Researching Urban Development in Tribal Areas of India
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, the U.S.A, the UK, Amsterdam, Denmark, Italy and Norway. He has a keen interest in novels, photography, music, and Western Cinema. To that end, he has also written several book and movie reviews for varied platforms, such as Medium, Doing Sociology, National Herald, RAIOT, and Youth Ki Awaaz.