Passcode: 12345

The twenty-first century famously marks the dawn of the “post-truth” era.  After four decades of market hegemony, we find ourselves in a situation where "consumer-queens" (and kings) are seen as having a legitimate right to choose not only the material products but also the knowledge that they wish to consume.  What would the “softer” social sciences – like sociology, anthropology, history, or political science – have to do to survive in such an environment?

Professor Satish Deshpande is M N Srinivas Chair Professor at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru. He was Professor of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi until his retirement in 2023. Professor Deshpande is the recipient of the Malcolm Adisehshiah Award, 2012. He obtained his MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and his MA in Economics from Jawaharlal University, New Delhi.. His research interests cover a range of issues around caste and class inequalities, higher education today, the politics and history of the social sciences, issues of language in academia, and contemporary social theory. He is the author of Contemporary India: A Sociological View (2003) and co-author of Sectarian Violence in India: Hindu-Muslim Conflict, 1966-2015 (2019, with Sanjay Palshikar); Untouchability in Rural India (2006, with Ghanshyam Shah, Harsh Mander, Sukhadeo Thorat and Amita Baviskar). He has edited The Problem of Caste (2014), and co-edited  Anthropology in the East: Founders of Indian Sociology and Anthropology (2007, with Patricia Uberoi and Nandini Sundar);  Beyond Inclusion: The Practice of Equal Access in Indian Higher Education (2013, with Usha Zacharias). He has contributed in numerous international and national journals and edited volumes and regularly contributes in national media publications.

Passcode: 12345

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