Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Contemporary History, Globalization & Development, Human rights, Local Government, Modern History , Political Institutions

Regions:

Africa, Asia, South America

Summary of research interests and expertise:

Politics, development and state-society relations in less developed countries; contemporary South Asia (especially India); decentralisation; elections; politicians, political institutions and poverty

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
01-Nov-2015	The Politics of Social Protection: The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Chapters  in L.Tillin, R. Deshpande and K.K. Kailash (eds.) Politics of Welfare: Comparisons across Indian States (Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2015) pp. 168-99.
01-Sep-2015	“India: The Struggle to Regenerate Democracy” Chapters in W.P.Shiveley and P. Kurzer (eds.) Comparative Governance (McGraw Hill, New York, 2015).
01-Sep-2015	As Hierarchies Wane: Explaining Inter-Caste Accommodation in Rural India Chapters in C. Bates, A. Tanabe and S. Das (eds.) Human and International Security in India since 1947 (Routledge, London and New Delhi, 2015).
05-May-2015	An Odisha Landslide Buries both National Parties: Assessing the State and Parliamentary Elections of 2014 Chapters Contemporary South Asia (June 2015) pp. 198-210. DOI:10.1080/09584935.2015.1019426
01-Sep-2014	Key Issues in the Study of State Politics in India Papers in J. Schottli (ed.) Politics in South Asia: Culture, Rationality and Conceptual Flow (Springer, Heidelberg, 2014).
01-Sep-2014	Foreword Review in H.K. Nagarajan, H.P. Binswanger-Mkhize and S.S. Meenakshisundaram, Decentralization and Empowerment for Rural Development (Cambridge University Press, New Delhi, 2014
01-Jul-2011	Against the Odds: Politicians, Institutions and the Struggle against Poverty with N. Ng'ethe and M. Melo
01-Jan-2010	"Prologue" to a new edition of: Rajni Kothari (ed.) Caste in Indian Politics. Orient Blackswan (Longmans), New Delhi and London. This was a major undertaking -- to summarise changes in Indian politics and in the caste system over the last 25 years, and to analyse the interplay of these two things. This volume is THE classic text on the topic, so it was worth doing.
01-Jan-2010	"Local Government" in N. Jayal and P.B. Mehta (eds.) The Oxford Companion to Indian Politics Oxford University Press, Delhi and London
01-Jan-2010	"Beyond Clientelism" in A.E. Ruud and P. Price (eds.) Leaders and Politics in South Asia Routledge, London and New Delhi
01-Nov-2009	Broadening and Deepening Democracy: Political Innovation in Karnataka Routledge, London and New Delhi
01-Jan-2007	'Aid that Works: Successful Development in Fragile States' World Bank, Washington

Publications available on SAS-space:

Date

Details

Nov-2015

Foreword PeerReviewed In the early 1990s, all but one Master’s degree programme on human rights in the world approached the topic from a narrowly legal perspective. They were mostly located in departments or schools of law. They had great virtues, as I had discovered when interacting with the programme at the Harvard Law School during the mid-1980s. But they largely omitted scholars from other disciplines – the social sciences, history, philosophy, etc. – who could offer crucial insights for a rounded understanding of human rights.

Additional Publications

Publications available in Senate House Libraries

Research Projects & Supervisions

Research projects:

Details
A Research Partnership between the School of Advanced Study, University of London, the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, and Yale University Institute of Commonwealth Studies Project period: 01-May-2012 - 28-Feb-2015 Research interests: Academic Support
Expanding, Not Shrinking Social Programmes: The Politics of New Policies to Tackle Poverty and Inequality in Brazil, India, China and South Africa Institute of Commonwealth Studies Project period: 01-Oct-2012 - 30-Sep-2015 Research interests: Contemporary History, Globalization & Development, Local Government, Political Institutions, Social Sciences
Expanding Not Shrinking Social Programmes: Brazil, India, China, South Africa This is a three-year ESRC funded research project (from 1 October 2012), with an 18-member international team which I am coordinating. We focus on the political and policy processes which have led governments in these four countries since about 2002 to increase efforts to tackle poverty and inequality -- and the implications of this trend.
Implications of the Declining Power of Caste Hierarchies in Rural India This project, funded by the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation in New York, focuses on the implications for power dynamics of the declining power of caste hierarchies over rural dwellers' thinking and action. This is one of the most important changes to occur in India since independence in 1947, but very few scholars have analysed its implications.

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