M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D. in Political Science (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)
Aseem Prakash
Professor
School of Public Policy and Governance
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
Hyderabad
Phone: + 91 8099781430
Email: aseem.prakash@tiss.ac.in; aseemprakash@gmail.com
I am a Professor of Public Policy and currently Campus Director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad.
For me, ‘Public Policy’ is a doing verb; it entails designing institutional frameworks for better, just and sustainable societies. Towards this, my efforts are directed towards four interrelated domains.
I have been instrumental in creating institutional bedrock for training new-age policy professionals and equipping them with the necessary competence and skillsets so that they can be at the forefront of addressing new and emergent policy challenges. This involved conceiving the intellectual agenda of the School of Public Policy and Governance at TISS Hyderabad. As part of this mandate, I had the opportunity to design the curriculum framework for two postgraduate programmes, namely, Public Policy and Governance (launched in 2014) and Cities and Governance ( launched in 2021). Earlier, I was part of the two-member team at the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy that designed and launched the first post-graduate Prorgamme in Public Policy in India (2012). I have also conceived the undergraduate programme – BS in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, to be offered in the year 2024 at TISS Hyderabad. Besides the post-graduate/undergraduate programmes, I have also developed the intellectual framework for three certificate courses – Public Policy Analysis, Data Science and Public Policy, and Inclusive Cities offered by the SChool of Public Policy and Governance, TISS, Hyderabad.
The second domain concerns teaching. I offer core public policy courses that together build the capacity of students, professionals and civil servants to think, deliberate and design just and sustainable policy institutions. My courses/lectures/curate workshops persuade the students to explore the question of ethics in public action, understand diverse frameworks of policy actions, undertake policy analysis exercises, and develop the art of reading and writing policy/legislative documents. Besides this, I lead a Policy Area Concentration (PAC) in “Regulation and Institutions”. The PAC encourages the students to think and design an institutional framework that can regulate the emergent market economy from the point of equity without compromising efficiency concerns. It explores the regulatory dynamics, concerns and institutional requirements in infrastructure, utility, and welfare sectors.
My policy research interests include the interface between the state and markets, regulation and institutions, sociology of markets, social discrimination, and human development. Currently, I am working with faculty and students team on research project entitled:
My recent books are titled Dalit Capital: State, Markets, and Civil Society in Urban India; published by Routledge and The Indian Middle Class (co-authored with Surinder Jodhka), published by Oxford University Press. I regularly partner with students to work on sponsored as well as self-designed research projects.
Lastly, I am frequently invited by leading training institutions to train senior and civil servants. I have developed case studies to explain what works and does not work in order to explain the policy frameworks in the country and beyond.
I am also associated with several public policy and social science Institutions in an advisory capacity. I would have been more contented and happier if I had pursued a career in sports. I have earned my doctorate from the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Aseem's research interests include the interface between the state and markets; regulation and institutions; wefare regimes, citie and inclusive development, sociology of markets; social discrimination and human development.
Book(s)
Aseem Prakash ( 2015) Dalit Capital: State, Markets and Civil Society in Urban India Routledge, New Delhi
Surinder Jodhka & Aseem Prakash, The Middle Class in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2016
Edited Book(s)/ Volume(s)
Barbara Harriss-White with Elisabetta Basile, Anita Dixit, Pinaki Joddar, Aseem Prakash and Kaushal Vidyarthee (eds.) ( 2013) Dalits And Adivasis in India’s Business Economy – Three Essays and an Atlas, Three Essay Press, New Delhi
Jan Bremen, Isabelle Gurien & Aseem Prakash (eds.) (2009) , India’s Unfree Workforce: Of Bondage Old and New, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2009
Recent Articles in Journals/ Edited Books ( 2020 Onwards)
Aseem Prakash & Hem Broker (2022), ‘Pandemic Precarity: Life, Livelihood, and Death in the Time of the Pandemic’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. lVii 40 no 5, pp. 40-45, January 29.
Aseem Prakash, Guest Editor: Journal of Social and Economic Development, Volume 23, supplement issue 2, 2021
1. Aseem Prakash (2021), ‘Pandemic Precarity’ Journal of Social and Economic Development, Volume 23, supplement Issue 2, pp. 229-233
2. Arvind Pandey, Aseem Prakash, Rajeev Agur & Ganesh Maruvada (2021), ‘Determinants of COVID- 19 Pandemic in India: An Exploratory Study of Indian States and Districts’, Journal of Social and Economic Development, Volume 23, supplement Issue 2, 2021, pp. 248-279
Aseem Prakash ( 2021), ‘Everyday Politics of Economic Life in Small Town North India: A Social History of Kannauj through the Lens of the Ittar (Perfume) Business’, Sociological Bulletin, 70(4) 467–484
Aseem Prakash (2021), ‘Markets and Aspiration’ in Sujata Patel (ed.), Neoliberalism, Urbanisation, and Aspirations in Contemporary India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 233-256
Aseem Prakash (2021), ‘Dalit Enter the Indian Markets as Owners of Capital: Adverse Inclusion, Social Networks and Civil Society’ Aakash Singh Rathore (ed.), B.R. Ambedkar: The Quest for Justice, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 190-2018
Aseem Prakash ( 2020), ‘Economics, Ethics and Mental Health in the Times of Corona’, Indian Journal of Social Work, Volume 81, Issue 4, pp.389-394
Ongoing Research Projects
Title: Cities, Social History and Muslim Entrepreneurs
The research project aims to write the social history of select cities from the vantage point of successful Muslim entrepreneurs who control significant proportions of economic activities in that particular city. In other words, how and why certain economic activities (for instance spices in Kozhikode, perfume in Lucknow, medical equipment in Kolkata, retail of electrical equipment in Bhopal, restaurants and bakery in Hyderabad) flourished in these cities and how Muslims acquired a dominant position in these economic sectors. The project endeavours to connect the business history of successful entrepreneurs to the “socioeconomic” history of the particular economic sector in which they have succeeded and then examine how these two have impacted and influenced the social history of the city and vice-versa.
Policy Area Concentration (PAC): Institutional Reform, Capacity and Regulation. The PAC comprises of three courses:
a) History and Perspectives of Institutions and Regulation
b) Regulation and Institutions
c) The future of Regulation