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Bishnu Mohapatra

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Bishnu Mohapatra
On 11 April 2014
Born16 July 1960
OccupationProfessor & Odia Poet
Academic background
EducationMPhil & PhD
Alma materJawaharlal Nehru University University of Oxford
Academic work
DisciplinePolitical Scientist and Poet
Sub-disciplineMinority Rights, Democracy, Civil Society etc
InstitutionsKrea University

Bishnu N Mohapatra (born 16 July 1960) is a political scientist, poet, educator, and academic. He is a professor of politics and the founding director of the Moturi Satyanarayana Centre for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Krea University. He was also the first dean of the School of Interwoven Arts and Sciences (SIAS) at Krea. He is a political commentator on society, governance, policy, and culture.

Mohapatra's research interests are diverse and include identity politics, democracy, minority rights, urban politics, civil society, governance, social exclusion, and social capital. He is currently researching cities and their multiple imaginings in history and is initiating a collective research project to understand the conceptual universe embedded in India’s Bhasa literature.

Early life and education

Bishnu Mohapatra was born in Odisha, India. He spent his formative years in Odisha's rural hinterlands, especially in the coastal and tribal parts of Odisha. He completed his schooling from Cuttack. Mohapatra holds a Master's degree in Political Science from the University of Delhi, an MPhil in Politics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford.

Work and reception

He has taught politics for over twenty-five years at the University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Azim Premji University. He later held visiting appointments at institutions such as Maison des Sciences de l’Homme in Paris, the National University of Singapore, the University of Kyoto in Japan, and the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore. He has served as the Local-Global Governance Program Officer at the Ford Foundation's South Asia office in New Delhi.

Bishnu Mohapatra was invited to anchor the project of the World Humanities Report (WHR) for India/ South Asia initiated by UNESCO and CIPSH (The International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences, Paris) and coordinated by CHCI (Consortium of Humanities Centres and Institutes) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 2019.

The World Humanities Report, anchored by Bishnu Mohapatra, provides an overview of the humanities' role in South Asia. The report includes thirteen critical essays and twelve video conversations, highlighting the humanities' presence in various forms and languages across the region. It emphasizes the humanities' ability to critically interrogate social practices, despite challenges such as limited public policies, economic resources, and social status.

Minority rights

In his writings, Mohapatra highlights the challenges faced by minority communities in asserting their rights especially educational status of Muslims and decline of Urdu in North India and the role of the state in protecting these rights. He argues that Indian state and civil society organizations often prioritize cultural rights over the socio-economic needs of the Muslim community. The authors argue that it is crucial for civil society to advocate for the socio-economic rights of Muslims to ensure their well-being and inclusion in society.

As a Poet

Mohapatra is also an Odia poet and translator. He has authored five poetry books and translated two volumes of Pablo Neruda’s poetry into Odia. A volume of his poetry in English translation, "A Fragile World," was published in 2005. His poetry has also been translated into Hindi (Buddha aur Aam, 2022).

His book, "Ranapare Jahan" (The Moon on Stilts), is a collection of Odia poetry. This book explores themes of love, life, and politics, blending them seamlessly into his poetic expressions.

Publications

Books

Interrogating Social Capital: The Indian Experience (Co-edited With Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, Niraja Gopal Jayal, and Sudha Pai), 2004; Sage Publications, New Delhi, ISBN 9788132103349

Reports /Articles

  • Intimacy of Distance, (a poem) in Singing in the Dark: A Global Anthology of Poetry Under Lockdown, edited by K. Satchidanandan and Nishi Chawla, (Penguin Random House, 2020). ISBN 9780143457213
  • Anatomy of Disagreement, Seminar, Number-716, April,2019
  • Minority Question in India, in Jyotirmaya Tripathy and Sudarsan Padmanabhan (eds.) Becoming Minority: How Discourses and Policies Produce Minorities in Europe and India, 2014; Sage Publications, London and New Delhi,
  • India’s Federalism and the Practice of Politics: Challenges and Possibilities, in Lok Raj Baral and Krishna Hachhethu (eds.) South Asia: Nation Building and Federalism, 2014; Vij Books India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
  • Ways of Democracy: Making Politics Work for the Urban Poor, in Akio Tanabe and Taberez Ahmed Neyazi (eds.) Democratic Transformation and the Vernacular Public Arena, 2014; Routledge, London
  • Introduction to a Global Conversation on Democracy and the Democracy Manifesto, OpenDemocracy (www.opendemocracy.net), 7 and 11 May 2011
  • Minorities and Politics, The Oxford Companion to Politics in India, Niraja Jayal Gopal and Pratap Bhanu Mehta (eds.), 2010; Oxford University Press, Delhi
  • Self-Definitions and/in Colonial Contexts: Sources of Early Imaginings in Nineteenth-Century Orissa in History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, vol. 5, part- 5, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya (ed.), 2007; Oxford University Press
  • Self Definitions and Otherness: Contexts and Sources of Early Imaginings in late Nineteenth-Century Orissa in Region, Culture, and Politics in India, Rajendra Vora and Ann Feldhaus (eds.), 2006; Manohar, Delhi
  • A View from the Subalterns: The Pavement Dwellers of Mumbai in Rajesh Tandon and Ranjita Mohanty (eds.) Does Civil Society Matter: Governance in Contemporary India, 2003; Sage Publications, Delhi
  • Democratic Citizenship and Minority Rights: A View from India, in Catarina Kinnvall and Kristina Jonsson (eds.) Globalization and Democratization in Asia: The Construction of Identity, 2002; London and New York, Routledge
  • Social Connectedness and Fragility of Social Capital: View from an Orissa Village, Economic Political Weekly, Vol. XXXVI, No. 8, 24 February 2001.
  • Politics in Post-Cyclone Orissa, Economic and Political Weekly, 15 April 2000
  • Elections and Everyday Politics: Local Narratives of a National Present, Economic Political Weekly, volume xxv, Number 4, 22 January 2000
  • Understanding Indignities, Seminar, number 471, November, 1998.
  • Languages of Corruption in Foul Play: Chronicles of Corruption edited by Shiv Visvanathan and Harsh Sethi,1998; Delhi: Banyan Books
  • The Problem, (Rethinking Institutions: A Symposium on state, civil society and mediating structures), Seminar, No. 456, August 1997.
  • Tribal-Dalit Conflict in Orissa: Electoral Politics in Phulbani, co-authored with Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya,1996; Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXI, Nos. 2 & 3, January, 13 – 20
  • Ways of ‘Belonging’: The Kanchi-Kaveri Legend and the Construction of Oriya Identity, Studies in History, vol. 12, no. 2, July -December 1996

Journal

Bishnu Mohapatra has also published several book reviews in journals including Indian Economic and Social History Review, and Studies in History.

References

  1. ^ "Prof Bishnu Mohapatra". Krea University - Top university for liberal education. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  2. ^ "Bishnu N. Mohapatra". The World Humanities Report. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  3. "Time has come to correct mistakes by the State: Bishnu Mohapatra". The Hindu. 2010-04-14. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  4. "Time has come to correct mistakes by the State: Bishnu Mohapatra". The Hindu. 2010-04-14. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  5. "ADVISORY BOARD". Utsha. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  6. "Mohapatra, Bishnu N". SAGE Publications Inc. 2024-12-10. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  7. Vijayarangakumar, Mridula (2024-07-25). "World Humanities Report on South Asia Showcases How the Disciplines Help Address Challenges Like Inequality, Environmental Issues, and Digitalisation". Frontline. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  8. "South Asia". The World Humanities Report. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  9. ^ Aiyar, Yamini; Malik, Meeto (2004). "Minority Rights, Secularism and Civil Society". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (43): 4707–4711. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4415706.
  10. Cotton, James (2003). "Review of Globalization and Democratization in Asia: The Construction of Identity". Contemporary Southeast Asia. 25 (2): 340–342. ISSN 0129-797X. JSTOR 25798649.
  11. Mahajan, Gurpreet; Pai, Sudha; Jayal, Niraja G. (1994). "State and New Liberal Agenda in India". Economic and Political Weekly. 29 (19): 1112–1116. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 4401162.
  12. ^ "The scent of earth". The Hindu. 2014-11-30. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  13. "Bishnu Mohapatra – Hyderabad Literary Festival". Retrieved 2025-01-15.
  14. "The scent of earth". The Hindu. 2014-11-30. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  15. Bhattacharyya, Dwaipayan, ed. (2004). Interrogating social capital: the Indian experience. New Delhi Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage. ISBN 978-81-321-0334-9.
  16. "Singing in the Dark". Penguin Random House India. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  17. "716 Bishnu N. Mohapatra, Anatomy of disagreement". www.india-seminar.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  18. Tripathy, Jyotirmaya; Padmanabhan, Sudarsan (2014). Becoming Minority: How Discourses and Policies Produce Minorities in Europe and India. B-42, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi 110 017 India: SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd. doi:10.4135/9789351508090. ISBN 978-93-5150-035-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  19. Baral, Lok Raj; Hachhethu, Krishna; Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies, eds. (2014). South Asia: nation building and federalism. New Delhi: Vij Books India. ISBN 978-93-82652-27-4.
  20. Neyazi, Taberez Ahmed (2014). Tanabe, Akio; Ishizaka, Shinya (eds.). Democratic Transformation and the Vernacular Public Arena in India. Routledge New Horizons in South Asian Studies. Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-8153-8407-6.
  21. "openDemocracy". Choice Reviews Online. 43 (3): 43–1328–43-1328. 2005-11-01. doi:10.5860/choice.43-1328. ISSN 0009-4978.
  22. "Search". openDemocracy. 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  23. Jayal, Niraja Gopal; Mehta, Pratap Bhanu, eds. (2021). The Oxford companion to politics in India (Student edition with a new preface, Oxford India paperbacks, 20th impression ed.). New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-807592-9.
  24. Bhattacharya, Sabyasachi, ed. (2007). History of science, philosophy and culture in Indian civilization. Pt. 5: Vol. 10, Towards independence Development of modern Indian thought and the social sciences / ed. by Sabyasachi Bhattacharya. Vol. 10 (1. publ ed.). New Delhi: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-19-568967-9.
  25. Vora, Rajendra; Feldhaus, Anne, eds. (2006). Region, culture, and politics in India. Delhi : New Delhi: Manohar; Distributed in South Asia by Foundation Books. ISBN 978-81-7304-664-3.
  26. Chatiza, K. (2005-01-01). "Does Civil Society Matter? Governance in Contemporary India Rajesh Tandon and Ranjita Mohanty (eds), Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2003, 378 pp. ISBN 81-7829-148-7, $31". Community Development Journal. 40 (1): 97–99. doi:10.1093/cdj/bsi010. ISSN 0010-3802.
  27. Kinnvall, Catarina; Jönsson, Kristina, eds. (2002). Globalization and democratization in Asia: the construction of identity. London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-27730-3. OCLC 50291217.
  28. "Social Connectedness and Fragility of Social Capital | Economic and Political Weekly". www.epw.in. 2001-02-24. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  29. "Assembly Elections, 2000 : Politics in Post-Cyclone Orissa | Economic and Political Weekly". www.epw.in. 2000-04-15. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  30. "Orissa - Elections and Everyday Politics | Economic and Political Weekly". www.epw.in. 2000-01-22. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  31. "Seminar (India) 1998 No. 461-472 Table of Contents". asianstudies.github.io. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  32. Visvanathan, Shiv; Sethi, Harsh, eds. (1998). Foul play: chronicles of corruption. New Delhi: Banyan Books. ISBN 978-81-86558-08-9.
  33. "Seminar (India) 1997 No. 449-460 Table of Contents". asianstudies.github.io. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  34. "ORISSA-Tribal-Dalit Conflict-Electoral Politics in Phulbani | Economic and Political Weekly". www.epw.in. 1996-01-13. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
  35. ^ Mohapatra, Bishnu N. (1996-08-01). "Ways of 'Belonging': The Kanchi Kaveri Legend and the Construction of Oriya Identity". Studies in History. 12 (2): 203–221. doi:10.1177/025764309601200203. ISSN 0257-6430.
  36. Mohapatra, Bishnu N. (1994-06-01). "Book Reviews : PAUL R. BRASS, Ethnicity and Nationalism (Theory and Comparison), Sage, 1991, 358 pp., Rs. 280". The Indian Economic & Social History Review. 31 (2): 243–244. doi:10.1177/001946469403100207. ISSN 0019-4646.
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