Emeritus Professor Gurharpal Singh was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, SOAS, from 2011 to 2017. He is a political scientist who completed his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the LSE. Previously, he was the Deputy Director of the Religions and Development Research Programme (DFID) and held the Nadir Dinshaw Chair in the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham. He has also been the C.R.Parekh Chair in Indian politics at the University of Hull.
Professor Singh was a member of the RAE 2014 (sub-panel 27, Area Studies) and the RAE 2008 (sub-panel 49, Asian Studies). He was a member of the Commissioning Panel of the AHRC and ESRC Religion and Society Research Programme and of the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (2002 -07).
Interests/Disciplines
• Politics, history, religious studies • Politics of South Asia • Sikh studies • Religious violence • Religions and development • Multiculturalism with special reference to the management of religious diversity
Research interests
Professor Singh‘s main research interest is the politics of modern India and Pakistan. He has published widely on the partition of India, religious and ethnic conflict in South Asia, political corruption, and the Indian diaspora (particularly Sikhs in Britain). He is currently working on a volume on Indian democracy in the twenty-first century.
From 2005 to 2011, Professor Singh was the Deputy Director of the Department for International Development (UK) funded research consortium on Religions and Development based in the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. This research programme was an international research partnership exploring the relationships between several major world religions, development in low-income countries and poverty reduction. It had country partners in India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Tanzania and had thirteen individual research projects that ranged from religion and governance to the role of faith based organisations in service delivery and post-conflict reconstruction. Professor Singh led the research on three projects: religion, politics and governance in India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Tanzania; new forms of religious transnationalism and development initiatives; and the role of faith communities in post-conflict transformation and long term development.
Professor Singh is an editor of Sikh Formations: Religion, Culture, Theory. He has a special interest in Sikh Studies, the management of religious diversity in the West and multicultural governance in the City of Leicester.
Review of: Christophe Jaffrelot, Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the rise of Ethnic Democracy: Princeton University Press, 2021. Translated by Cynthia Sahoch. pp. x + 639. US $35.
Singh, Gurharpal (2022). Nations and Nationalism (28) 2, pp 726-727
The Challenges of Managing Religious Diversity in India: Between Hegemonic Domination and the Quest for Equality
Kim, Heewon and Singh, Gurharpal (2016). In: Dawson, Andrew, (ed.), The Politics and Practice of Religious Diversity: National Contexts, Global Issues. Abingdon; New York: Routledge, pp 49-66
Singh, Gurharpal (2015). In: Long, Roger D., (eds.), Singh, Gurharpal, (eds.), Samad, Yunas, (eds.) and Talbot, Ian, (eds.), State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond Islam and Security. London: Routledge, pp 192-206
Singh, Gurharpal (2013). In: Talbot, Ian, (ed.), The Independence of India and Pakistan: New Approaches and Reflections. Karachi: Oxford University Press, pp 120-136
Religious Minorities: Judaism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism
Singh, Gurharpal, Graham, D., Gillat, S., Zavos, John and Woodhead, Linda (2012). In: Woodhead, Linda, (eds.) and Catto, Rebecca, (eds.), Religion and Change in Modern Britain. London: Routledge
Singh, Gurharpal (2011). In: Saez, Lawrence, (eds.) and Singh, Gurharpal, (eds.), New Dimensions of Politics in India: UPA in Power. London: Routledge, pp 55-66
Saez, Lawrence and Singh, Gurharpal (2011). New Dimensions of Politics in India: The United Progressive Alliance in Power. Abingdon; New York: Routledge, pp 149-153
Saez, Lawrence and Singh, Gurharpal (2011). New Dimensions of Politics in India: The United Progressive Alliance in Power. Abingdon; New York: Routledge, pp 1-10
Crisis of National Unity: Punjab, Kashmir and the North East
Singh, Gurharpal (2010). In: Brass, Paul, (ed.), Routledge Handbook of South Asian Politics: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. London: Routledge, pp 249-261
The State and Religious Diversity in Post-Independence India
Singh, Gurharpal (2008). In: Talbot, Ian, (ed.), The Deadly Embrace: Religion, Politics and Violence in India and Pakistan, 1947-2000. Karachi: Oxford University Press, pp 60-77
Parekh, Bhikhu, Singh, Gurharpal and Vertovec, Steven (2003). In: Singh, Gurharpal, (ed.), Culture and Economy in the Indian Diaspora. London; New York: Routledge, pp 1-12
Understanding Political Corruption in Contemporary Indian Politics
Singh, Gurharpal (2000). In: Williams, Robert, (eds.) and Theobald, Robin, (eds.), Corruption in the Developing World (Vol. 2 of The Politics of Corruption). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp 422-434
Singh, Gurharpal (1998). In: Blom Hansen, Thomas, (eds.) and Jaffrelot, Christophe, (eds.), The BJP and the Compulsions of Politics in India. Delhi; Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp 228-242
Understanding Order and Legitimacy in Punjab Since 1984
Singh, Gurharpal (1997). In: Mitra, Subrata K., (eds.) and Rothermund, Dietmar, (eds.), Legitimacy and Conflict in South Asia. New Delhi: Manohar, pp 69-81
State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond, Islam and Security
Long, Roger D., (eds.), Singh, Gurharpal, (eds.), Samad, Yunas, (eds.) and Talbot, Ian, (eds.) (2016). London: Routledge. (Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series)
Pluralism and Multiculturalism in Colonial and Post-Colonial Societies [Special Issue of International Journal on Multicultural Societies Vol. 5 No. 2]
Rex, John, (eds.) and Singh, Gurharpal, (eds.) (2003). Paris: UNESCO.
Singh, Gurharpal, (eds.), Vertovec, Steven, (eds.) and Parekh, Bhikhu, (eds.) (2003). London; New York: Routledge. (Routledge Research in Transnationalism)
Singh, Gurharpal, (eds.) and Talbot, Ian, (eds.) (1997). Santa Barbara, CA: Association for Punjab Studies. (International Journal of Punjab Studies Vol. 4 No.1)
New Forms of Religious Transnationalism and Development Initiatives: A Case Study of Dera Sant Sarwan Dass, Ballan, Punjab, India
Singh, Gurharpal, Simon, Charlene and Tatla, Darshan Singh (2010). Birmingham: (Working Paper No. 52, Religions and Development Research Programme, University of Birmingham, UK)
Political Science, Religion and Development: A Literature Review
Singh, Gurharpal, Marquette, Heather and Alolo, Namawu Alhassan (2007). (No.7, Religions and Development Research Programme, University of Birmingham, UK)
