The below A-Z directory provides profiles of all Governing Body Fellows, alphabetically by surname.

A - C     D - G     H - L     M - R     S - V     W - Z

Featured GB Fellow:

Nikita Sud, University Lecturer in Development Studies and Governing Body Fellow, Wolfson College

With academic training in history, social work and development studies, and past work in a department of politics, NGOs for women’s rights, basic education, and disaster management, and even the youth channel of All India Radio, I feel at home in the intellectual cornucopia that is Wolfson.

In the midst of interacting with quantum physicists, cancer specialists and students of ancient languages and cultures, I also find here the space to explore some of the big themes of our times. Broadly, I am interested in the contemporary transformation of the postcolonial state, and the politics of neo-liberal economic change.

So far, my research has focused on India. In a recently completed project, I have traced the shift of the state in Gujarat, western India from post-independence modernising secularism and developmentalism, to the current embracing of economic liberalisation on the one hand, and an illiberal culture of violent Hindu nationalism on the other (Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and The State, Oxford University Press, 2012).

I am now studying the highly contentious liberalisation of land in India. The idea is to investigate the politics of the ongoing conversion of agricultural, forest, coastal and pastoral land for industrial and commercial purposes that are geared towards serving the new economy. This research highlights the tussle over natural resources in India, the alliance between the state and big business that is facilitating land liberalisation, and the dilemma of balancing the interests of a few in a growing economy with those of the many in a flourishing democracy.

Since 2008, I have conducted fieldwork on the land economy in the west and east of the country, with future research trips planned in the south. These expeditions typically feature interviews with local and sub-national government officials, politicians, activists and NGO workers, meetings with builders, farmers, fisherfolk and pastoralists, and endless cups of tea in the chambers of lawyers and journalists while trying to understand the latest mining scandal, land acquisition protest, or transfer of several hectares or even kilometres of land for a Special Economic Zone, mega-factory, or peri-urban entertainment and gated residential complex.

Apart from academic output, I expect this research to contribute to ongoing political debates on resource use and accumulation in India. Environmental NGOs and advocacy groups for women’s right to property have already utilized the project’s findings. Wider conversations with researchers in other parts of the world are also underway, as the Indian case has intriguing similarities and differences with the opening up of land markets in the global south, particularly China and Africa.