1994. Doctor of Philosophy in social anthropology, Trinity College, Cambridge

1991. Master of Philosophy in sociology, Delhi School of Economics

1990. Master of Arts in sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Gold medalist

1988. Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English literature, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi

Beginning December 2010 to date, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Beginning January 2017-December 2019 Institute Chair Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Beginning April 2007, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Beginning March 2003, Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Beginning September 1999, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Beginning August 1997, Lecturer in sociology, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Beginning October 1996, Lecturer in sociology, Miranda House, Delhi University

Beginning August 1995, Research Associate, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics

December 1994 to April 1995, ad hoc lecturer, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics

Books 

2019. Ed. Minority Studies. Oxford India Studies in Contemporary Society. New Delhi: Oxford University Press (New Paperback Edition)

2010. Ed. Margins of Faith: Dalit and tribal Christianity in India. New Delhi: Sage Publications. (Co-editor: Marianus Joseph Kujur) 

Papers In peer-reviewed journals: 

2023. (with Anu K Antony). In correspondence with an ever-expanding heaven: Subject formation and spiritual labor among the Syrian Catholic nuns of Kerala. HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory 13, 3: 573-586.

2023. (with Anu K Antony). Prayer as an actant: Freedom and sociality in the subject formation of a Catholic nun in Kerala, South India. Social Compass 70, 2:169-186. 

2022. (with Anu K Antony). Called to God: Event, narration and subject formation in the vocation of a Catholic nun. Critical Research on Religion 11, 1: 33-47. 

2022. (with Prithiraj Borah). Adivasi Mahasabhas: Locating Gender in the Adivasi Movements in Assam. Economic and Political Weekly 57, 49: 32-38. 

2022. (with Sherin Sabu). Menstrual kinship: Bonds of Intimacy and Care Work of Women in Central Kerala. Ethnos, DOI: 10.1080/00141844.2022.2136229. 

2022. (with Monica Sakhrani). Isolated Complaints Committees: Is SHWW Act, 2013 Effective in Higher Education Institutions? Economic and Political Weekly, 57, 44 & 45: 43-48. 

2015. In search of fraternity: Constitutional law and the context of housing discrimination in India. Economic and Political Weekly 50, 26 & 27: 54-62 

In books (peer reviewed): 

2021. (with Prithiraj Borah). Mai-baaps and minis: Spatiality, visuality and materiality in Assam’s tea gardens. In Tiplut Nongbri and Rashi Bhargava, eds., Materiality and visuality in north east India, pp. 57-71. Singapore: Springer 

2021. Minority citizens and the incivility of caste. In Suryakant Waghmore and Hugo Gorringe, eds., Civility in crisis: Democracy, equality and the majoritarian challenge in India, pp. 35-53. New York: Routledge 

2020. Christians and Christian Dalits in India: Balancing minority rights and caste claims in law. In Volker Kaul and Ananya Vajpeyi, eds., Minorities and populism: Critical perspectives from south Asia and Europe. Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, vol 10, pp. 231-241. Cham: Springer 

2019. (with Nandini Paliyath). Catholic citizens: Faith as activism in Mumbai. In Sujata Patel, ed., Exploring sociabilities of contemporary India, pp. 251-267. Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan 

2018. (with Dhruba J Saikia). Scientific research productivity in the Indian university sector. In Debaditya Bhattacharya, ed., The University Unthought: Notes for a Future, pp. 105-125. London and New York: Routledge 

2016. Religion in the sociology and anthropology of India. In Kiri Paramore, ed., Religion and orientalism in Asian studies, pp. 25-38. London and New Delhi: Bloomsbury Academic. 

2015. (with Savio Abreu & Ashok Kumar). Indian Christians: History and contemporary challenges. In Mujibur Rehman, ed., Communalism in postcolonial India: Changing contours, pp. 199-218. New Delhi: Routledge 

Selected Conferences (Last 10 years)

Dalit Christians in law and community. Paper presented at international seminar on ‘Primordial institutions and public policy’, Institute of Public Policy, NLSIU, Bengaluru, 10th and 11th December 2018.

Piety, patriarchy, power: Posing questions on women in faith. Presentation at international workshop on ‘The challenge of gender’, organized by Institute of Cultural Studies of East and South Asia, University of Würzburg and held at Akademie Frankenwarte Würzburg, 20th and 21st November 2018.

Christians: Engagements in civil society. Paper presented at international workshop on ‘Civil society perspectives from south Asia’ organized by the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations and held in the Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad, March 2nd and 3rd, 2018.

Triple talaq, religious freedoms: The anatomy of a judgment. Paper presented at international conference on ‘State, civil society and India’s religious margins’, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 7th and 8th December 2017

The role of civil society in promoting pluralism in a multi-religious and ethnic India. Keynote address delivered at national conference on ‘Religion and the Role of Civil Society: Challenges and Responses’, Department of Sociology, Loyola College, Chennai, 28th and 29th November 2017

Indian Institutions of Higher Education: Islands of exclusion or melting pots of integration? Paper presented at national seminar on 'Student Diversity and Discrimination' in NUEPA, New Delhi, 27th and 28th February 2017

Plenary talk delivered at All India Sociological Conference Plenary session on ‘Faith and religion: Contemporary perspectives’, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, 27th-30th December 2016

Situating civility: Between reason and passion. Valedictory address delivered in international workshop on ‘Democracy against civility?: Majoritarian politeness and subaltern dissent in contemporary India’, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, 15 December 2016

Department award for excellence in teaching: Awarded the departmental award for excellence in teaching in 2019, based on student feedback of teaching performance of previous several years.

Institute Chair Professorship: Held at IIT Bombay from 2017-2020. 

Indian Council of Social Science Research’s research grant awarded for Rs 900000 for 1.5-year small research project.

Indian Council of Social Science Research’s conference grant of INR 100,000 awarded for holding an international conference on ‘Structure, institution and organization in globalizing India’ in 2012.

Professor of Sociology (HSS) and Associate Faculty (ADCPS)

Life Member, Institute of Social and Economic Change, Bangalore

Life Member, Indian Sociological Society

Life Member, Indian Anthropological Association

Life Member, Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society

Life Member, Asiatic Society of Mumbai