The latest episode of the Democracy in Question podcast, hosted by Central European University (CEU) President and Rector, Shalini Randeria, features Mukulika Banerjee, Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she was also the inaugural director of South Asia Centre from 2015 to 2020. Working at the intersection of social anthropology, politics, and history, Mukulika has published widely on South Asia, including the books "Why India Votes" in 2014 and recently "Cultivating Democracy, Politics and Citizenship in Agrarian India".
In this episode, "Mukulika Banerjee on the Cultivation of Democracy in India" published March 15, Randeria and her guest explore what makes republican values and practices important to the survival of any democracy, as well as the role of sociality in cultivating of a common sense of purpose, mutual interdependence, and collective engagement. What makes the agrarian ethos of Indian village communities resonate with the spirit of democratic republicanism and how does the rural India vote transform political consciousness?
Series six of Democracy in Question is produced in partnership with the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy at the Graduate Institute in Geneva (AHCD) where Randeria is a Senior Fellow. ACHD and the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM) in Vienna co-produced seasons one and two of the podcast.
