Constitution Day संविधान दिवस

About the Speaker
Satish Deshpande M.A, Economics (JNU), MA, PhD (California) teaches Sociology at DSE, Delhi University. His most recent books are the edited volumes Sectarian Violence in India: Hindu-Muslim Conflict, 1966-2015 (with Sanjay Palshikar, Orient Blackswan 2019), The Problem of Caste (Orient Blackswan 2014), and Beyond Inclusion: The Practice of Equal Access in Indian Higher Education (with Usha Zacharias, Routledge 2013). His other publications include Contemporary India: A Sociological View (2003) and (with Ghanshyam Shah, Harsh Mander, Sukhadeo Thorat and Amita Baviskar) Untouchability in Rural India (2006) He is the recipient of the 2012 Malcolm Adisheshaiah Award for distinguished contributions to development studies. His areas of interest include caste and class inequalities; the theory and practice of social justice; the history and politics of the social sciences; South-South intellectual interactions; higher education; and issues in social science teaching, especially the challenges of language. Prof Deshpande contributes regularly to the Indian Express, EPW and other national and international periodicals and has taught at St.Stephen’s College and DSE (DU), CSDS (Delhi), UOH (Hyderabad), and has been a Visiting Professor at Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago and UC (San Francisco).

About the Talk on “Constitutions and Constituencies”
Is our Constitution an orphan? Who cares for it, has a stake in it, works for it? Which particular interests or forces defend the universal values of the Constitution? What have we learnt about -- and from -- the Constitution in seven decades?