I see teaching and research as inherently symbiotic. Being able to teach well is the ultimate test of my own grasp of the literature and pushes me to think about complex ideas in terms of their barest most fundamental components. My central guiding principle as an instructor is to train students how to think, not what to think. I was awarded the P. Terrence Hopmann Award for Excellence in Teaching at Brown. I teach the following courses:

Political Economy of Caste  [Undergraduate Seminar | Spring 2026 | Syllabus]

Caste is arguably one of the most important determinants of social and economic outcomes in India. It also shapes politics deeply; hence the common adage, “Indian do not cast their vote, they vote their caste.” This course examines the major themes surrounding the political economy of caste in contemporary India from a multidisciplinary perspective. It is broadly structured in three parts. We begin with core concepts – what is caste? How does it fit within the larger category of ethnicity? How is it different from related concepts like racial hierarchy? Next, we disaggregate the causes of caste inequality – how is caste reproduced and what distinguishes it from class mobility. The second part of the course focuses on how caste affects public policy and development. We pay particular attention to affirmative action or caste reservations and examine the effects of descriptive representation on public goods provision and social attitudes. Part three of the course centers on caste politics – the ideas of social justice that have shaped political ideology in India and the types of political mobilization that emerged from those ideas. We will try to uncover the complexity of caste-based movements, drawing on regional perspectives – North versus South, variation in lower-caste groups – OBC versus Dalit mobilization, and finally the backlash they generate from upper-caste elites. In doing so, we will challenge some of the dominant narratives of patronage politics and affirmative action that have characterized our understanding of caste politics.

Politics of Hierarchy: Caste, Race, and Ethnicity in Comparative Perspective  [Undergraduate Seminar | Monsoon 2026; Monsoon 2027 | Syllabus]

Why do some human differences harden into durable inequalities between groups? How are these hierarchies created, reproduced, and justified? And how can they be dismantled? This seminar examines the politics of group-based inequality across societies, placing caste, race, and ethnicity within a single comparative framework. Rather than treating any one system of hierarchy as unique, we ask what caste in India, race in the United States and South Africa, and indigeneity in the Americas share as systems of ranking, exclusion, and dominance – and where they diverge. We begin with the conceptual and social-psychological foundations of hierarchy: What is ethnic hierarchy? How do group identities acquire status and become organized into relations of superiority and subordination? We then examine how hierarchies are historically constructed and reproduced through institutions and networks, everyday social norms and practices, and ideologies that legitimize inequality. The second part of the course turns to the consequences of ethnic hierarchy for socioeconomic inequality, state formation, and public goods provision. The final part examines the politics of hierarchy: how subordinated groups organize to challenge entrenched systems of dominance, and how dominant groups respond through backlash and retrenchment. By placing group subordination at the center of ethnic politics, the course challenges mainstream approaches to ethnicity that focus primarily on difference rather than inequality. Throughout, we ask not simply why ethnic identities matter, but why some come to carry durable advantage and disadvantage, and what happens when those hierarchies are contested. Drawing on political science, social psychology, sociology, economics, and history, the course trains students not merely to absorb scholarly findings but to interrogate them: to reconstruct arguments, evaluate evidence, compare explanations, and use comparison to think critically about how hierarchies are made, sustained, and undone.

Introduction to Indian Politics/ Politics of India  [Undergraduate Lecture | Monsoon 2026; Winter 2020; Fall 2020 | Syllabus]

“Introduction to Indian Politics” provides an overview of the society, economy, and politics of India through the lens of some of the most influential theories in comparative politics. Each week, we will engage with a seminal political science theory along with empirical works on India that speak to the underlying theme. This format is designed to engage with key debates in the discipline and, in the process, challenge some of its canonical texts. We will focus on six key themes during the course of the semester: i) Colonialism and its legacies, ii) Nationalism and Nation-building, iii) State Formation and State Capacity, iv) Democratization, v) Identity and Ethnicity, and vi) Political Economy of Development. These themes reflect the most researched and debated ideas in the social sciences, as well as the key drivers that have shaped contemporary Indian society and politics. The following key questions will guide us: How did a country with hundreds of ethnic, religious, and linguistic cleavages manage its diversity when other multiethnic countries have disintegrated? How should we make sense of India’s democracy in the context of high rates of poverty, illiteracy, and diversity? How has the subcontinent’s history of colonialism shaped modern day institutions? How has Indian democracy responded to centuries of discrimination based on identity? And finally, how has the Indian state fared in promoting economic growth and social inclusion? As one of the required courses for the political science major at Ashoka, “Introduction to Indian Politics” is carefully designed to explore some of the core questions in both comparative politics and Indian politics.

Ethnicity and Development  [Undergraduate Seminar | Winter 2020; Fall 2020 | Syllabus]

Ethnic diversity is consistently associated with poor public goods provision across countries. The negative relationship between social divisions and development has, in fact, been described as the “most powerful hypotheses in political economy”. But what exactly about diversity hinders social goods? This course will explore the dominant themes in the study of ethnicity and development based on insights from political science, philosophy, sociology, economics, social psychology, anthropology as well as popular writing. We begin with a theoretical understanding of the core concepts: What is development? What is the relationship between identity and ethnicity? What are the social-psychological foundations of identity? We distinguish between public goods and common-pool resources and explore the distinct channels through which diversity shapes cooperation between groups in the maintenance of common resources at the community level as well as how identity can be instrumental in shaping the policy preferences of the political elite and hence state provision of public goods. In the process, we will explore the role of shared culture and social norms, differential preferences of ethnic groups, the effects of status inequality, and finally the historical role of ethnicity in the state-building process and its long-term effects on development. The themes discussed in the course reflect some of the most cutting-edge areas of contemporary research in the field of comparative politics and development.

Comparative Politics of Development  [Graduate Seminar | Winter 2019; Winter 2020 | Syllabus]

Expanding economic, social, and political freedoms remains one of the most significant challenges for the world in the twenty-first century. This course provides an overview of the current debates in development, focusing in particular on the reasons why we observe significant differences in living conditions across political units. We begin with a theoretical understanding of the concept of development and its philosophical underpinnings: what are the goals of development? Is there a relationship between development and freedom? Can the wellbeing of an individual be in conflict with the larger goals of the society? As we explore these questions, we will go through dominant theories that explain why some places enjoy higher levels of wellbeing than others, including modernization theory, the role of historical institutions, class-based coalitions, political regimes, ethnic diversity, social capital, and the nature of state-building. We will trace the history of the modern state in the development process across these themes, both in advanced industrialized societies and emerging economies. We conclude by narrowing in on the distinct challenges of development in multiethnic and postcolonial societies. The readings address the “big questions” in the field as well as microlevel theories of collective action by drawing on research in political science, sociology, economics, and anthropology.