, Governance, Marxist theory, Karl Marx, China, Contemporary China, Michel Foucault, Decentralisation processes and development issues, Food Security, Postcolonial Studies, Cultural Theory, Posthumanism, Satyajit Ray, Woody Allen, Affect (Cultural Theory), Public Policy, Creative Writing, Contemporary Fiction, Impacts of Micro Credit and Micro Finance Instutions in Poverty Reduction Among Women,what Are the Social Economic Impacts of Gender Mainstreaming in Development., Rabindranath Tagore, Deep History, Nineteenth Century Bengal, Qualitative Research, Qualitative methodology, Digital Humanities, New Materialism, Bureaucracy, 9/11 Literature, Bengali Literature, Childhood studies, Teaching History, Memory Studies, Local Government and Local Development, Poverty Reduction Strategies, Self Help Groups, Social Media, Anarchism, Sustainable Development, Research Methodology, Political Philosophy, Human Rights, Literature, English Literature, Education, Sociology, Political Science, Economics, Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Climate Change, Gender Studies, Art History, Geography, Political Psychology, Nonsense, Literary Nonsense, Soviet History, Socialist and Post-Socialist Area Studies, Affect/Emotion, Early Modern History, 19th Century (History), French Revolution and Napoleon, Eighteenth Century History, Enlightenment, 18th Century France, European History, Cultural History, 18th Century, French History, Hegel, G.W.F. Hegel, 19th-century German philosophy, and German Idealismedit
- As a researcher, I have a dual identity - historian and social scientist. As a historian, I have worked on themes su... moreAs a researcher, I have a dual identity - historian and social scientist. As a historian, I have worked on themes such as colonial urban India, modernity in South Asia, Marx, and the Left experience of Bengal. As a social scientist, I have worked on rural poverty, rural local government and migration in India.
I am also experienced in managing research projects.
I also contribute to public debates through op-eds and blogs.edit
Contents Introduction Suman Nath and Debraj Bhattacharya Chapter 1 Institutional environment and organisational responses in changing decentralised governance systems in India: An ethnographic study Suman Nath Chapter 2 The... more
Contents
Introduction
Suman Nath and Debraj Bhattacharya
Chapter 1 Institutional environment and organisational responses in changing decentralised governance systems in India: An ethnographic study
Suman Nath
Chapter 2 The Community Development Block and India’s Development Discourse
Debraj Bhattacharya, Bhaskar Chakrabarti, Manish Thakur
Chapter 3 Urban Restructuring, Forced Evictions and Transition of the Welfare City into Entrepreneurial City: The case study of Bawana resettlement Colony, Delhi
Aparajita De and Jeetesh Rai
Chapter 4 Mapping the Development Paradigm of Northeast India from Ancient Past to Present in the Realm of Political History and Economy
Anjan Chakrabarti
Chapter 5 A Multisited ethnography of land management in the context of the development policy in West Bengal
Abhijit Guha
Chapter 6 Revisiting Wittfogel: ‘Hydraulic Society’ in Colonial India and Its Postcolonial Legacies in Hydropower Management
Arnab Roy Chowdhury and Sanjay Kumar Rajhans
Chapter 7 Re-contextualizing Micro-credit: From Reinventing Development to the Financialization of Everyday Life.
Sarasij Majumder and Debarati Sen
Chapter 8 The Making of a Neglected Tropical Disease: Discourse on Snakebite and Its Medical Management in India
Rahul Bhaumik
Chapter 9 Negotiation by the Waste Pickers: In the Context of Socioeconomic and Cultural Marginalisation
Nandini Sen
Chapter 10 Dominant Party Rule, Development, and the Rise of Hindu Nationalism in West Bengal
Subhasish Ray
Chapter 11 Harnessing the Digital Revolution for Development:
The Indian Experience
Anit N. Mukherjee
Chapter 12 Organisation Structure of Family Owned and Controlled Business Groups in India: Some Reflections on Theories and Policies of Corporate Governance
Mohit Gupta
Introduction
Suman Nath and Debraj Bhattacharya
Chapter 1 Institutional environment and organisational responses in changing decentralised governance systems in India: An ethnographic study
Suman Nath
Chapter 2 The Community Development Block and India’s Development Discourse
Debraj Bhattacharya, Bhaskar Chakrabarti, Manish Thakur
Chapter 3 Urban Restructuring, Forced Evictions and Transition of the Welfare City into Entrepreneurial City: The case study of Bawana resettlement Colony, Delhi
Aparajita De and Jeetesh Rai
Chapter 4 Mapping the Development Paradigm of Northeast India from Ancient Past to Present in the Realm of Political History and Economy
Anjan Chakrabarti
Chapter 5 A Multisited ethnography of land management in the context of the development policy in West Bengal
Abhijit Guha
Chapter 6 Revisiting Wittfogel: ‘Hydraulic Society’ in Colonial India and Its Postcolonial Legacies in Hydropower Management
Arnab Roy Chowdhury and Sanjay Kumar Rajhans
Chapter 7 Re-contextualizing Micro-credit: From Reinventing Development to the Financialization of Everyday Life.
Sarasij Majumder and Debarati Sen
Chapter 8 The Making of a Neglected Tropical Disease: Discourse on Snakebite and Its Medical Management in India
Rahul Bhaumik
Chapter 9 Negotiation by the Waste Pickers: In the Context of Socioeconomic and Cultural Marginalisation
Nandini Sen
Chapter 10 Dominant Party Rule, Development, and the Rise of Hindu Nationalism in West Bengal
Subhasish Ray
Chapter 11 Harnessing the Digital Revolution for Development:
The Indian Experience
Anit N. Mukherjee
Chapter 12 Organisation Structure of Family Owned and Controlled Business Groups in India: Some Reflections on Theories and Policies of Corporate Governance
Mohit Gupta
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A small little book from Kolkata to celebrate Marx 200. I have done research in the Marxist Internet Archive to select six texts by six thinkers who wrote on Marx in the nineteenth century - Eleanor Marx, Friedrich Engels, Wilhelm... more
A small little book from Kolkata to celebrate Marx 200. I have done research in the Marxist Internet Archive to select six texts by six thinkers who wrote on Marx in the nineteenth century - Eleanor Marx, Friedrich Engels, Wilhelm Liebknecht, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Eduard Bernstein and Mikhail Bakunin. There is a short introduction by me. The book is being published by a new publishing house in Kolkata, Parchment. The book is dedicated to the people who created the Marxist Internet Archive.
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A collection of short stories set in contemporary Kolkata, India. One city, many stories. A clerk visited by a colonial ghost, an incorrigible lover facing mid-life reality check, parents accepting their son's suicide due to their own... more
A collection of short stories set in contemporary Kolkata, India. One city, many stories. A clerk visited by a colonial ghost, an incorrigible lover facing mid-life reality check, parents accepting their son's suicide due to their own ambitions around him, a seventy-three year old man discovering his hidden talent, and many more.
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This book looks at the history of the state of West Bengal during the rule of the Left Front. It is also an attempt to write history as an insider to a historical experience and therefore combines traditional methods of history writing... more
This book looks at the history of the state of West Bengal during the rule of the Left Front. It is also an attempt to write history as an insider to a historical experience and therefore combines traditional methods of history writing with an auto-ethnographic approach.
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This is a case study on a gram panchayat in Arunachal Pradesh, based on fieldwork done in 2014.
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This is a case study of a gram panchayat in Arunachal Pradesh based on a field visit in 2014.
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This is a case study on a good-performing GP in Sikkim.
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This is a case study of a good performing Gram Panchayat in Sikkim, done on behalf of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India.
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This is a case study of a Gram Panchayat in Sikkim which I co-authored in 2014.
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This report assesses a particular programme initiated by the Government of Maharashtra, India, to converge various rural development programmes at the grassroots level in rural areas. This is a significant experiment in decentralised... more
This report assesses a particular programme initiated by the Government of Maharashtra, India, to converge various rural development programmes at the grassroots level in rural areas. This is a significant experiment in decentralised planning.
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This report analyses the experience of the Indian state of Maharashtra regarding rural decentralised planning and recommends measures for improvement.
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This is a report on migration from three districts of Bihar - Gaya, Bhojpur and Aurangabad. The report was submitted to the European Commission as part of a project on labour rights in India. The study used both quantitative and... more
This is a report on migration from three districts of Bihar - Gaya, Bhojpur and Aurangabad. The report was submitted to the European Commission as part of a project on labour rights in India. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand why young men are migrating from Bihar and what are the consequences. The report also contains a discussion on the national level policy implications.
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This report examines the panchayat system of Bihar, India, and tries to understand the gaps related to planning process at the Gram Panchayat level.
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The report analyses the rural local government system of Maharashtra, India, and identifies the gaps in policy and practice.
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This report examines the local government system of Rajasthan, India, and identifies the gaps in policy and practice.
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This report examines the panchayat system of Madhya Pradesh and identifies crucial gaps in policy and practice.
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We were requested by Government of Bihar, India, to study the rural local government (panchayati raj) system of the state and suggest what can be done in the present situation. This document is the result of that study which took place... more
We were requested by Government of Bihar, India, to study the rural local government (panchayati raj) system of the state and suggest what can be done in the present situation. This document is the result of that study which took place from July 2015 to December 2017. The report was submitted to Government of Bihar in December 2017. The study was supported by UNICEF India.
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This study looks at the problems related to strengthening Gram Panchayats (rural local governments) in a backward district of India, namely Gaya, in the state of Bihar. In the concluding chapter, the study offers certain recommendations... more
This study looks at the problems related to strengthening Gram Panchayats (rural local governments) in a backward district of India, namely Gaya, in the state of Bihar. In the concluding chapter, the study offers certain recommendations to improve the system.
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This report has looked into the issues of employees who work in the Gram Panchayats (rural local government) of West Bengal, India. This is part of a nationwide study commissioned by National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati... more
This report has looked into the issues of employees who work in the Gram Panchayats (rural local government) of West Bengal, India. This is part of a nationwide study commissioned by National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Government of India.
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This is a report on decentralized planning by rural local governments in West Bengal, India. The field work was carried out in November-December 2016. The report is aimed at developing better understanding of the gaps that need to be... more
This is a report on decentralized planning by rural local governments in West Bengal, India. The field work was carried out in November-December 2016. The report is aimed at developing better understanding of the gaps that need to be addressed in order to improve human development and reduce rural poverty through local level planning. The report was funded by National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, India.
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This report looks at the present condition of jute mill workers in West Bengal and proposes feasible ways of improving their lives. The report was commissioned by National Jute Board.
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This is a report on two projects on health awareness currently implemented by CARE in Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal and India. We talked to the communities and tried to find the Most Significant Change according to them.... more
This is a report on two projects on health awareness currently implemented by CARE in Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal and India. We talked to the communities and tried to find the Most Significant Change according to them. Along with this we have tried to create community based action plans through a method of rapid participatory planning. The report could be of interest to those who are interested in the preventive side of public health.
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This is a report on the problems faced in combating Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis among adolescent groups in the city of Kolkata, India.
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A Study on the problems related to augmentation of Own Source Revenue by Gram Panchayats of West Bengal, India.
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The report, based on a workshop held in Kolkata, discusses the problems related to repatriation of trafficked children from India to Bangladesh.
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A study on the problems faced by children who live alone in streets and railway platforms of West Bengal and Bangladesh.
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I was invited by Network 18 to blog on contemporary issues, once upon a time, circa 2012. I kept writing for three years or so. It was good fun. Got trolled by Hindutva brigade for some articles. I stopped writing once I realized that... more
I was invited by Network 18 to blog on contemporary issues, once upon a time, circa 2012. I kept writing for three years or so. It was good fun. Got trolled by Hindutva brigade for some articles. I stopped writing once I realized that the management was in complete chaos. They reformatted the website, as a result of which some of the articles are lost. But 32 articles have survived.
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This op-ed article discusses Government of India's policy of reservation of seats for women in Gram Panchayats to ensure their political empowerment.
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This short essay discusses the contemporary Left movement in India and argues that the Left must fight for the rights of the workers but must also fight for development of industries.
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This paper discusses the problems of 'planning from below' and proposes a method of rapid participatory planning that semi-educated rural poor can do. The paper is based on field experiments in Purulia district of West Bengal, India.
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Two recent documents have shown that one-third of the world's poorest live in India. What can India do about it? I have added a word file here, as somehow the link to the article cannot be attached. Anyway, here's the link:... more
Two recent documents have shown that one-third of the world's poorest live in India. What can India do about it? I have added a word file here, as somehow the link to the article cannot be attached. Anyway, here's the link: http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/debrajbhattacharya/3422/65596/india-needs-to-focus-on-food-security-for-the-poorest.html
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This short story is about a fictional backward district of India named Ajeebpur. A high profile delegation scheduled to visit the district to understand how village level planning is progressing in the district. The District Magistrate is... more
This short story is about a fictional backward district of India named Ajeebpur. A high profile delegation scheduled to visit the district to understand how village level planning is progressing in the district. The District Magistrate is worried that this may ruin his career prospects. How will the district administration deal with the delegation?
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A political satire in nonsense form, written in Bengali. Jhontu Das, an insurance agent in Kolkata, is visited by ghosts of great European thinkers - Lenin, Foucault, Marx, Burke and others.
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Short story. Susan lands in Kolkata with a broken heart. May be leaving London and teaching street kids in Kolkata will help her to forget Andy who dumped her rather unceremoniously. Susan about to experience something quite unexpected.
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This is a draft manuscript of a book (to be published) that consists of long interviews with practitioners involved in the SHG movement of West Bengal, India. The work is born out of a problem - how do you record the knowledge that... more
This is a draft manuscript of a book (to be published) that consists of long interviews with practitioners involved in the SHG movement of West Bengal, India.
The work is born out of a problem - how do you record the knowledge that practitioners have on the practical aspects of 'doing' development? They are usually not keen on writing themselves, and scholars who interview them and then write their papers often fail to capture their voices adequately. Hence the method of long in-depth interviews was adopted for this book.
The manuscript is shared for knowledge-sharing purposes only. Kindly do not cite without permission.
The work is born out of a problem - how do you record the knowledge that practitioners have on the practical aspects of 'doing' development? They are usually not keen on writing themselves, and scholars who interview them and then write their papers often fail to capture their voices adequately. Hence the method of long in-depth interviews was adopted for this book.
The manuscript is shared for knowledge-sharing purposes only. Kindly do not cite without permission.
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Collaboration between the local government of rural India (Gram Panchayats) and Civil Society Organisations is an unresearched area in the literature on Local Democracy in India. This paper hopes to initiate a discussion on this theme. It... more
Collaboration between the local government of rural India (Gram Panchayats) and Civil Society Organisations is an unresearched area in the literature on Local Democracy in India. This paper hopes to initiate a discussion on this theme. It does so through a case study of a collaboration between Pradan, a Civil Society Organisation, and Pindarkon Gram Panchayat in the state of Jharkhand in India. The paper highlights the key interventions made as a result of the collaboration and explores the reasons behind the success of the collaborative effort.
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This paper is part of a larger project to make sense of the fascinating and mindboggling research that has been done on Marx, especially in the last three decades. This particular essay reviews the literature on the student life of Marx... more
This paper is part of a larger project to make sense of the fascinating and mindboggling research that has been done on Marx, especially in the last three decades. This particular essay reviews the literature on the student life of Marx which ended with his doctoral dissertation. While the primary aim is to assimilate the fascinating research done by different scholars, I have occasionally made a few comments of my own.
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This paper analyses the existing research on the local government system of West Bengal, India, from the colonial period to the Left Front period.
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The proposed edited volume is an attempt to unravel the dialectics of development theory, policy and practice as experienced by people surrounding the development discourses. The book is an endeavour to understand how theory translates... more
The proposed edited volume is an attempt to unravel the dialectics of development theory, policy and practice as experienced by people surrounding the development discourses. The book is an endeavour to understand how theory translates into policy, and policy translates into practice during implementation in South Asian context. The editors are seeking essays on any theme related the grand narrative of ‘development’ which critically engages itself with the three major themes as suggested in the title, i.e. theory, policy and practice. Ideally, the essay should look at the theoretical foundations of a policy, e.g. universal basic education, then look at the policy developed at the national level and discuss field realities of implementation. The book hopes to show how many of the development challenges of the region spring from problems of translation from theory to policy to practice.
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In recent times there has an explosion of research on West Bengal, India. This paper has tried to map some of the trends. This is written for the paperback edition of my book, Exploring Marxist Bengal. Looking forward to your comments.
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In recent times the Kanyashree conditional cash transfer scheme of West Bengal has received international recognition. This scheme was introduced by Government of West Bengal, India, after Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011. The... more
In recent times the Kanyashree conditional cash transfer scheme of West Bengal has received international recognition. This scheme was introduced by Government of West Bengal, India, after Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011. The scheme aims to incentivise girls education and reduce child marriage in the state. This paper discusses whether Kanyashree is having an impact on child marriage based on the data provided by the National Family Health Survey.
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This draft paper explores certain recent interventions in the study of bureaucracy. While the interventions under discussion are mostly from outside India, they have certain thematic/ conceptual significance which is likely to be useful... more
This draft paper explores certain recent interventions in the study of bureaucracy. While the interventions under discussion are mostly from outside India, they have certain thematic/ conceptual significance which is likely to be useful for studies on the bureaucracy of contemporary West Bengal and India. Therefore while discussing the interventions the focus has been on the conceptual contributions made by the scholars rather than the empirical evidence they offer. Each section of this essay takes up a particular theme and discusses interventions on that theme.
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"Of Matters Modern" analyses the experience of modernity in South Asia. Arguing that South Asia's experience of modernity has to be understood in a global context, the book explores a wide range of topics: the emergence of... more
"Of Matters Modern" analyses the experience of modernity in South Asia. Arguing that South Asia's experience of modernity has to be understood in a global context, the book explores a wide range of topics: the emergence of 'Assam Fever' in colonial discourse; an experiment with fusion music in early colonial India; The emergence of detective fiction in colonial Punjab; the search for authenticity among nationalist and post-colonial thinkers; the critique of the "Bhadralok" by a "Bhadralok" writer; the experience of modernity in Kolkata during early twentieth century; the emergence of a cosmopolitan 'underworld' in Kolkata during the nineteenth century; the Italian connections of a Bengali poet, Michael Madhusudan Dutta; the ambivalence of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan; and, the construction of Gandhari in "Amar Chitra Katha", a comic strip series for children.
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The purpose of this draft paper is to trace the appearance and disappearance of the Community Development Block in the development discourse of India. I shall try to show that the Community Development Block, (or more colloquially... more
The purpose of this draft paper is to trace the appearance and disappearance of the Community Development Block in the development discourse of India. I shall try to show that the Community Development Block, (or more colloquially ‘Block’) was an important element in the development discourse and policy making of independent India but over time its discursive significance got reduced although it continued to remain significant for the practical purpose of implementation of development programmes. I conclude by examining why the Block disappeared from development discourse of India after a certain point in time.
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The discourse of contemporary development increas- ingly calls for more local participation and more local empower- ment, on the assumption that these will somehow make develop- ment more "effective." In practice, the priorities... more
The discourse of contemporary development increas- ingly calls for more local participation and more local empower- ment, on the assumption that these will somehow make develop- ment more "effective." In practice, the priorities of international elites have been replaced by those of national and regional elites, who continue to behave like "experts" usually do: they "know" what is best for those to "be developed." However, those priorities are increasingly contested when culture and ethnicity become cru- cial factors, and indigenous intellectuals, an elite in their own right, raise profound questions about the meaning of development, while wishing to take advantage of the opportunities offered by moder- nity. While claims are made that such subalterns cannot speak and, by association, cannot plan, evidence from Colombia indicates that certain indigenous groups are successfully "provincializing" the process, producing their own local ...
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Studies on local government in India have so far focused on certain themes such as devolution of power, local government and poverty reduction, organisational dimensions, gender and inclusiveness, etc. What is missing in the literature is... more
Studies on local government in India have so far focused on certain themes such as devolution of power, local government and poverty reduction, organisational dimensions, gender and inclusiveness, etc. What is missing in the literature is an analysis of the innovations brought about local governments themselves in spite of the limited autonomy that is provided to them by Union and State Governments. This paper hopes to initiate a discussion on this aspect of local government in India through a case study of Durgapur Gram Panchayat of Bardhaman district of the state of West Bengal. The paper analyses how the Gram Panchayat developed a successful model of combating tuberculosis within its jurisdictional area. Since tuberculosis is a major health problem in India the case study will also be of interest to the scholars and planners of public health policy.
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"Of Matters Modern" analyses the experience of modernity in South Asia. Arguing that South Asia's experience of modernity has to be understood in a global context, the book explores a wide range of topics: the emergence of... more
"Of Matters Modern" analyses the experience of modernity in South Asia. Arguing that South Asia's experience of modernity has to be understood in a global context, the book explores a wide range of topics: the emergence of 'Assam Fever' in colonial discourse; an experiment with fusion music in early colonial India; The emergence of detective fiction in colonial Punjab; the search for authenticity among nationalist and post-colonial thinkers; the critique of the "Bhadralok" by a "Bhadralok" writer; the experience of modernity in Kolkata during early twentieth century; the emergence of a cosmopolitan 'underworld' in Kolkata during the nineteenth century; the Italian connections of a Bengali poet, Michael Madhusudan Dutta; the ambivalence of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan; and, the construction of Gandhari in "Amar Chitra Katha", a comic strip series for children.
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The purpose of this draft paper is to trace the appearance and disappearance of the Community Development Block in the development discourse of India. I shall try to show that the Community Development Block, (or more colloquially... more
The purpose of this draft paper is to trace the appearance and disappearance of the Community Development Block in the development discourse of India. I shall try to show that the Community Development Block, (or more colloquially ‘Block’) was an important element in the development discourse and policy making of independent India but over time its discursive significance got reduced although it continued to remain significant for the practical purpose of implementation of development programmes. I conclude by examining why the Block disappeared from development discourse of India after a certain point in time.
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This paper attempts to theoretically understand what it means when we say "underworld" of a city. It then explores the specific history of the "underworld" of Colonial Calcutta - the various layers of it, the economic logic of it, and the... more
This paper attempts to theoretically understand what it means when we say "underworld" of a city. It then explores the specific history of the "underworld" of Colonial Calcutta - the various layers of it, the economic logic of it, and the response of colonial administration to it.
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Between 2011 and 2021 West Bengal was dominated by the personality of Mamata Banerjee and the period can be described as the Mamata era. She destroyed the power of both the Maoists and Left Front after coming to power, introduced several... more
Between 2011 and 2021 West Bengal was dominated by the personality of Mamata Banerjee and the period can be described as the Mamata era. She destroyed the power of both the Maoists and Left Front after coming to power, introduced several populist schemes and appeared to be the undisputed ruler of the state by 2016. However, she committed a
same-side goal in the panchayat election of 2018 and gave a fresh lease of life to the opposition. Ironically, it was not the left but the right that capitalised on it.
same-side goal in the panchayat election of 2018 and gave a fresh lease of life to the opposition. Ironically, it was not the left but the right that capitalised on it.
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Studies on local government in India have so far focused on certain themes such as devolution of power, local government and poverty reduction, organisational dimensions, gender and inclusiveness, etc. What is missing in the literature is... more
Studies on local government in India have so far focused on certain themes such as devolution of power, local government and poverty reduction, organisational dimensions, gender and inclusiveness, etc. What is missing in the literature is an analysis of the innovations brought about local governments themselves in spite of the limited autonomy that is provided to them by Union and State Governments. This paper hopes to initiate a discussion on this aspect of local government in India through a case study of Durgapur Gram Panchayat of Bardhaman district of the state of West Bengal. The paper analyses how the Gram Panchayat developed a successful model of combating tuberculosis within its jurisdictional area. Since tuberculosis is a major health problem in India the case study will also be of interest to the scholars and planners of public health policy.
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This paper analyses the Panchayati Raj experience of West Bengal under the Left Front.
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This paper analyses a wide range of Indian print magazines and newspapers in three languages - Bengali, English and Hindi to understand how media is constructing the Indian "male". It was published in Amitava Chatterjee (ed.) Gender and... more
This paper analyses a wide range of Indian print magazines and newspapers in three languages - Bengali, English and Hindi to understand how media is constructing the Indian "male". It was published in Amitava Chatterjee (ed.) Gender and Modernity, Setu Prakashani, Kolkata, 2015. The uploaded file is a proof copy. Hence there are some copy errors, including my name.
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This essay in an edited volume seeks to bring to the focus the fact that India urgently needs to do something about the poorest of the poor in the country. The paper explores through a case study how Gram Panchayats and SHGs can play an... more
This essay in an edited volume seeks to bring to the focus the fact that India urgently needs to do something about the poorest of the poor in the country. The paper explores through a case study how Gram Panchayats and SHGs can play an effective role in caring for the poorest.
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Book review of Parimal Bhattacharya's Field Notes from a Waterborne Land
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My review article on Alternative Economic Survey 2011. The review summarizes the critique of the propaganda for neoliberalism carried out by Government of India, through the official Economic Survey.
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This is a review essay on two books, one of which is Exploring Marxist Bengal by me. The reviewer, Benjamin Zachariah, has focused primarily on the theme of left unity.
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This is a review of my book Exploring Marxist Bengal published in Journal of Human Values . The reviewer is an anthropologist and therefore has approached the book from the "auto-ethnography" perspective.
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This is a presentation on the course on Local Democracy that I taught at the Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India.
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This course aims to introduce participants to the life, times, and writings of Karl Marx, one of the most important thinkers of the modern era. He is sometimes seen as a prophet and sometimes as the devil. Those who take such positions... more
This course aims to introduce participants to the life, times, and writings of Karl Marx, one of the most important thinkers of the modern era. He is sometimes seen as a prophet and sometimes as the devil. Those who take such positions usually do not bother to read him carefully. In this course we shall try to discover a complex human being, a fascinating and multifaceted thinker and writer.