Sampurna Das

Areas of Interest & Expertise

  • Sociology of uncertainty
  • Political ecology of river systems
  • State-society relations
  • Gender and feminist theory
  • Sensory studies

Biography

Sampurna is a sociologist specialising in the social life of uncertainty. Her research sits at the intersection of political ecology, gender studies, and state-society relations, with a specific focus on precarious riverine landscapes.

She was awarded PhD from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. Sampurna’s doctoral study, supported by the University Grants Commission, was an ethnography of the river islands (chars) of Assam, Northeast India. The work explores how power, gender, and knowledge intersect to shape experiences of uncertainty in the chars.

A committed scholar, she has collaborated with prestigious international and national bodies, including the Volkswagen Foundation, the University of Bielefeld, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, and Zubaan. Her scholarship has been recognised through various honours, including the Veena Mazumdar Memorial Fund from the Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS), the Regunath Fellowship at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), and the Preet Rustagi Research Fund from the Indian Association for Women’s Studies (IAWS). Her contributions to the field have also earned her an Honorary Mention for the Graduate Student Award from the Asian Law and Society Association (ALSA) and the Prof. K. Mahadevan Award from the Indian Association for Social Sciences and Health (IASSH).

Beyond her research, Sampurna is an active voice in the global academic community, currently serving as a contributing editor for the Society for Cultural Anthropology (SCA) and a reviewer for several leading journals. Prior to joining Azim Premji University, she co-taught Sociology at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi. She is currently developing her first book manuscript based on her doctoral research and a new project investigating the intersection of climate politics and digital state formation.

Publications

Journal articles

  • Das, S. (2026). Competing meanings of flood in the chars of Assam, India. South Asian History and Culture, 1 – 19.
  • Das, S. (2024). Living with ​‘thin’documents: a note on identity documents and liminal citizenship in the chars of Assam, India. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50(19), 4891 – 4904.
  • Das, S. (2023). Bringing and being a ​‘Kaim-bride’: A note on marriage and migration in Assam chars. Ecology, Economy and Society-the INSEE Journal, 6(2), 253 – 260.
  • Das, S. (2023). Odor, deodorization, and reodorization: Reflections of olfactory discrimination in the chars of Assam, India. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 29(2), 96.
  • Das, S. (2021). COVID-19 and National Food Security Act,(2013): Analysing experiences of food security in Assam, India. Explorations, Vol. 5 (2). Indian Sociological Society, 166 – 182

Book chapters

  • Das, S. (Forthcoming). Lungis and trousers: Dressing and Hybrid Masculinity of Miya Men of Assam. Sociology of Gender in India: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives. Cambridge University Press
  • Das, S. (2025). A Note on High-Yielding Variety Rice and Inequality in the Floodplains of Assam, India. Food, Culture and Society in India. Berghahn Books
  • Das, S. (2025). Gendered Vulnerability of Community Health Workers in Light of COVID-19: A Note from the Floodplains of Assam, India. Handbook on Sex, Gender and Health: Perspectives from South Asia. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
  • Das, S. (2023). Navigating fieldwork amidst my menstrual cycle: Being a female ethnographer in a remote Indian region. Women Practicing Resilience, Self-care and Wellbeing in Academia. UK: Routledge.

Book reviews

  • Das, S. (2019). [Review of the book Another South Asia by D. N. Patha]. South Asian Research, 39(1), 118 – 124.
  • Das, S. (2018). [Review: Living with Floods: Archaeology of a Settlement in the Lower Ganga Plains, c. 600‑1800 CE by S. Panja, A. K. Nag and S. Bandyopadhyay]South Asian Research, 38(2), 205 – 207.

Select online articles