NLSIU, in collaboration with the Bangalore International Centre (BIC), organised the launch of ‘A Logic of Populism: India and its States’ (Cambridge University Press, June 2025), authored by Dr. Srikrishna Ayyangar, Associate Professor at NLSIU.
The launch event was held at BIC on August 10, 2025 from 5.30 pm to 7 pm. The launch was followed by a discussion on ‘Is there an Indian Way of Populism?’ and a Q&A session with the audience.
Event Schedule
- Introduction by Vibha Swaminathan (NLS LLB 2025) & 2025 Rhodes Scholar-elect
- Opening remarks from Dr. Srikrishna Ayyangar, Author of the book
- Panel discussion
- Q&A
Synopsis
Is populism a threat or a corrective to democracy? Can it be both and at the same time?
Much public commentary on populists has been pulled in different directions, and it seems almost impossible that we can cohere out of this polarised conundrum and into a shared understanding (even if disagreement) of meanings and labels around this concept. What indeed is the role of populism in political modernisation, and its place in a democracy, beyond the Americas and Europe?
Populists are often understood in terms of who they are – rather who we think they are. This discussion will centre around the recent book ‘A Logic of Populism: India and its States’ (Cambridge University Press 2025) that tries to understand populists in terms of what they do. Author, Srikrishna Ayyangar, argues that what populists do is to divide people, for the greater common good, and so who they are depends on political affiliations within the democratic context. Evoking the ‘Indian way’ inspired by A.K Ramanujan’s celebrated essay that the title of this discussion draws from, Ashutosh Varshney and Mahesh Rangarajan along with Sudhir Krishnaswamy as the moderator will engage in a conversation around the book and the relevance of the theme to India’s democracy.
Watch the Video
Author
Dr. Srikrishna Ayyangar is Associate Professor, Social Science at NLSIU, Bengaluru. He has previously taught at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, the University of the South – Sewanee, and the University of Hartford, and worked at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. His research has been published in journals including the Studies in International Comparative Development and Studies in Indian Politics.
Panellists
Dr. Mahesh Rangarajan is professor of Environmental Studies and History at Ashoka University. He is the author of several books that include Fencing the Forest (OUP 1996), India’s Wildlife History (Permanent Black 2001) and Nature and Nation (Permanent Black 2015) among many other edited and coedited books. He has also been a commentator on current affairs with the audio-visual media in both English and Hindi. He was Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (2011-15) and has also served as Vice Chancellor, Krea University (2021-22).
Mr. Ashutosh Varshney is Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Brown University, where he was also the Founding Director of the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia. Previously, he taught at Harvard (1989-98) and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2001-2008). His books include Battles Half Won: India’s Improbable Democracy, Collective Violence in Indonesia, Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India, India in the Era of Economic Reforms, and Democracy, Development and the Countryside: Urban-Rural Struggles in India.
The awards based on his research include the Guggenheim fellowship, the Carnegie Fellowship, the Gregory Luebbert Prize, and the Daniel Lerner Prize. In addition to professional journals, he also contributes guest columns to newspapers and magazines and is currently a columnist for The Print.
Prof. (Dr.) Sudhir Krishnaswamy is the Vice-Chancellor of NLSIU, Bengaluru and the Secretary-Treasurer of the Consortium of National Law Universities. He is a Member of the Independent Oversight Board that makes content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram platforms. He is the recipient of the Infosys Prize 2022 in the Humanities category.
He is the Co-founder and Managing Trustee of the Centre for Law and Policy Research, Bengaluru, that engages in law and policy research, social and governance interventions and strategic impact litigation; and the Founder of the Supreme Court Observer which is the most reliable guide to the work of the Supreme Court of India.
His current research focusses on constitutional law, the empirical analysis of the legal, political and governance systems and the regulation of new and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and automated decision systems.
Introduction
Vibha Swaminathan recently graduated from the LLB (Hons) programme at NLSIU and is a 2025 Rhodes Scholar-elect. She will read for the BCL at Oxford University, and is interested in examining the political and legal fragilities of citizenship, generated along intersectional axes of class, gender and religion.
Gallery
In this week’s faculty seminar, 
NLSIU’s 
Vinay Chandran
Aishwarya Birla
Raju Behara
Deedee
Radhika Chitkara
NLSIU’s Library Committee organised a poetry reading by 
Prof. Mohapatra recited the traditions he carries: his mother’s poetry, modern Odia verse, the Ramcharitmanas, and Faiz, alongside selections from his wide ranging collection in Odia and in English. The discussion flowed from the idea of a Puranic “Barshavatar” to questions about the relationship between the poetical and the political. In response, he read his rain poem on Socrates and spoke of his own examination of metaphysical ideas. The evening closed on a note of possibility and, as one student put it, “revolutionary optimism.”
Prof. Mohapatra has authored five volumes of poetry and has translated two volumes of Pablo Neruda’s poetry into Odia. A Fragile World, a book of his poetry in English translation, was published in 2008. He served as the national jury member for the Moortidevi Award of Bharatiya Jnanpith, Delhi, from 2013 to 2015. A volume of his poetry in Hindi translation – Buddha aur Aam – was published by Pralek Prakashan, Mumbai, in 2022. Prof. Mohapatra’s poetry carries not only a theorist’s critical gaze but, more importantly, a seeker’s voice. In terms of great uncertainty and disenchantment, his poetry seeks to re-enchant the world without drowning out contemporary realities.
The Law and Social Sciences Research Network (LASSnet) is pleased to 
Gautam Bhatia is a Delhi-based advocate and an Adjunct Professor at the Jindal Global Law School. He is the author of The Transformative Constitution (2019) and Unsealed Covers (2023). He has been involved in several contemporary constitutional cases, such as the challenge to the abrogation of Article 370, the electoral bonds case, the right to privacy case, and others. His work has been cited by the Supreme Court of India, and by various High Courts. He has served as amicus curae on two occasions before the Supreme Court of Kenya. He is also the author of three science-fiction novels, The Wall (2020), The Horizon (2021), and The Sentence (2024). (Source: HarperCollins Publishers India)
The 
The 
The Career Services Office is organising a session on ‘Building your Rhodes Scholarship Application’ on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. Ms. Vibha Swaminathan, a 2025 Rhodes Scholar-elect from NLSIU, will deliver the session between 3 and 4 pm in room 104 at the OAB. The session is open to NLS students across all programmes and years.
The Queer Archive for Memory Reflection and Activism (QAMRA), housed at NLSIU, is screening independent filmmaker T Jayashree’s ‘Many People, Many Desires’ (2004) on June 29, 2025. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with T Jayashree and other members of QAMRA – Mira Brunner and Dr. Siddharth Narrain. The session is part of Bangalore International Centre’s Pride Programmes.