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An Earnest Call for Conscientious Sociology in an Era of Transitions

Prof. Dipti Ranjan Sahu, Head, Department of Sociology, University of Lucknow

Presidential Candidate, Indian Sociological Society – 2025

My Dear Colleagues of the Indian Sociological Fraternity,

Academics is a challenging vocation that demands us to remain grounded and ambitious at the same time. My decision to contest for the election, with your benign and wholehearted support, as the President of the Indian Sociological Society (ISS), shall be a befitting privilege, for someone like me, who has traversed this route, for around three and half long decades. My desire to contest this election is a resilient and humble effort to contribute in small yet meaningful ways to a community which has given me so much love and admiration. I am sure that the experiences garnered through my slow and steady growth as a R.C. Convenor (2012-16), Managing Committee Member (2012-17) and Secretary (2018-19), shall assist me connect the old and new dots that has come up in the terrain of Indian Sociology.

Firstly, on the academic front, with a M.A., M. Phil (Utkal) and Ph.D. (Lucknow) from heritage universities, I have had the fortune of evolving as a grounded academic, who has navigated through the different typologies of sociology that India possesses. In the past, I have contributed on three research areas: Development, Gender and Social Movement Studies, especially through more than three dozen Ph.D. supervisions, a dozen post-doctoral supervisions including two Nehru-Fullbright Fellows, a dozen and a half research project close to the tune of more than crores (i.e., from agencies like ICSSR, Govt of U.P., NABARD, H.P.C.L., UNICEF and CARE to name a few). My humble publications therefore include a seminal volume commissioned by the ISS, viz., Sociology of Social Movement (ed), SAGE 2012, fifty two research papers and two monographs (Rawat Publications 2021 & 2024). I firmly believe that Sociology in India is a treasure that has not been duly excavated. There is a market for all types of sociology; it’s just that very few among us have the humility and courage to revere and appreciate it. From vernacular media to corporate outlets, each require a different genre of writing and if I am elected as the President of I.S.S., I shall strive to nurture them all & in their own right.

Secondly, on the administrative front, I have also garnered critical administrative acumen through my stint as Professor and Head, at the Department of Sociology, Ravenshaw University, Cuttack, Odisha (2010-12) and the University of Lucknow, for close to a decade. Besides, I have also learned the art of catering to the academic needs of different types of scholars and neophytes who hail from the metropolis to the hinterland. During this tenure, I have been instrumental in developing courses like M.A. Social Engineering, much in sync with the industry-academia-civil Society connect strand, later emphasized in the National Education Policy 2020. Further, I also have the experience of working as a Chairman, Board of Studies, Honorary Librarian, Additional Dean, Recruitment and Director, Ram Manohar Lohiya Chair, at my second home, the University of Lucknow. Moreover, I have also learnt quite a few practical and invaluable lessons while working with different Research Committees, Board of Studies and Selection Committee meetings of around three dozen universities and Public Service Commissions. If elected as the President of the ISS, I shall devolve forums that hand-hold early-career and mid-career academics to learn the necessary skills that one needs to fine-tune for entering and growing in the job market.

Thirdly, on the corporate life front, I have also had the fortune of being the Joint Secretary of Ethnographic & Folk Culture Society, Lucknow, and Regional Secretary, Indian Anthropological Association. Further,I was instrumental in resurrecting the Uttar Pradesh Sociological Society in 2019 and shaping the Odisha Sociological Society in 2010. Even at the international forum, I have been the Member, Executive Board of Working Group (WG-05) on Famine and Society (Research & publications) from 2010-14) & Secretary-cum-Treasurer, RC-48 Social Movement, Collective Action and Change of the International Sociological Association (2014-16). These positions across the board from regional to international levels, has given me the opportunity to conduct several national & international seminars and workshops including ISS Academic Writing Workshop (2019). I conducted under the aegis of the Indian Sociological Society (viz., the 36th and 43rd Indian Sociology Conferences of 2010 and 2017 respectively, Social Ecology & Environmental Movements in India in 2015, Mid-term ISS international conference on the theme “Sociology Of and In Regions” held in 2023 and of late the 2025 International Conference on Intersectionality of Language, Region and Culture in South Asia)The most prized ones, among them include the one which was held way back in 2002 in Lucknow by the U.P. Sociological Society.

Therefore, if elected as the President, I shall use the excellent institutional space and forum, already created by my able predecessors, to make it more inclusive. In consultation with the new team of Secretary and Managing Committee Members and conveners of Research Committees, I shall work to improve the strength, autonomy and rigour of the Research Committees by a) helping them bring out journals/ working papers/ volume and b) bridge the gap between the so-called mainstream and often-ignored but rich regional sociological discourses.

Hence, I believe, that you will consider my longstanding contributions to the discipline of Sociology as a humble scholar, able administrator, and a professional with a promise. Needless to mention that I have much to learn from the scholars like you in terms of vision, creativity and imagination. With your inputs and cooperations and support, I will be able to bring out the changes as envisaged. With love and sincere regards

Dipti Ranjan Sahu, email: sahu.dr@gmail.com Mobile: 9415014116