Faculty
Dr. Shilajit Sengupta
Assistant Professor
Alliance School of Law
Dr. Shilajit Sengupta is a social science researcher with a PhD in the topic of Political Consequences of Intra-Village Inequalities in Rural Transformation from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. Primarily trained in Political Science, he has experience working with several grassroots-based development organizations across India. His professional focus, academic pursuits, and publications revolve around probing the intricacies of the political economy within informal sectors, occupational change and the challenges faced by precariat labourers. Additionally, his research explores the consequences of socio-economic inequalities and the dynamics of migration and gender in the global south against the backdrop of rural transformation.
Shilajit has taught courses on Indian and Western Political thought, Indian Political Process, International Relations, Public Policy and Administration to undergraduate and postgraduate students at the law faculty of Calcutta University and Amity University Kolkata and was a senior researcher at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He has presented his research works at the University of Bonn, the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies at Halle, Germany and the University of Copenhagen. Shilajit firmly believes in praxis as a fundamental approach to social science research and advocacy. Beyond his academic pursuits, he is a passionate listener of Western and Hindustani classical music.
Journal Publications:
- Sengupta, S. (2022). Closure of Schools and Migration of Adolescent Tribal Girls.Economic & Political Weekly, 57(5), 69.
- Sengupta, S. (2017). Lower caste movement and the idea of social equality under the raj: Jyoti Rao Phule and Maratha renaissance.
Book Chapters:
- Bayen, N., & Sengupta, S. (2024). Reparation or Negotiation: Rural Women's Struggle for Selfhood and Livelihood in West Bengal. InGender, Environment and Sustainable Development (pp. 105-120). Routledge India.
- Sengupta, S. (2023). Individualization of Distress: Farmers' Suicide in India. InThe Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the Global South (pp. 654-672). Routledge India.
Local Publications:
- From Bapu to Babri- Gandhi in Contemporary Indian Politics, Book Chapter in Searching genealogy of riot, death and truth in subcontinent: Reinterpreting Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi edited by Nibedita Bayen , Swapan Sarkar Progressive publishers Kolkata (Previously this paper was presented in an invited seminar titled Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi- A Reinterpretation on Sesquicentennial Birth Anniversary at P.R Thakur Govt. College West Bengal)
Contributions to Media (News Paper, Magazines):
- COVID Vaccine for All, But Surat Power Loom Workers Still Hesitant, published in The Quint 10th May 2021
https://www.thequint.com/my-report/coronavirus-gujarat-surat-powerloom-migrant-workers- vaccine - Frayed labour laws published in Frontline 01st August 2021
https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/frayed-labour- laws/article35508564.ece - Migrants’ Livelihood During the Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities, published in The Leaflet 1st May 2022
https://theleaflet.in/migrants-livelihoods-during-the-pandemic-challenges-and-opportunities
Awards Won:
Winter School Award (full funding) by Max Weber Stiftung and the Bonn Centre for Dependency and Slavery Studies to participate in our Winter School “Making and Un-Making Worlds of Coercion and Confinement” for PhD and early career scholars, 2022
- Invited by IIT Tirupati to present my paper titled: Closure of Schools and Migration of Adolescent Tribal Girls published by the EPW in the International Seminar International Workshop on Public Policies for the Post-Pandemic Era, 2022
- Presented paper titled Democracy amidst Transition: Understanding Political Change in India, at Asia and Africa in Transition Conference held at Copenhagen University, Denmark, June 2021 (Virtual due to covid restriction)
- Paper titled Old Slaves in a New Economy: Explaining Coercion and Dependency of the Power Loom Labourers in Surat at Winter School: Making and Un-Making Worlds of Coercion and Confinement conducted by Max Weber Stiftung and University of Bonn (Dept. of Dependency and Slavery) to be held in Bonn, Germany from 12th to 16th September 2022 (Tentative dates, subject to be changed according to covid restrictions)
- Presented a paper titled ‘Political Consequences of Agrarian Transition: Study of a Semi-Arid Village of India’ in a workshop named ‘Political Economy of Land Relations’ at Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), Germany 2019
- Presented a paper titled: Consequence of a Subsistence Economy: Study of Industrial Crisis and Agrarian Impasse in West Bengal under Post-Communist Regime at M.S Baroda University, Gujarat in National Seminar on Economic Change in India, 2018
- Presented a paper titled: Lower Caste Movement and Idea of Social Equality under the Raj – Jyotirao Phule and Maratha Renaissance at North Bengal University in UGC-SAP funded workshop named Workshop on Indian Sociological Tradition 2016
- Presented a paper titled- Migrant Slum Dwellers in Urban Poverty Trap: A Study of Four Megacities in India, at the 42nd Indian Sociological Society Conference held at Tezpur University, Assam 2015
- Presented paper at the 2nd South India International Conference on ‘Inspiring Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship for Poverty Eradication and Climate Change Mitigation ‘Organized by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy (CSSEIP) at the University of Hyderabad, Telangana, India, and India Development Coalition of America (IDCA) Willow Brook (Chicago), Illinois, USA, 2014
