Dr Manish Maskara

Dr Manish Maskara is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Development Studies within the College of Social Sciences. 

He transitioned from an engineering degree into studying social sciences (MA in Development) driven by a growing interest in explaining social realities. This early shift from a technical background to the social sciences further shaped his inclination for research and the pursuit of teaching.

His doctoral thesis examines class relations in the context of internal labour migration in India. It explains how migrant labourers from the Eastern state of India (i.e. Bihar) experience the architecture of exploitation in building construction work shaped by (historical and intergenerational) exploitative contractual labour relations. By highlighting the politics of construction work, his research contributes to a deeper understanding of the lived experience of migrant labour exploitation.

He is committed towards a student-centred teaching style that encourages active participation, critical thinking, and independent inquiry. In recognition of his approach to teaching, he received the SOAS Early Career Excellence in Inspirational Teaching Award in both 2024 and 2025, in addition to other awards by the Student Union.

Before entering academia full-time, Manish worked in the development sector in enabling micro-enterprise development via community-based institutions (self-help groups) led by women. He coordinated multistakeholder research projects across South Asia focused on the intersections of gender, access to drinking water, and agriculture, exploring their role in enabling poverty alleviation and inclusive development.

• Maskara, M (2024) Class Relations in India’s Building Construction: Bihari Migrant Labourers and the Political Apparatus of Surplus Extraction. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25501/SOAS.00041990 (Unpublished)
• Maskara, M (2023) “Reproducing precariousness of labour: Post-lockdown reorganisation of labour in building construction in India”, in Pandemic and Precarity, edited by Rituparna Datta et al, 144-67, Kolkata: Sampark, 2023. 
• Maskara, M (2021) “Migrant Labourers Covid19 lockdown experience: Emerging trajectory of political expression”. Journal of Migration Affairs, Vol. III(2): 52-71, DOI: 10.36931/jma.2021.3.2.52-71
• Singh, P, Rawat, C, Aggarwal, V, Maskara, M. (2020) “Employers” in a Migrant Intensive Industry: Organised Construction in Thane, Maharashtra. Indian. Journal of Labour Economics. 63, 1183–1201 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41027-020-00287-6

• Class relations and its co-constitution with other social relations such as caste, gender, race, and ethnicity
• Class politics and workplaces
• Labour migration and mobilities
• Social security of migrant labourers
• The politics of skills and safety