Kalaiyarasan A

Kalaiyarasan is a Fulbright-Nehru post-doctoral fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs in Brown University and an Assistant Professor at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India. He was previously with National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development, a research wing of NITI Aayog (Planning Commission), Government of India.  He received his Ph.D. in Development Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.

His academic interest lies in the intersection of caste and economic processes in India. While his doctoral thesis explored the differences in aggregate economic and social outcomes in sub-national states in India and how caste based social mobilization weakened social hierarchy and made economic growth inclusive in Tamil Nadu, his works in collaboration with Prof. Christophe Jaffrelot have explored the relationship between economic processes and changing caste realities in India.

Beside his publications in reputed journals like Economic and Political Weekly, Seminar and Prospects, his work has also appeared in prominent Indian dailies like The Indian Express and Livemint. 

Selective Publications

2020    Rethinking Social Justice, Orient Blackswan : Hyderabad, Co-edited with  S. Anandhi, Karthick Ram Manoharan and M.Vijayabaskar

2020    “Politics of Dravidian Populism: Understanding Developmental Outcomes in Tamil Nadu” in Rethinking Social Justice (eds) Anandhi, S. et.al, Orient Blackswan : Hyderabad.

2020       “Dominant Castes, from Bullock Capitalists to OBCs? : The Impact of Class Differentiation in Rural India” in Situated Knowledge in the Study of Social Change and the State (eds.) John  Echeverri-Gent and Kamal Sadiq, Oxford University Press: New Delhi. (Jaffrelot C., in press)

2019      “The Political Economy of the Jat Agitation for Other Backward Class Status”, Economic & Political Weekly Vol lIV, No 7, Feb. 2019 (With Jaffrelot C.)

2017    “NEET Could Undo Tamil Nadu’s Achievements in Public Health”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 49 no. 6, September 23, 2017.

2017    “Populism and party-society: Developmental regimes in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal” in Political Economy of Contemporary India’ (ed.) R. Nagaraj, Cambridge University Press: New Delhi

2017    “Politics of Jallikattu”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 52 no. 6, February 11, 2017

2015    “Vocational training in India and the duality principle: A case for evidence-based reform”, Prospects, 45(2), June 2015. (Santosh Mehrotra,., Kumar N., and Raman R.)

2014    “A Comparison of Developmental Outcomes in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 49 no. 15, April 12, 2014

2014    “Caste as Social Capital: The Thiruppur Story”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 49 no. 10, March 08, 2014. (With M.Vijayabaskar)

2013    “Tamil Spring?” Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.48 no. 15, April 13, 2013 (With M.S.S. Pandian) 

News

• Most Marginalised of them all, The Indian Express, November 19, 2019 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• The Restive Kapu, The Indian Express, April 20, 2019 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• Quota, Old plus new, The Indian Express, March 2, 2019 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• Quota and Bad Faith, The Indian Express, January 14, 2019 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• Margins of New India, The Indian Express, November 27, 2018 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• The Myth of Appeasement, The Indian Express, April 20, 2018 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• The Karnataka Model, The Indian Express, March 8, 2018 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• Anxieties of the Dominant, The Indian Express, January, 2018 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• Alienation of the Patels, The Indian Express, October 25, 2017 (With Jaffrelot C.)

• Quota is the Wrong Answer, The Indian Express, May 3, 2017  (With Jaffrelot C.)

• Jats in Wonderlessland, The Indian Express, March 10, 2017

Talks and Media

https://caravanmagazine.in/politics/bjp-will-have-to-change-dna-to-enter-tamil-nadu-kalaiyarasan-interview

https://tcpd.ashoka.edu.in/lecture-series/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdXxvGtkEpM&feature=youtu.be