Department of Development Studies
Professor Navtej K Purewal
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Key information
Key information
- Roles
- Department of Development Studies Professor in Political Sociology and Development Studies Research and Knowledge Exchange Convenor Centre for Gender Studies Member SOAS South Asia Institute Member
- Department
- Department of Development Studies
- Qualifications
- BA (Vassar College), MA (SOAS, London), PhD (Lancaster)
- Building
- Russell Square: College Buildings
- Office
- 448
- Email address
- np39@soas.ac.uk
- Telephone number
- 020 7898 4261
Biography
Navtej K Purewal is Professor in Political Sociology and Development Studies at the Department of Development Studies of SOAS University of London.
All of Navtej’s research has been concerned with the dialectical relationship between the political and the social, with an interest in how society responds to and reflects structures, histories and policies which shape the field of ‘development.’
Navtej has an interdisciplinary academic background, with a BA in Political Science from Vassar College, an MA in South Asia Area Studies from SOAS, and a PhD in Development Studies from Lancaster. She has done extensive field research in India and Pakistan, as well as the UK, in a number of research areas including bordering processes in South Asia, gender and reproductive politics, culture and intersecting inequalities in the arts, and gender and structural violence.
She views ‘development’ as an assemblage of colossal histories of imperialism, inheritances of institutions complicit in perpetuating hegemonies, ongoing violences and inequalities, and skewed global power relations. She also views the discipline of Development Studies from this vantage point though still believes that critical Development Studies can be introspective while still working towards naming and addressing systemic injustices through new visions, insights and strategies. Navtej teaches on a number of on-campus Development Studies modules at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels and in the past has taught on area studies modules focusing on language and culture in her ongoing commitment to contributing to South Asia area studies at SOAS. In 2019 she was Visiting Chair in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney, Australia. Prior to that she was a Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester.
Navtej is currently AHRC India fellow and is coordinating a large AHRC research programme on cultural heritage and creative industries in India.
Research interests
- Bordering processes
- Gender and intersecting inequalities
- Reproductive justice
- Culture and the creative economy
PhD Supervision
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Sakhi Nitin Anita | Mulgi Shikali, Pragati Zali? Reimagining education, development, and progress with rural girls in India |
| Amrita DasGupta |
Publications
Contact Navtej K
- Telephone
