Sujit Kumar
Areas of Interest & Expertise
- Political Economy of Land
- Adivasi Politics and Society
- Local Democracy and Customary Institutions
- Critical Political Theory
- Caste Politics
Biography
Sujit has taught Political Science at St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous), Bengaluru for six years prior to joining the University. He has taught political theory and thought, political economy, and politics of marginalised groups in India.
Sujit completed his PhD in 2016 from the University of Mysore and was enrolled at Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru. His PhD thesis was titled ‘A Study on Politics of Dispossession and Underdevelopment: Appropriating Local Mechanisms in West Singhbhum of Jharkhand’. His thesis provides a grounded picture of the processes and politics behind land acquisition in scheduled areas of Jharkhand and critically captures the discourse of Adivasi politics by locating it in the socio-cultural milieu.
Courses
Adivasis and development in peninsular India
Understanding the contemporary developmental challenges faced by Adivasi community
Publications
Edited Book
- Ganguly, V.B., & Kumar, S. (Eds.) (2020). India’s Scheduled Areas: Untangling governance, Law and Politics. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Indias-Scheduled-Areas-Untangling-Governance-Law-and-Politics/Bhagat-Ganguly-Kumar/p/book/9780367785116
Journal Articles
- Kumar, S. (2022). Coding the indigenous: Jharkhand’s Sarna Code Bill and the possible fallout. Economic and Political Weekly, 57(15), 10 – 12. https://www.epw.in/journal/2022/15/alternative-standpoint/coding-indigenous.html
- Kumar, S. (2019). Muzzling artistic liberty and protesting anti-conversion in Jharkhand. Economic and Political Weekly, 54(2), 16 – 18. https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/2/commentary/muzzling-artistic-liberty-and-protesting.html
- Kumar, S. (2018). Adivasis and the state politics in Jharkhand. Studies in Indian Politics, 6(1), 103 – 116. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2321023018762821
- Kumar, S. (2017). The face and mask of autonomy: Reinvigorating customs among the Ho Adivasis of Jharkhand. Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 24(1), 95 – 116. http://14.139.58.199:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/4649
- Kumar, S. (2016). Revisiting anti-dispossession resistance movements. Seminar, 682, 43 – 47.https://www.india-seminar.com/2016/682/682_sujit_kumar.htm
- Kumar, S. (2014). Interrogating ‘integration’ in Adivasi discourse: Customary vs. democratic institutions in West Singhbhum, Jharkhand. Journal of Adivasi and Indigenous Studies, 1(1) 62 – 75. http://joais.in/Journal/AUG2014.pdf
Chapters in Edited books
- Kumar, S. (2021). Tribal identity and governance in state politics of Jharkhand. In J. Ambagudia, & V. Xaxa (Eds.) Handbook of Tribal Politics in India (pp. 310 – 323). Sage Publications. https://sk.sagepub.com/books/handbook-of-tribal-politics-in-india/i3077.xml
- Kumar, S. (2020) ‘Outsourcing’ in coal mining: Understanding labour, livelihood, and mafia politics in the coalfields of Dhanbad, Jharkhand. In S. George, M. Yadav, & A. Inbanathan (Eds.) Change and Mobility in Contemporary India: Thinking M.N.Srinivas Today (pp. 192 – 207). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429345074 – 12/outsourcing-coal-mining-sujit-kumar?context=ubx&refId=0be83a84-4159 – 48f2-9073 – 2fa378702ad7
- Kumar, S. (2020) Politics of dispossession: Land, laws and protest in Jharkhand. In V. Bhagat-Ganguly, & S. Kumar (Eds.) India’s Scheduled Areas: Untangling Governance, Law and Politics (pp. 118 – 135). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429285417 – 7/politics-dispossession-sujit-kumar
- Kumar, S. (2016). People’s response to land dispossession: Comparative analysis of movements across India. In V. Bhagat-Ganguly (Ed.) Land Rights in India: Policies, Movements and Challenges (pp. 215 – 229). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315666075 – 18/people-response-land-dispossession-sujit-kumar?context=ubx&refId=a055f947-7116 – 425b-9590-b639f618100b
Book Review
- Kumar, S. (2021). Predicament of India’s Tribes. [Review of the book India’s Tribes: Unfolding Realities, by V. K. Srivastava (Ed.)]. The Book Review. 45(2), 14 – 15. https://www.thebookreviewindia.org/predicament-of-indias-tribes/