Dr Ipshita Basu
I am a political anthropologist whose work examines how state–tribe–society relations are forged in regions historically governed as the inner and outer frontiers of colonial and postcolonial rule—forests, borderlands, and coastal zones. I trace how these governmentalised spaces, and the categories of “tribal” citizenship produced through ideologies of primitiveness and backwardness, shape contemporary struggles over territory, structural inequality, and wellbeing. These same frontier regions now sit at the frontline of anthropogenic climate change, making them critical sites for understanding environmental justice, governance, and community resilience.
Since 2020, I have led major interdisciplinary and internationally funded projects (British Academy; UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Quintin Hogg Trust) in collaboration with historians, geographers, and grassroots organisations representing Indigenous and minoritised communities in India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. This work has generated new insights into climate change and health, the digitalisation of social protection in the wake of COVID‑19, and everyday coexistence and community agency in post-conflict and ecologically fragile settings. Across these collaborations, I prioritise research that is analytically rigorous and grounded in community-led innovation.
Public engagement and knowledge exchange are central to my practice. I work closely with political cartoonists, artists, and curators to co-produce animated films, illustrated books, podcasts, and public exhibitions that amplify marginalised voices and broaden public understanding of frontier governance, Indigenous rights, and environmental precarity. These creative partnerships enable research to circulate beyond academic spaces and strengthen the participation of grassroots organisations in shaping debates that affect their futures.
Before joining the University of Westminster in 2015, I held a lectureship at the University of Surrey (2012–2015) and served as Head of Research at BRAC’s Institute of Governance and Development in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2010-2012). I am the author of Reclaiming Indigeneity and Democracy in India’s Jharkhand (Oxford University Press), and my recent publications explore ethnographies of digitalising states in intermediation societies, post-war urbanisation, ontological security and indigenous perspectives on political ecology of health.
My areas of expertise are:
· Politics and Governance in India and Bangladesh
· State-Tribe-Society relations and Frontier Governance
· Indigenous and Minority rights in South Asia
· Critical Social Science perspectives on Planetary health and One Health
· Resource Frontiers, Environmental Justice and Climate Vulnerability
· Digitalising States, Social Protection Distribution and Political Society
Areas of Expertise (for media, public communication, research collaboration)
Planetary Health and Wellbeing
Justice in Development
Digitalising States/Social Protection/Land
Indigenous people, minorities and race/caste dynamics
South Asian Politics: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka
