Dr. Aashish Xaxa is currently an Assistant Professor with the Humanities and Social Sciences Discipline, at IIT–Gandhinagar. He obtained his Ph. D. in Development Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, where he was an ICSSR Doctoral Fellow. His broader research is on the urbanisation and changing Cityscapes of India, focusing on unexplored aspects of equity, governance, and social justice. His Ph. D. examined the development of tribes/indigenous peoples of Central and North-East India, with special reference to urbanisation, constitutional and legal provisions, development issues, land tenure systems, local governance and democracy, alienation and deprivation, from a comparative perspective. He is trained in Development Sociology, Urban Sociology, Development theories and histories, Public Policy, Comparative Studies, Governance, Contemporary Indigenous Studies, Social Exclusion, and Adverse Inclusion. His articles have been published and are forthcoming in international peer-reviewed journals, including ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ (EPW), and ‘Social Change’; edited books and volumes, including the United Nations Encyclopaedia of Sustainable Development (Springer). He has presented his articles at several international and national conferences and seminars in India, Chicago, the UK, Norway, and Denmark. He has a keen interest in novels, photography, music, and Western Cinema. He has also written several book and movie reviews for varied platforms, such as Medium, Doing Sociology, National Herald, RAIOT, and Youth Ki Awaaz.
Research Interests: Development Studies, Urban Development, Tribal Development, Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policies, Patterns of Governance
Voip: 2592
Office: AB5/404C
Education:
BA: University of Delhi, 2013
MA: Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 2015
M. Phil: Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 2017
PhD: Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 2021
Selected Publications:
“Transformation of Tribal Hinterlands into Urban Spaces in India’s Fifth and Sixth Schedule Areas: Emerging Issues and Contestations” in “Social Change” Volume 51(3), pp. 362–378 (ISSN: 0049–0857, DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/00490857211032952) on 6th September 2021.
“Sustainable Urbanization in Tribal or Indigenous Peoples’ Areas of India” in ‘Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Cities and Communities’ (Springer, Cham); Edited by Walter Leal Filho, Pinar Gökçin Özuyar, Anabela Marisa Azul, Luciana Londero Brandli and Tony Wall (ISBN: 978–3–319–95716–6, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_126-1), on 1st May 2021.
“Reimagining Urban Development in a Tribal Region – Readings on a Fifth Schedule Area of India” in ‘Theorising Urban Development from The Global South’ pp. 81–99, (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham); Edited by Anjali Karol Mohan, Sony Pellissery and Juliana Gomez Aristizabal (ISBN 978–3–030–82474–7; DOI: 10.1007/978–3–030–82475–4), on 26th October 2021. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-82475-4_4
“Tribes and Urbanisation in North East India: Issues and Challenges”: Special Article in “Economic and Political Weekly” Volume 54(38), pp. 46–52 (ISSN: 0012–9976), on 21st September 2019. https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/38/special-articles/tribes-and-urbanisation-north-east-india.html
“Sustainable Indigenous Urbanism as Spatiality in India” (Forthcoming in 2022) in Walter Leal Filho ed. “Implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals- Regional Perspectives – The Asia and Pacific Region.”
Work Experience:
Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (April 2022 to present)
Research Associate, Indian Social Institute, Delhi (August 2021 – November 2021)
Visiting Assistant Professor, Institute of Public Policy, National Law School University, Bengaluru (November 2020 – February 2021)
Research Assistant, Indian Social Institute, Delhi (May 2014 – June 2014)
Award:
Recipient of the ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship (2018–2020) for completion of the Ph. D. Academic Research