SOAS University of London

Department of Economics

Dr Surbhi Kesar

  • Teaching
  • Research
  • Publications

Overview

Surbhi Kesar
Department of Economics

Lecturer in Economics

Name:
Dr Surbhi Kesar
Email address:
Address:
SOAS University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
Building:
Russell Square: College Buildings
Office No:
284
Academic Support Hours:
See below

Biography

She received her PhD in Economics from South Asian University, New Delhi and has been a Fulbright Fellow at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Prior to joining SOAS, she was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru.

Her recent and ongoing work deals with the reproduction of the structure of economic dualism (encompassing different production and labor processes) in India with high economic growth, thereby critiquing the imaginary of development-as-capitalist-transition; political economy of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic; relations between identities and social exclusion in India; and a critical engagement with the social reproduction theory. She is also currently working on a co-authored book project focusing on possibilities and approaches towards decolonising the field of economics.

She is a Steering Group member for the Diversifying and Decolonising Economics initiative. She is is a co-project lead for curating Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) education platform and a coordinator for the Economic Development Working Group of the Young Scholars Initiative of the INET. She is an editorial board member of the Review of Political Economy journal. She is a visiting faculty at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, and a faculty fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University. She is the academic officer for the Association for Heterodox Economics Conference 2022.

Languages:

English
Hindi
Urdu
Dogri

OFFICE HOURS

Term 1: Thursday, 2-4 pm;

Term 2: Wednesday, 11 am - 1 pm.

Book an appointment HERE

Affiliations

Diversifying and Decolonising Economics initiative (D-Econ) - Member of the Steering Group
Association for Heterodox Economics - Academic officer
Azim Premji University, Bengaluru - Visiting faculty
Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University - Faculty Fellow
Member of the Editorial Board - Review of Political Economy
Institute for New Economic Thinking - Project lead for curating the education platform
Young Scholars Initiative, Institute for New Economic Thinking - Coordinator, Economic Development Working Group
Reteaching Economics - Member
Rethinking Economics, India - Mentor

Teaching

Modules convened / taught at SOAS:

Global Economic Policy.(UG)
Growth and Development (PG)

Courses convened and taught in other institutions:

Economics of Identity (PG)
Political Economy (UG)
Communicating Economics (PG)
How India works, earns, and spends (UG)

Research

Surbhi's research spans three key areas.

Informality, labour, and the processes of structural transformation and capitalist transition in labour surplus economies:
She is exploring the role of informal economy in India in the process of post-colonial capitalist development. Her recent and ongoing work deals with the reproduction of the structure of economic dualism (encompassing different production and labour processes) in India with high economic growth, thereby critiquing the imaginary of development-as-capitalist-transition.
Additionally, she is working on developing a Global South-centric lens for analysing the issues of labour and informality.
Furthermore, she was also a co-primary investigator on a large scale survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market in India, and has been working on several primary and secondary data-based projects that explore the political economy of the impact of the pandemic in context of the Indian economy.

Issues of identity and exclusion:
Her research explores the relations between identities and social exclusion in India, and how the processes of identity interact with the process of capitalist transition; a critical engagement with the social reproduction theory; and exploring relations between individual-based and structural aspects of identity-based inequality.

Decolonized the field of economics:
She is engaged in exploring approaches geared towards decolonising the discipline of economics. She is currently working on a co-authored book project focusing on possibilities and approaches towards decolonising the field of economics. She is also working on a co-authored survey-based project investigating the possibilities of decoloning economics pedagog

Publications