Book Discussion on ‘A Social Theory of Corruption: Notes from the Indian Subcontinent’
Channel: Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
Date: 2022-04-22

Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
invites you to a Book Discussion on 

A Social Theory of Corruption
Notes from the Indian Subcontinent

by Sudhir Chella Rajan

Discussant: Manu V. Devadevan

Chair: Ananya Vajpeyi

Tuesday, 15 February 2022, 4 pm IST
The discussion will be held on Zoom
Link: https://bit.ly/3L0x1rx
Meeting ID: 897 7121 9002
Passcode: csdsdelhi

In contemporary policy discourse, the notion of corruption is highly constricted, understood just as the pursuit of private gain while fulfilling a public duty. Its paradigmatic manifestations are bribery and extortion, placing the onus on individuals, typically bureaucrats. Using South Asia as a case study, the author argues that this understanding ignores the true depths of corruption, which is properly seen as a foundation of social structures. Not just bribes but also caste, gender relations, and the reproduction of class are forms of corruption.

Sudhir Chella Rajan is Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Madras.

Manu V. Devadevan is Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Mandi.

Ananya Vajpeyi is Associate Professor at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi.