PROFILE AT A GLANCE
E. CONSULTANCY
Senior Consultant, Logframe Baseline Survey for the DFID supported Poorest Areas Civil Society (PACS) Programme.
F. SELECTED HONORARY POSITIONS, HONORARY WORKS
1. Resource person for India and Sri Lanka, Transparency International UK’s Defence & Security Programme.
2. Member, Expert Committee, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC, an autonomous body of the University Grants Commission, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India).
3. Member, Expert Committee, Development Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Delhi.
4. Member Expert Committee, Gandhian Studies, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Delhi.
5. Member, Expert Committee (for mid-term appraisal of FAEA (Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access), funded by Ford Foundation)), Delhi.
6. Member, Expert Committee, FAEA (for selection of students from socially deprived sections for higher education scholarships.
7. Expert, annual meetings of the Principals of the FAEA cluster colleges under the Pathways Programme.
8. Member, Advisory Committee for the development of the University Grants Commission’s Centre for the Study of Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Bharathidasan University.
9. Member, Planning and Development Board, University of Madras.
10. Member, Board of Research Studies, University of Madras.
11. Member, Board of Studies in Sociology, Universities and Colleges, Tamil Nadu.
12. Referee for manuscripts, Taylor and Francis (Routledge), London.
13. Referee for manuscripts, Oxford University Press, India.
14. Referee for international journals.
15. Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Sociological Bulletin.
16. Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Peace and Democracy in South Asia.
17. Member, Editorial Board, History and Culture.
18. Member, Editorial Team, Milli Gazette.
19. Consultant, Project on implementation of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, National Law School of India University, Bangalore (sponsored by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India).
20. Peer Reviewer, Global Integrity, Washington (An International NGO tracking global governance and corruption trends).
21. Member, selection committees of Universities.
22. Member, Governing Council, Madras Institute of Development Studies.
23. Member, Academic Council, Madras Institute of Development Studies.
G. MEMBERSHIP IN LEARNED SOCIETIES
1. Indian Sociological Society;
2. International Sociological Association.
H. SELECTED ADDRESSES, LECTURES, ETC.
1. Ambedkar’s philosophy is more relevant today than ever. Keynote Address to the seminar on Relevance of Dr B R Ambedkar’s philosophy to the youth . Avinashilingam Deemed University for Women. 20 April 2011.
2. Challenges and prospects of research in the new world order: Issues of quality, quantity, and interdisciplinary perspectives. Address to PhD Supervisors of University of Calicut and its affiliated colleges. 24 March 2010.
3. Higher Education in Perspective (Analysis of the National Council for Higher Education and Research Bill) placed in Parliament. Address to Tamil Nadu Advocates Association, Chennai, 23 April 2010.
4. Identifying the economically backward among the non-reserved categories. Key Note address to the Workshop organized by the National Commission for Identifying the Backward Classes Among the Non-reserved Social Groups. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Institute of Social Sciences, Indore. July 2009.
5. Globalization, Faith and Development Politics. January 2008. In a seminar on Structural Transformation, Developmental Politics, and Religious Polarisation. Council for Social Development. Delhi.
6. Understanding the Nature of Social Sciences. Inaugural Address. February 2008. Seminar on Sociology in Tamil Nadu: Institutions, Knowledge and Practice. Organised by UGC and Department of Sociology, University of Madras.
7. Globalisation and Exclusion. March 2008. In a seminar on Globalisation and Managing Vulnerabilities. ISEC. Bangalore.
8. Social Science Research in India. Valedictory Address. March 2008. Seminar on Interdisciplinary Approach to Social Science Research. Loyola College and Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Chennai.
9. Understanding cults in modern India. International Symposium on Cultic Studies, Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, December 2007.
10. Academic Freedom from a Human Rights’ Perspective. July 2006. In the Round Table `The Challenges of Academic Freedom in the Global South: Role and Responsibilities of Academics and Researchers’. Organised by CODESRIA at the World Forum on Human Rights. Nantes, France.
11. Reorienting the Reservation Policy: Lessons from the past and from Tamil Nadu. July 2006. In a seminar on Reservation policy. IIPA, Delhi.
12. OBC Reservation: The Tamil Nadu Experience. July 2006. In a seminar on Backward Classes and Reservations. Centre for Political Studies, JNU and National Commission on Religious and Linguistic Minorities, Delhi.
13. From the Margins to the Mainstream. Key Note Address. January 2005. UGC seminar on Marginal Groups, Political Participation, and Social Development. Sociology Department. Madurai Kamaraj University.
14. istory-Sociology Interface. Sir William Meyer Endowment Lectures. February 2005 Department of Indian History. University of Madras.
15. Globalisation and Education. March 2005. K.K. Shah Endowment Lectures. Department of Politics and Public Administration. University of Madras.
I. SELECTED INTERVIEWS TO INTERNET PORTALS
1. 'Caste inclusion in census will be a disaster'
2. 'Brahmins dominate all modern professions'
3. 'If Prabhakaran surrenders, Tamil suffering will end'
4. 'In the Case Of Reservations, There Is No Exit'.
5. Dalits Have Not Benefited From Quotas.
J. MAJOR RESEARCH CONCERNS
1. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION (Reservation; Backwardness/Backward Class Politics; Human Resource Development);
2. AGRARIAN PROBLEMS (Farmers’ Suicides; Peasant Struggles; Land Reforms; Social Change);
3. CASTE SYSTEM (Caste and Politics; Dalit Problems; Emancipation Politics; Social Discrimination; Social Exclusion; Social Mobility; Social Movements; Untouchability; Weaker Sections);
4. DISABLED AND SOCIETY (The need and means for building up inclusive societies)
5. EDUCATION (Academic Freedom; Educational Perspectives and Disparities; Quality and Spread; Reservation Politics);
6. SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION, EXCLUSION, and INCLUSIVE PUBLIC POLICY;
7. GANDHIAN STUDIES (on the importance of non-violence, peace and Satyagraha in social development and social well-being);
8. NON-VIOLENCE, FREEDOM AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (from a Gandhian perspective);
9. GLOBALIZATION (and Education, Religion, Society);
10. POLITICS and GOVERNANCE (Electoral, Caste, Language, Religious, and Vote-bank Politics; Governance and Corruption; Democratic Governance; Law and Society; Public Policy);
11. RELIGION (and Communalism, Globalisation, Secularism, Social Conflict, Terrorism; Religious Minorities).
K. RESEARCH WORKS AT A GLANCE
a) Works [Books] in progress
1. Backwardness Politics: Tamil Nadu, 1840-2012;
2. Caste Discriminations in Indigenous Education in British India;
3. Mandal Commission and After: India’s Affirmative Action Politics;
4. Caste and Education in Early 19th Century Madras Presidency.
b) Works completed
1) Project reports 03
2) Books and Monographs 05
3) Articles in edited books 11
4) Articles in journals 28
5) Articles in MIDS Bulletin 05
6) MIDS Working Papers 05
7) Articles in Magazines and Newspapers 101
8) Book Reviews 48