• Pastoralism
• Mobility
• Agrarian change
• Commons and collective action
• Land governance
• Sociology of knowledge

Rushikesh Gawade is a sociologist interested in understanding the spatial, social, and economic mobility of people, ideas, and things. His research focuses on pastoralism, rural society, and agrarian change in India, with particular attention to the lives of Dhangar pastoralists in Maharashtra. Through ethnographic and historical inquiry, his research examines how pastoral communities negotiate changing ecological conditions, agricultural expansion, shifting property regimes, and State institutions. He is especially interested in questions of mobility, common property resources, collective action, environmental governance, and social change in rural India.

He recently submitted his PhD thesis, Pastures, Mobility, and Institutions: Loss and Persistence of Pastoralism among Dhangar Pastoralists in Central Maharashtra, at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He holds an MA in Political Science and a Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Media from Savitribai Phule Pune University. He has worked as a Research Associate at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Before entering academia, he worked as a journalist in Pune and Mumbai. Alongside academic research, he writes for public platforms on rural society, common lands, environmental change, and public policy.

Beyond academic work, he enjoys watching films from around the world, listening to music, reading Marathi literature, and farming.