Sagar Abraham Gonsalves

Sagar is a doctoral researcher in the School of Law with an interest in anti-terror laws and social movements. His thesis will study how the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and the discourses circulated along with them are used to police civil society activities in India. He will also analyse how social movements respond and counter narratives adopted. His research will be based on ethnographic fieldwork within courtrooms, public meetings, and demonstrations. He will also archive material generated by civil society organisations through magazines, pamphlets, documentary footage, etc. 

His work will be informed by theories of hegemony, counter-hegemony, and authoritarian populism.  Sagar completed his undergraduate studies from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai in Economics and History (2015). Later, he pursued an MA in History from SOAS, with a focus legal and constitutional history, graduating in 2022. His dissertation analysed the trajectory of the colonial era law of Sedition in post-colonial India and was highlighted for drawing out the continued authoritarianism embedded in the constitution of the postcolonial Indian state. 

Between 2022 and 2023, he also worked as a research assistant at the LSE where he conducted extensive secondary research and provide key inputs for a project on analysing cultures of democracy in India. The project focused on the deployment of the UAPA and prominent cases under this law. From 2024 to 2025, he also worked as a project coordinator on a research project that undertook a comprehensive investigation into the serious violence that had taken place within the South Asian community of Leicester in 2022. As part of this project, a detailed report was published setting out key findings and recommendations to help rebuild trust and strengthen community relations in Leicester and beyond. 

He draws inspiration from the works of a fellow SOAS alumni, Walter Rodney, who attempted to bridge the gap between academia and grassroot movements, through an approach where, as his wife Patricia described, ‘academics and activism are integrated and inseparable in the pursuit of equality, justice, and a common humanity.’

• Anti-Terror Laws
• Social Movement
• Politics of Labelling
• Hegemony and Counter Hegemony
• Legal Mobilisation