
Suhrita Saha
Professor and Head of the Department

About-
My doctoral thesis is on Globalization and Resurgent Hindu Nationalism in India.The twin processes dominated the socio political and cultural space of India from the last decade and a half of 20th century.Apparently, the trends are contradictory to each other. On the one hand there is a strong urge to integrate with the global market economy.On the other,this is matched equally strongly by the surfacing of a plethora of chauvinistic 'Hindu' nationalist parties on the political horizon of the country. However, resurgence of Hindu nationalism should not be seen as mere revival of the past or coming back of the primordial.Such a theorisation fails to appreciate the absolute hold that modernity has over the construction of identities within the dynamics of change. Instead we should more closely examine the part played by 'modernity' itself. The universalizing tendency of global market economy and the homogenizing tendency of Hindu nationalism are actually mutually conditioned and are to be seen as consequences of modernity.I have specifically focused on West Bengal as my field,interrogated the processes,examined their relationship,analysed their nature and theorised upon their prospects in relational as well as discrete sense.
.Recently, I have been looking into Globalization,Work,Consumption,Leisure;Indian Sociological Thinkers.I have taught for the past 17 years and my teaching interests include classical sociological thinkers,theories,Indian society.My administrative capacities have been Board of Studies Member,Joint Coordinator of NAAC,Examination Centre In Charge,Routine Committee In charge, etc.
Qualifications+
BA in Sociology, Presidency College (1991-94)
MA in Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi(JNU) (1994-96)
MPhil in Sociology,JNU,New Delhi(1996-98)
PhD in Sociology,JNU,New Delhi(1998-2002)
UGC NET in1995
UGC JRF in1997
NORAD Fellowship of the Norwegian Government in 1997
Biography+
Without any formal training in Sociology at the plus two level,I stood first in the Presidency College entrance examination.This was a revelation and an instant connect with the discipline.The subject has given theories,methods,heuristic tools,analytical concepts,imagination,reflexivity and more.With the sociological lens I look into the self,the other and society.I am fascinated with the process of sociological research,the construction,deconstruction and reconstruction of social world.After completing my BA Hons in Sociology from Presideny College,I went on to do my MA, MPhil and PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi. I got my first job as Lecturer at Kabi Sukanta Mahavidyalaya,Hooghly through College Service Commission(empanelled 1st) in 1999. In 2008, I joined Presidency College through Public Service Commission(empanelled 1st).In 2013, I became part of Presidency University.
Research / Administrative Experience+
Research:
1.My current research interests include Indian Sociological Thought(Bengali Intellectuals),Globalization,Work,Consumption,Leisure,Empowerment of Women.
2.My PhD thesis was on Resurgent Hindu Nationalism in The Age of Globalization:The Case of West Bengal.1998-2002.Supervisor T.K.Oommen.
3.My MPhil dissertation was on Political Responses to the New Economic Policy in India,1991.1996-1998.Supervisor T.K.Oommen.
Administration:
1.Board of Studies Member,currently at Vidyasagar University,earlier at Burdwan University.
2.Member,Institutional Ethics Committee For Human Research,Medical College,Kolkata.
3.Examination Centre Incharge at Presidency University,earlier at Presidency College,Kabi Sukanta Mahavidyalaya.
4.External Member,Examinations,St Xaviers College.
5.Erstwhile Member,Board of Moderators,Calcutta University.
6.Erstwhile Joint Coordinator NAAC,Kabi Sukanta Mahavidyalaya.
7.Erstwhile Routine Committee Incharge at Dept of Sociology,Presidency College and Kabi Sukanta Mahavidyalaya.
Teaching / Other Experience+
Teaching Experience:19 yrs
1.Professor in Sociology at Presidency University from 1.11.2016.
2.Associate Professor in Sociology at Presidency University from 1.11.2013.
3.Assistant Professor in Sociology at Presidency College from 26.11.2008 to 31.10.2013.
4. Reader, Senior Lecturer,Lecturer in Sociology at Sukanta Mahavidyalaya,Hooghly from 16.2.1999 to 25.11.2008.
5.Guest Faculty,Dept of Sociology,Jadavpur University from 2002 to 2003.
Courses Taught:UG+PG
1.Introductory Sociology:Concepts.Issues
2.Sociological Theories
3.Western SociologicalThought
4.Indian Sociological Thinkers
5.Indian Society:Institutions,Processes,Problems
6.Globalization and Indian Society
7.Research Methodology
Post Graduate Supervision+
I am supervising one doctoral student Aparajita Chakraborty.She is working on Exploring The Contemporary Solo Woman Traveller in India.
Academic Memberships+
Life Member,Indian Sociological Society(ISS), New Delhi.
Life Member,Sociological Association of West Bengal(SAWB), Kolkata.
Member Sociologist, Internal Ethics Committee for Human Research, Calcutta Medical College,Kolkata.
Member,PG Board of Studies,Department of Sociology,Vidyasagar University,West Bengal
Member, Board of Studies, Department of Sociology, St Xaviers College
Publications+
Books:
Globalisation and Hindu Nationalism in West Bengal: 1991-2001 (Kolkata: Readers Service, 2012) ISBN No 9788187891529
Political Responses to The New Economic Policy in India: A Sociological Analysis (Kolkata: Readers Service,2016) ISBN No 9789382623724
Articles:
Article in conference and symposium:
'Impact of the New Economic Policy (1991) in India: A Socio-Political Analysis’, in New Economic Policy: Its Impact and Alternatives (Khalisani Mahavidyalaya Publication: 1999), pp. 55-67. UGC sponsored National Seminar on Globalisation held at Khalisani Mahavidyalaya, University of Burdwan in April 1999.
Articles in Journals :
1. ‘Benoy Kumar Sarkar: A Tryst with Destiny’, Sociological Bulletin, vol. 62, no. 1 (Jan.-April 2013), pp. 4-22.
2. ‘Globalisation and Mall Culture in a Metropolis’, Jadavpur University Journal of Sociology, vol. 6 (2013), pp. 21-31.
3. ' Education in India: Learning and Unlearning', Proceedings of International Conference on Education and Information Technology, 21-3 October, 2015, World Congress of Engineering and Computer Science (WCECS 2015), vol. 1, pp. 343-47.
Book Reviews:
Journals
1. Javeed Alam, Living with Modernity (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1999), Sociological Bulletin, vol. 49, no. 2 (2000), pp. 327-9.
2. Zoya Hasan (ed.), Politics and State in India (Sage), Sociological Bulletin, vol. 51, no. 2 (2002), pp. 318-20.
3. Lancy Lobo, Globalisation, Hindu Nationalism and Christians in India (Rawat), Sociological Bulletin, vol. 52, no. 2 (2003), pp. 302-3.
4.Vivek Kumar, Dalit Leadership in India (Kalpaz), Sociological Bulletin, vol. 53, no. 2 (2004), pp. 301-3.
5.T.K. Oommen, Crisis and Contention in Indian Society (New Delhi: Sage, 2005), Sociological Bulletin, vol. 55, no. 3 (2006), pp. 509-11.
6.Satish Saberwal, Spirals of Contention (New Delhi: Routledge, 2008), Sociological Bulletin, vol. 58, no. 2 (2009), pp. 284-6.
7.Asoke Basu, The Rise of Civil Society in Bengal, Sociological Bulletin, vol. 63, no. 1 (2014), pp. 148-49.
8. Suresh Chandra Ghosh, Essays on Modern India( New Delhi:Orient Black Swan,2017), Sociological Bulletin, vol. 67, no.3 (2018), pp. 372-73
Apart from Journals, I regularly review books for Newspapers.
Seminars Presented:
1. ‘Leisure Patterns Revisited in the Age of Globalisation: The Case of West Bengal’ at the Sociological Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 10.9.2004.
2. ‘Untouchability Revisited’ in a seminar on Untouchability at Don Bosco School, Higher Secondary Class on 6th August 2011.
3. ‘Gender Issues in Bengal, Conference on Equal Opportunity at KSMV, Burdwan University, 5 March 2014.
4. ‘Interrogating Domestic Inequality’, International Sociological Association, XVIII, World Congress of Sociology, Yokohama, Japan, 13-19 July 2014.
5. ‘Barbie in India: A Study of Effects of Barbie in Psychological and Social Health’, Psychological and Behavioral Science Panel, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology Conference, Vienna, 16-17 June 2016.
6. ‘Social Thought of Benoy Kumar Sarkar: Heritage not Inherited’, Conference on The Past Before Us: Heritage and History in South Asia, SOAS, UK, 5-6 September, 2016.
7. ' Interrogating th Domestic Gendered Space', Fifteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities,Imperial College, London, UK, 5-7 July 2017.
8. 'Benoy Kumar Sarkar and Hindu Positivism', Sociology Colloquium in St Xaviers College,Kolkata,13 September,2017.
9. ' Domestic Division of Labour: Interrogating Gender, Hegemony and Counter Hegemony',43rd All India Sociological Conference of Indian Sociological Society on Neo Liberalism, Consumption and Culture, Dept of Sociology, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, 9-12 November 2017.
10. ' Hindu Sociology of Benoy Kumar Sarkar: Intellectual History and Inheritance', Extra Mural Lecture, MS University, Baroda,12 March, 2018.
11. ' Methods in Comparison: Sociologists and Social Thinkers in Context', Department of Sociology, MS University, Baroda, 13 March, 2018.
12. ' Gender and Everyday Domestic Space: An Exploratory Study of Upper Middle Class Women in Kolkata', International Conference on Identity, Culture and Communication, Paris, 25-26 June 2018.
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