Prof. Pushpesh Kumar

Areas of Research Interest:

• Gender and Sexuality

• Shifts in Marriage, Family and Kinship

• Globalisation and Social/Cultural Changes

• Theory and Pedagogy

• Body and Culture

• Ethnography

• Digital Sociology

Teaching Engagements:

• Urban Sociology

• Qualitative Research Method

• Society and Sexuality

• Modern Sociological Theory

• Society in India: Contemporary Issues

• Digital Sociology

Distinctions

Guest Editor, Special Volume on ’Trans and Queer Issues in Post NALSA and Post-377 Times, Community Development Journal, OUP: UK and Ireland (forthcoming)

Member, Editorial Board, Sociological Bulletin, Sage Publication, Delhi.

Invited talk, ‘Transfeminine Care Work: Some Methodological Issues’, In British Academy International Workshop on Globalized Male Domestic Care-Labour: Past and Present, hosted by London School of Economics’ International Inequalities Institute in Association with Oxford Brooks University, 5th May, 2022 (online mode).

Member, Advisory Committee, Collaborative Research Project on Gender Equity in Higher Education in India, 2021- 2022. Brunel University and Savitribai Phule Centre for Women’s Studies, Pune University, Pune, India

Chair, Transgender Committee, University of Hyderabad, 2021 (Continuing)

Keynote Address, (Men’s Role in Mitigation of Gender Justice), International Symposium on Safer and Healthier Workplaces, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology. Surat, Gujrat, India. October 23, 2021   

Member, UGC NAAC Visiting Team, IIHMR University, Jaipur, August 2019. 

Member, International Advisory Board, Community Development Journal, Oxford  University Press, UK.

Member, Advisory Board, Bharatiya  Samajshatra Sameeksha, Journal of the Indian Sociological Society, Delhi, Sage Publication, Delhi. 

Listed Peer Reviewer, Society and Culture in South Asia, Sage: Delhi

Listed Peer Reviewer, Feminist Encounter: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics. Lectito: Netherlands

Invited Keynote Address, Thinkery, Conference and International editorial Board Meeting of the Community Development Journal, Wesley Conference Centre, Euston, London. 3-5th July, 2019. 

Member, Preliminary Evaluation Committee, Shashtri  Indo-Canadian Institute, Delhi. 2018, 2019, 2020    

• Visiting Fellow, Dept. of Sociology. Delhi School of Economics. Delhi, 2018

• Guest Editor, Explorations: Ejournal of the Indian Sociological Society (spl vol. on Sexuality), 2018

• Invited speaker, South Asia Centre, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, 2017

• Invited speaker, Round Table,' Teaching Feminism in Neoliberal Academy’ at Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities, 2017. Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York on 2nd June 2017

• Visiting Fellow, Centre for the Studies of Social System, JNU, Delhi, 2014

• British Academy Visiting Fellow, Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, 2009)

• M.N. Srinivas Memorial Prize for Young Sociologist (2007) from the Indian Sociological Society, Delhi

• ICSSR Institutional Doctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi (2004-2006).

• Member of the Text Book Development Committee of NCERT, Delhi, 2005, 2015 (Sociology Text Book of 11th Class)

• Member, Expert Committee, B.A. Curriculum in Sociology, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Delhi, 2016.

• Alumni, Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio Centre, Italy (Visited 2008)

• Member, American Sociological Society

• Member, Indian Sociological Society

• Member, Indian Association of Women's Studies

• Member, Committee on Transgender, University of Hyderabad

• Member, Board of Studies, Rural Development, Solapur University, Solapur, Maharashtra

•  Faculty Coordinator, Gender Champion, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad.

• Joint Faculty, Centre for Women's Studies, University of Hyderabad .

Book Publication:

• Gender and Human Rights: Narratives on Macro-Micro Realities. Rawat Publications: Jaipur, Co-edited with B. C Barik and Usha Sarode.

• Sexuality, Abjection and Queer Existence in Contemporary India (ed), 2011, New York/ Delhi: Routledge.

Research Paper Publications

Science, State and Procreative Conundrums: A Transgender Perspective. Coauthored with sayantan Datta (28 May 2023), Law School Policy Review and Kautilya Society. https://lawschoolpolicyreview.com/2023/05/28/science-state-and-procreative-conundrums-a-transgender-perspective/

Ethical Concern Haunt Doctor's Plan to Transplant Uterus in a Trans Woman, Co-authored with Sayantan Datta ( 26.5.2022). The Wire

https://science.thewire.in/author/sdatta-pkumar/

Marginalized and Subordinate Masculinities in India and Covid-19 Pandemic. (2020). Co-authored with Debomita Mukherjee. Economic and Political Weekly Engage. Vol 56, Issue 1 (online). 

“Chandigarh Karen Ashiqui and transfeminine Identity: representation or Exclusion?”, Economic and Political Weekly, ( Engage, Online), Pushpesh Kumar and Deepa Sreenivas | Economic and Political Weekly (epw.in)

“A smartphone-based pilot HIV-prevention intervention (Sakhi) among transgender women in India: efficacy of a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental trial"authored with Chakrapani et al. (2023) https://doi.org/10.3390/venereology2010003

COVID-19 and Queer Community in India: Transgender Precarity and #Homovivah. (2022). In Reshmi Banerjee and Chandan Kumar Sharma (ed) Volume on Pandemic, Routledge: Delhi.

Handling pandemic: How does a Neoliberal State ‘Manage’ the Deeper Malaise? (2023). In, Rimple Mehta, Sandli Thakur and Debaroti Chkraborty (Eds), Pandemic Perspectives: Creative Re-Imaginings. New York: Routledge. Pp. 135-46.

Dictionary of Sociology for Schools (Trilingual), NCERT, Delhi. (2019).  Contributed following terms: Primitive, Pressure Group, Peasants, Revolution, Prejudice and Stereotypes, Pilot Study, Proletariat, Public Opinion, Questionnaire, Progress, rationality, Regionalism, Reference Groups, Religion, Research Methods, Simple and Complex Societies, Kinship, Kinship terminology, Genealogy. 

Struggle for Substantive Justice and Community Development: Transgender Subjects in Contemporary India. (2021). Asian Journal of Community Engagement. Vol 5, no 2, pp. 210-241

Heteronormative Exclusions in Environmental Concerns: Queer Ecology as Critique. (2021). In, Manish Verma (ed) Environment and Sustainable Development: Perspective and Issues, New York: Routledge.

Transcending Territoriality and Broadening Kinship: The National Federation of Dalit Women, Dalit Feminism, Intersectionality, and Gender Non-Conformity. In, Nutan Kapoor Mahawar and Ankita Dutta (eds), Women and Power - Gender within International Relations and Security, (New Delhi: Macmillan Publishers India Ltd). pp. 248-265

‘Introduction’. (2021) In Pushpesh Kumar (ed) Sexuality, Abjection and Queer existence in Contemporary India’, New York, Routledge, pp 1-38

No Place for Obscene: Debates on Playboy Club in South Asia’ (co-authored with Pranoo Deshraju) In Pushpesh Kumar (ed) Sexuality, Abjection and Queer existence in Contemporary India’, New York, Routledge, pp.97-111

Religion, Ritual Power, Exclusion and Marginality: Gender Transgressive Shivashaktis  in Telangana, Southern India, Co-authored with Archana Rao (Forthcoming) In Ahonna Roy (ed) Without Apologies:  Engaging With South Asian Gender and Sexual Diversity. New York: Routledge.

Tik Tok ban in India and 'That Vacuum in My Life'. July 2020.

https://doingsociology2020.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-tiktok-ban-in-india-and-that-vacuum.html?fbclid=IwAR25Vt5hDddo9CLyNR7HpSxzd_keGH-K2YeLG_k_OA9GgOuwInOe_vrzBJo 

'Caste and Gender', Forthcoming, Oxford Handbook on Caste in Modern World (eds)  Surinder Jodhka and Jules Naudet. 

'Mapping Queer Celebratory Moment in India: Necropolitics or Substantive Democracy?' Community Development Journal, 2020. Vol 55, issue 1, pp.  159-176. OUP: UK

'Deterritorializing Hetero-normative Family and Kinship: Hybrid Existence and Queer Intimacies in Contemporary India'. 2019.  In  Exploring Sociabilities  of Contemporary India: New Perspective ( Ed) Sujata Patel. Delhi: Orient Blackswan., pp. 170-198

• Marxism and Queer Theory: A Critical Analysis. 2018.  In Ravi Kumar (ed) Left Politics in India: Reframing the Agenda , Delhi: Akaar Books, pp, 175-199.

• Erotic Marginality and Erotic Justice. 2018.  Explorations: Ejournal of The Indian Sociological Society. Vol 2 (1). Pp 44-57

• Queering Indian Sociology: A critical Reflection. 2018. Explorations: Ejournal of The Indian Sociological Society. Vol 2 (1). Pp

• Caste: Inside and Outside the Classroom. 2018. In Maitryee Chaudhuri and Manish Thakur (eds) Doing Theory: Locations, Hierarchies and Disjunctions. Delhi: OrientBlackswan. Pp 277-301 

• Desire, Violence and 'Pink Money’: Life of Kothis in a Small City of Western India. 2018. In Gita Chadha and M.T. Joseph (ed) Re-imagining Sociology in India: Feminist Perspectives. Delhi: Routledge. Pp 220-241

• Disrupting the Coherence: Self Reflections of a Male Ethnographer.2018. In Romit Chaudhuri and Zaid -al-Baset (Eds). Men and Feminism in India. New York: Routledge.pp. 21-34. 

• Gender and Procreative Ideologies among the Kolams of Maharashtra. 2017. Indian Journal of Gender Studies. Sage. 24 (3). pp 455-473 (Special Volume In memorium: Leela Dube)

• Radicalizing Community Development: The Changing Face of the Queer Movement in Hyderabad City. 2017. Journal of Community Development. Vol. 52, issue 3. OUP: London.

•  Like Holding an Umbrella Before It Rains : Acceptability of Future Rectal Microbicides Among Men Who Have Sex With Men in India—A Modified Technology Acceptance Model, Qualitative Health Research, Volume 17, Issue 8. Sage: London. 2017 (co-authored with Chakaprani et.al) 

• Religion, Erotic Sensibilities and Marginality. 2015. In Sekhar Bandopadhyaya and Aloka Parashar Sen (eds) Society, Religion and Modernity in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press

• In nakhadha We Can Outshine Women but Can't Give Birth: Kothis in Provincial Cities of Western India. 2015. In Tutun Mukherjee and Niladri Chatterjee (eds) Naribhav: Androgyny and Female Impersonation in India. Delhi: Niyogi Books

• Disrupting the Coherence: Self-reflection of a Male Ethnographer, Economic and Political Weekly, May 16, 2015

• Queering Indian Sociology: A Critical Note. 2014. CSS/JNU, Delhi. (Working Paper)

• Transgression, Accommodation and Change: Configuring Gender and Sexuality within Marriage Practices of the Kolams. 2014. Marriaying in South Asia (eds) Rajni Palriwala, and Ravinder Kaur. Delhi: Orient Blackswan. Pp.70-88

• Development Debacle: Reflections from Some Micro Data. 2012 In Issues and Perspectives in Anthropology Today (eds) Shiva Prasad and Kashi Eswarappa. Delhi: Serial Publishers. Pp. 221-43.

•  Is There a Job for a Man in Sari? Biblio, 2011 Vol XVI.

• Sanma Told Me: Narratives of Gendered Violence. (December 2010, special volume on violence). Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Sage: Delhi. Vol.17, no.3. pp. 403-427

• ‘Gender and Human Rights: Some Critical Issues’. In B.C. Barik, Pushpesh Kumar and Usha Sarode (eds) Gender and Human Rights: Narratives on Macro-Micro Realities. Rawat: Jaipur. 2010.

• Sociology in the Regional ‘Backwoods’: A Fictional Rendering. 2010. In Maitrayee Chaudhuri (ed.) Sociology in India: Institutional and Intellectual Practices. Rawat: Jaipur.

• What Sociology is Possible Here? Some Critical Reflections on Disciplinary Practices in a Regional Center. 2009. Critical Issues: Jadavpur University Journal of Sociology. No.2 pp. 206-13

• ‘Family and Kinship’. 2006. In Introducing Sociology (NCERT Text Book for class xi)

• Gender and Procreative Ideology among the Kolams of Maharashtra. 2006. Contributions to Indian Sociology, Delhi, Vol.40 No.3. pp. 279-310

• Women Resisting Violence: The Economic as Political, Sociological Bulletin, Vol.52, No.1 March, 2003, Delhi. Pp. 91-113

• Feminist Anthropology: from Remedial to Radical, Journal of Social Sciences, Delhi Vol.3 No.3, 1999, Pp. 159-164

• National Seminar on “Common Property Resources and Planned Development in Western India, Indian Journal of Social Work, Vol. 60, Issues 3, July 1, 1999 (with B.C. Barik, Seminar Report)

Research papers in Hindi and Marathi

Kanyadhan ewm Kolam Estriyan: Ek nariwadi ewm samajshatriya vivechan (co-authored with Anjana Sinha), 2014. Bharatiya Samajshatra Sameeksha. Hindi Journal of the Indian Sociological Society. vol1 no 2. pp 70-81

Jagtikikaran aani Bharatatil LGBT chi chalwal. 2014. Akshargatha. pp 89-93.

Book Reviews

Published 26 book reviews in reputed social science and humanities journals

Consultancy Projects

Development and Evaluation of an E-Health Intervention to Promote HIV Prevention Behaviours & Mental Health of Transgender Women in India. IMPRESS-ICSSR, Delhi, In Collaboration with Centre for Sexuality and Health Research and Policy, Chennai (on-going)

• Co-Investigator in the collaborative multi-sited project 'CHEVI Team in Social and Behavioural Research in Vaccines' (Funded, Canadian Institute for Health Research/ Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, 2013-2014).

• Consultant to the project “Assessing Sexual and Reproductive Health Needs of Various Subgroups of Males in India: A Qualitative Study”. This study was commissioned by Dr. Venkateshan Chakarapani, C-SHARP, Chennai, in collaboration with HIV/AIDS Alliance, New Delhi (2008)

Manuscript Reviews (book/s and Journals)

AIDS Care, Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Sage Online, OUP, Delhi, Culture, Health and Sexuality, Community Development Journal, South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, Society and Culture in South Asia, Journal of Homosexuality, Sociological Bulletin/ Body and Society.