In his public lecture, Professor Badri Narayan critically examines the changing role of dissent and emerging trends of cooption in the process of deepening Democracy in India. He focuses on understanding the multiple trajectories of empowerment in India, especially new forms of empowerment processes, which are evolving due to the ongoing democratic interaction between the state and the public.

About the Speaker

Prof. Badri Narayan, a social historian and cultural anthropologist is Director, G B Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad. He was recently honored with the prestigious Ambedkar Chair of Punjab University, Chandigarh. His interests lie in popular culture, social and anthropological history, Dalit and subaltern issues, and the relationship between power and culture. 

Besides having written several articles both in English and Hindi, he has recently authored ​‘Republic of Hindutva: How the Sangh Is Reshaping Indian Democracy’, Gurgaon, Penguin Random House,2021.

His other critically acclaimed books are ​‘Fractured Tales: Invisibles in Indian Democracy’, Oxford University Press, New Delhi; ​‘Kashriram’, by Penguin (2014); ​‘The Making of the Dalit Public in North India: Uttar Pradesh 1950-present’ by Oxford University Press (2011); ​‘Women Heroes and Dalit Assertion in North India’, by Sage Publication, New Delhi 2006; ​‘Fascinating Hindutva – Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation’, by Sage Publication, New Delhi.