The M.S. Gore Policy Research Group, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, is pleased to invite you to the guest lecture by Prof. Ashutosh Varshney on ‘India’s Democracy: Paradoxes for Further Reflection’, as part of the Prof. Rajni Kothari Memorial Lecture Series.

The M.S. Gore Policy Research Group is a student forum for policy-related research and advocacy at the Centre for Public Policy, Habitat & Human Development, School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences.

This session is a part of the lecture series dedicated to the legendary Prof. Rajni Kothari, whose intellectual prowess and unwavering activism gave the country lasting institutions and ideals which have inspired countless generations of students and academicians.

Prof. Varshney is the Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Brown University. A global celebrity political scientist specialising in ethnic and religious conflict and in economic development in South Asia, Prof. Varshney has authored the path-breaking work 'Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India', Development and the Countryside: Urban-Rural Struggles in India; India in the Era of Economic Reforms; Midnight's Diaspora; Collective Violence in Indonesia; and Battles Half Won: India's Improbable Democracy among other notable works. Winner of the Guggenheim, Carnegie, Luebbert and Lerner awards, he has previously taught at Harvard University and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prof. Varshney has served on the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Task Force on Millennium Development Goals and as an adviser to the World Bank and United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

We welcome you all!

Prof. Ashwani Kumar, PRG Mentor & Dr. Sandhya Iyer, PRG Coordinator
M.S. Gore Policy Research Group