Regional Identity and Federalism in India

Speaker: Ashutosh Varshney
Discussant: Pramit Pal Chaudhuri
The Future of Asia Series | Edition II: Identity and Culture
In collaboration with Asia Society India Centre, Mumbai

January 17, 2013 | 6.30 pm
Auditorium, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai

The discussion will focus on how regional identity has shaped the formation and efficacy of federalism in India, and the extent to which this system of governance has been a success. Ashutosh Varshney will investigate this theme drawing on comparisons with Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Indonesia, and will reflect on how these countries’ governance structures map against respective cultures and identities to reveal ground realities in a new light. He will be joined in a discussion with Pramit Pal Chaudhuri to explore how these elements stand to shape the future of Asia.

Ashutosh Varshney joined Brown faculty in January 2009. Previously, he taught at Harvard and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was the 2008 winner of the Guggenheim fellowship and the Carnegie Scholar awards. His Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India won the Gregory Luebbert Prize of the American Political Science Association. His Democracy, Development and the Countryside: Urban-Rural Struggles in India, in its PhD dissertation form, won the Daniel Lerner Prize at MIT. His research and teaching cover three areas: Political Economy of Development, Indian Politics, and Ethnicity and Nationalism. His academic papers have appeared in prestigious professional journals internationally. In addition, he also contributes guest columns to newspapers and magazines.

Pramit Pal Chaudhuri is the Foreign Editor of Hindustan Times. He specializes in India’s international security and economic policy. His experience includes participating as a delegate in Indo-US Strategic Dialogues, serving as South Asia Fellow at the Henry Stimson Centre, as Visiting Fellow at Cornell University’s South Asia department, and as editorial writer for The Telegraph and The Statesman newspapers. He is also an Associate Fellow at Asia Society.

The Future of Asia series, co-produced by Mohile Parikh Center and Asia Society India Centre, brings together a diverse group of speakers from across the world to explore the Future of Asia from a multidisciplinary perspective. Each speaker addresses this theme through a distinct lens provided from his or her discipline, offering unique insights into what we can expect for Asia, and how we can shape a positive, sustainable future for the continent.