Radhika Gupta is a sociocultural anthropologist. She obtained her DPhil from Oxford University in 2011 and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity and the Centre for Modern Indian Studies in Goettingen (Germany). With 17 years of experience in academia and 7 years in the field of international development, Radhika’s research interests and expertise are wide-ranging. These include the study of borderlands, states and citizens, anthropology of Islam, heritage, diversity and social inclusion, and environmental humanities. Radhika is the principal investigator for a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant - funded project: Entangled Universals of Transnational Islamic Charity (2024-2029). Her first book, Freedom in Captivity: Negotiations of Belonging along Kashmir’s Frontier was published by Cambridge University Press in 2023. Radhika currently coordinates the Asia Research Cluster at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology.

More information about Radhika Gupta

Research

My research lies at the intersection of the anthropology of borderlands, transnational Islam and postcolonial politics in South Asia. My first book, Freedom in Captivity: Negotiations of Belonging along Kashmir’s Frontier (Cambridge University Press) is an ethnography of the affective attachments, political imaginaries and ethical claims-making of Shia Muslims living along the heavily militarised India-Pakistan border. It examines how borderland dwellers negotiate regimes of state security and their geopolitical location in everyday life.  

I am currently working on three (smaller) projects: 1) Border curations at the nexus of tourism and the politics of state security 2) Transnational Islamic charitable networks and social welfare 3) Heritage and Climate governance in the Himalayas.

At Leiden University, I have taught courses in the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Curriculum vitae

Education

• DPhil Sociocultural Anthropology (2011), University of Oxford
• MSc Development Studies (2000), London School of Economics and Political Science
• MPhil and M.A Sociology (1999), Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics

Work Experience

• Research Fellow (2013-2017), Centre for Modern Indian Studies, Goettingen University, Germany
• Post-doctoral Research Fellow (2011-2013), Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Germant
• Coordinator, Equity and Rights (2004-2007), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, Nepal

Publications