Panel Discussion | Report on ‘Citizenship, Inequality and Urban Governance: A Study of Indian Cities’

NLSIU is hosting a panel discussion with Prof. Patrick Heller, Prof. Ashutosh Varshney and Dr. Siddharth Swaminathan from Brown University, United States, who will present findings from their latest report titled “Citizenship, Inequality and Urban Governance: A Study of Indian Cities.” The event will take place between 5 and 8 PM on August 13, 2025, at the Ground Floor Conference Hall, Training Centre, NLSIU.

Agenda

Panel 1: Basic Service Delivery, Segregation and Inequality

Panel 2: Participation, Social Interactions and Governance

About the Speakers

Panellists:

1. Prof. Patrick Heller, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Sociology, Brown University
2. Prof. Ashutosh Varshney, Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences, Brown University
3. Dr. Siddharth Swaminathan, Visiting Research Associate, Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University

Discussants:

1. Dr. Sushmita Pati, Associate Professor, Social Science, NLSIU
2. Dr. Angarika Rakshit, Assistant Professor, Social Science, NLSIU

About the Report

Published by the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University, the report presents the results of a comparative study of 14 cities (and 31803 households) where it probes in detail two kinds of contemporary urban experiences in India. First, it explores how India’s urban citizens relate to the state and how the state provides basic public services to them, and second, how citizens interact with one another, whether their social interactions extend beyond their own caste and religious communities, their patterns of participation, and how they view issues of citizen equality and freedom.