Mitu Sengupta

Articles, Books, and Book Chapters

• "The Sustainable Development Goals" (with Thomas Pogge).  In Handbook of Development Policy, ed. Habib Zafarullah and Ahmed Shafiqui Huque.  Chelterham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing (forthcoming).
  
• “Western Academic Activism and Poverty Research: What’s not to like?” In Dimensions of Poverty: Measurement, Epistemic Injustices, Activism, external link, ed. Valentin Beck, Henning Hahn, and Robert Lepenies.  Berlin: Springer (forthcoming).
• "Neoliberalism and Competitive Nationalism: What the 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 1982 Asian Games reveal about India’s Development Trajectory." In Sport, Development and Environmental Sustainability, external link, eds. Rob Millington and Simon C. Darnell, 130-147. New York: Routledge (Routledge Series in Sports Development), 2019.
• “Reflections on Sustainable Development Goals from the Perspective of Developing Countries: Transformative Change or Business as Usual?” In India’s Social Sector and SDGs: Problems and Prospects, external link, ed. Rangachar Govinda and Poornima M., 65-75.  New Delhi: Routledge, 2019.
• “What can human rights add to the fight against corruption? Some lessons from India.” In Discourse on Rights in India: Debates and Dilemmas, external link, ed. Bijayalaxmi Nanda and Nupur Ray, 151-176. New York: Routledge, 2019.
• “Post-Development.”  In Routledge Handbook of Development Ethics, external link, ed. Jay Drydyk and Lori Kelleher, 35-40. New York: Routledge, 2019.
• “The SDG India Index — Can bold global ambition be translated into effective ground reality?, external link”  ORF: Observer Research Foundation India Matters, 15 January 2019.
• “Transformational Change or a Tenuous Wish List: A Critique of SDG-1?” Social Alternatives 37:1 (2018): 12-17.  [Special issue on the Sustainable Development Goal, external links, ed. Noha Shawki.]
• “A Window into India’s Development Story: The 2010 Commonwealth Games., external link” In State Strategies for Leveraging Sports Mega-Events, ed. Jonathan Grix; a special issue ofInternational Journal of Sports Policy and Politics 9:2 (2017): 331-348.
• “Assessing the Sustainable Development Goals from a Human Rights Perspective: Why being better than the Millennium Development Goals is not good enough, external link” (with Thomas Pogge).  Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy 32:2 (2016): 83-97.
• “Civil Society and Anti-Corruption Initiatives in India: Towards a Citizens' Perspective." In Routledge Handbook of Corruption in Asia, external link, eds. Ian Scott and Ting Gong, 196-208. London UK: Routledge, 2016.
• “Non-Place, Dispossession, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games: An Urban Transformation Analysed, external link." City, Culture, and Society 7:4 (December 2016): 259-66.
• “The Sustainable Development Goals: An Assessment of Ambition, external link,” E-International Relations (January 18, 2016).
  • Republished in Global Policy (February 9, 2016).
• “From the Planning Commission to the NITI Aayog: An Agenda for ‘Cooperative Federalism’?” In Bharat Punjabi, Mitu Sengupta, Richard M. Bird, and Sanjay G. Reddy, Requiem for an Institution: The End of the Indian Planning Commission, external link, IMFG Forum 5 (2015): 3-6. [Published by the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG), Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto.]
• “The Sustainable Development Goals as Drafted. Nice Idea, Poor Execution, external link” (with Thomas Pogge). Washington International Law Journal 24:3 (June 2015): 571-587.
• “The Sustainable Development Goals: a Plan for Building a Better World?, external link” (with Thomas Pogge). Journal of Global Ethics 11:1 (2015): 56-64. [Special section: Sustainable Development Goals Forum, ed. Eric Palmer.]
• “Race Relations Light Years from Earth.” In One World Many Cultures, 9th ed., external link, eds. Stuart Hirschberg and Terry Hirschberg, 276-282. New York: Longman, 2015.
• Human Development in the Global South: Emerging Perspectives in the Era of Post-Millennium Development Goals, external link (ed. with Tanuka Endow and Sumit Mazumdar). New Delhi: Institute for Human Development and Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2014.
  • “Introduction: Challenges of Achieving Sustainable Human Development in the Post-MDGs Era” [with Tanuka Endow and Sumit Mazumdar]. In Human Development in the Global South: Emerging Perspectives in the Era of Post-Millennium Development Goals, eds. Tanuka Endow, Sumit Mazumdar and Mitu Sengupta, 1-20. New Delhi: Institute for Human Development and Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2014.
  • “Way Forward: Priorities for the Post-2015 Development Agenda” [with Thomas Pogge (Yale)]. In Human Development in the Global South: Emerging Perspectives in the Era of Post-Millennium Development Goals, eds. Tanuka Endow, Sumit Mazumdar and Mitu Sengupta, 399-409. New Delhi: Institute for Human Development and Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2014.
• “A Déjà Vu Agenda or a Development Agenda?, external link” [With Bhumika Muchhala]. Economic and Political Weekly XLIX: 46 (15 November 2014): 28-30.
• “Rethinking the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Eight Ways to End Poverty Now, external link” (with Thomas Pogge). Global Justice: Theory, Practice, and Rhetoric 7 (2014): 3-11. [Special Issue: Global Justice and the Theory and Practice of Development, ed. Julian Culp.]
• “Big Holes in the SDG Draft, external link” [with Gabrielle Köhler (UNRISD Visiting Fellow, Geneva) and Thomas Pogge (Yale)]. CROP Poverty Brief (August 2014): 1-3. [Published by the CROP, Mobilizing Critical Research for Preventing and Eradicating Poverty].
• “Anna Hazare's Anti-Corruption Movement and the Limits of Mass Mobilization in India, external link.” Social Movement Studies: Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest 13:3 (July 2014): 406-13.
• “Poverty, Inequality and Liberalization: A Tale of Two Indias.” In Civilizing Globalization: A Survival Guide, external link, eds. Richard Sandbrook and Ali Guven, 77-92. Albany NY: SUNY Press, 2014.
• “A Million Dollar Exit from the Slum-World: ‘Slumdog Millionaire’s Troubling Formula for Social Justice.” Chapter 6 in The “Slumdog” Phenomenon: A Critical Anthology, external link, ed. Ajay Gehlawat, 69-89. New York: Anthem Press, 2013.
• “New Millennium Development Goals: A New Version, an Old Wish List, external link” (with Thomas Pogge). Economic and Political Weekly XLVIII: 39 (28 September 2013): 23-25.
• “Anna Hazare and the Idea of Gandhi, external link.” Journal of Asian Studies, 71:03 (August 2012): 593-601.
• “Anna Hazare and the Gandhian Ideal, external link.” Dissent Magazine, 23 August 2011.
  • Reprinted on www.3quarksdaily.com, 30 August 2011.
• “A Tale of Two India’s: Twenty Years of Liberalization, external link,” Dissent Magazine, 15 August 2011.
• “Race Relations Lights Years from Earth.” In Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers, 7th ed, external link. Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon, 412-16. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011.
• “Mud, Hubris, and Malevolent Urban Change: India’s Commonwealth Games, external link,” Canadian Dimension 44:6 (November/December 2010): 14-17.
• “World Class Dreams and Urban Change: A Critique of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, external link.” Indian Journal of Human Development 4:2 (2010): 433-443.
• “A Million Dollar Exit from the Anarchic Slum-World: Slumdog Millionaire’s Hollow Idioms of Social Justice, external link.” Third World Quarterly 31:4 (June 2010): 599-616. [Special Issue: Relocating Culture in Development and Development in Culture, ed. Dia Da Costa.]
• “From ‘Hard Sell’ to ‘Soft Sell’: The IMF, World Bank and Indian Liberalization.” World Affairs 14:1 (Spring 2010): 112-137.
• “Reductive Realities and Empty Humanism: A Critique of 'Born into Brothels' and 'Slumdog Millionaire'., external link” Indian Journal of Human Development 3:2 (July-December 2009): 367-378.
• “Economic Liberalization, Democratic Expansion, and Organized Labour in India: Towards a New Politics of Revival?, external link” Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society 14 (Autumn 2009): 13-32.
• “Making the State Change Its Mind - The IMF, the World Bank, and the Politics of India’s Market Reforms., external link” New Political Economy 14:2 b(June 2009), 181-210.
• “The Resurrection of India’s Congress Party, external link.” Monthly Review’s MRZine, 22 May 2009.
• “The World Bank’s Reforms: Different Image, Same Tune?, external link” Monthly Review’s MRZine, 11 March 2009.
  • Republished in Mainstream XLVII:44 (17 October 2009)
• "Labour Power and India's Market Reforms: The Politics of Decline and the Politics of Survival." Indian Journal of Labour Economic, external links 51:4 (October-December 2008), 983-992.
• “How the State Changed Its Mind: Power, Politics, and the Origins of India’s Market Reforms., external link” Economic and Political Weekly (May 24, 2008), 35-42.
• “Protecting Migrant Workers in the Twenty-First Century: Challenges for Rich Democracies.” World Affairs 11:3 (Autumn, 2007), 86-116.

Book Reviews

• Review, external link of Global Justice and Development by Julian Culp (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014): 215 pp.  Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 19:4 (2016): 1065-1067.
• Review, external link of Understanding India's New Political Economy: A Great Transformation? by Sanjay Ruparelia, Sanjay Reddy, John Harris and Stuart Corbridge (Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2011): 269 pp. Contemporary South Asia 22:1 (Jan 2014): 108-109.
• Review, external link of Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercityby Katherine Boo. (New York: Random House, 2012): 288 pp. Dissent (09 May 2012).
  • Also appeared in Kafila, external link, April 8, 2012.
• Review, external link of South Asia: Rising to the Challenge of Globalization by Pradumna B. Rana and J. Malcolm Dowling (Singapore: World Scientific, 2009): 257 pp. Pacific Affairs 83:4 (December 2010): 813-14.
• Review, external link of India's Middle Class: New Forms of Urban Leisure, Consumption and Prosperity by Christiane Brosius (New Delhi: Routledge, 2010): 404pp. Biblio: A Review of Books XV: 3-4 (March-April 2010): 8-9.

Op-eds and Other Scholarly Work

• “Cancer patients face new challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, external link” (with Asit Arora). Observer Research Foundation – Health Express, 09 May 2020.
• “Sensitivity framing is crucial in the classroom, external link.” The Globe and Mail, 01 December 2017.
• “Sustainable Development Goals: A Better Pact is Possible” [with Thomas Pogge (Yale)]. Featured Article. Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP): 10 August 2014.
•  “Memo to the UN: Accountability is the key to effective development goals, external link” [with Thomas Pogge (Yale)]. The Guardian (Poverty Matters Blog), 20 August 2013.
• “Why India Should Be a Leader in the Fight Against Illicit Financial Flows” (with Rohit Sinha). Centre for Development and Human Rights (CDHR), New Delhi, India. Rights & Development Bulletin 7:3 (July-September 2013): 10-12.
• “Black Money flows: Time for Global Action.” The Pioneer (New Delhi, India), 27 July 2013, p. 9.
• “India’s Easy Villains: Why the Indian Government’s Concessions on Corruption will Achieve Very Little,” Monthly Review’s MRZine, 13 July 2013.
• “¿Podemos tener objetivos de verdad, por favor? Por qué las alternativas propuestas para reemplazar a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Del Milenio no tendrían éxito” (con Thomas Pogge). Dilemata: Revista Internacional de Éticas Aplicadas 5:13 (2013): 167-169.
• “Bihar: A Report on the Global Summit on Changing Bihar, 2012.” Indian Journal of Human Development 6:1 (2012): 119-125.
• “India’s ‘New Gandhi,’ the Left and Democracy.” State of Nature (Autumn 2011): Democracy.
• “Naming the Seven Billionth Child,” Kafila.org, November 5, 2011
• “India’s World Class Heist,” Counterpunch, 8 August 2011
• “Arjun Sengupta: A Daughter's Tribute,” The Asian Age, 15 October 2010, p. 14.
• “The Price of Being World Class,” Counterpunch, 30 July - 01 August 2010.
• “The 2010 Commonwealth Games: Delhi’s Worrying Transformation,” Monthly Review’s MRZine, 19 July 2010.
• “Sex, the City and American Patriotism,” Counterpunch, 18-21 June 2010 (Weekend Edition).
• “On Slums: Towards a Change in Perspective.” Centre for Development and Human Rights (CDHR), New Delhi, India. Rights & Development Bulletin 1:16 (February-May 2010): 4-6.
• “Avatar: Race Relations Light Years from Earth,” Ryeberg, curated video, 01 February 2010.
• “Bombs, Bombshells, and Bollywood,” Ryeberg, curated video, 25 June 2009.
• “The Left’s Electoral Debacle in India.” Relay: A Socialist Project Review 26 (April-June 2009): 55-58.
• “The Bloodbath in Sri Lanka: Why Battering the Tamil Tigers Won’t Bring Peace, external link,” Counterpunch, 27 April 2009.
  • reprinted in Ryerson Free Press, May 2009, p. 13
  • Reprinted in La Estrella (Panama).
• “Hollow Message: Slumdog Millionaire,” Frontline: India’s National Magazine 26:6 (14-16 March 2009).
• “Slumdog Millionaire’s Troubling Policy Implications, external link,” The Toronto Star, 21 February 2009.
• “What Mumbai Means,” This Magazine, 5 December 2008.
• “The Challenge of Our Century: Recognizing the Rights of Migrant Workers in Rich Democracies.” Centre for Development and Human Rights (CDHR), New Delhi, India. Rights & Development Bulletin 1:3 (April 2007): 4-7.
• “Lagaan’s Oscar Hopes,” The Hindustan Times, 15 January 2002.

Mitu Sengupta has published widely on Indian market liberalization and development, on labour and migration in India, and on the politics of sporting events and film. Her more recent research engages with the fields of international development, international relations, and political philosophy. It is focused, in particular, on the policy implications and practical consequences of different normative assumptions about development, and on the politics of norm creation in international development.  Mitu is working on a number of topics in this vein, such as the creation and implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the evolution and operationalization of human-rights based approaches in international development and international relations; and a book-length project on the shifting normative foundations of India’s economic policy and development strategy.

Mitu is a member of the Human Development and Capabilities Association, external link (HDCA), the International Development Ethics Association (IDEA), and the International Studies Association, external link (ISA), and is on the advisory board of Springer’s Philosophy and Poverty book series. She was a director of Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP), a network of poverty-focused academics anchored at Yale University’s Global Justice Program, external link, from 2012 to 2016, and a director for the Centre for Development and Human Rights (CDHR), a New Delhi-based research and advocacy group, from 2010 to 2017. Mitu has held visiting scholar appointments at several prestigious institutions in India, including Jawaharlal Nehru University, external link (JNU), the Institute of Economic Growth, external link (IEG), and the Institute of Human Development, external link (IHD). She is currently a Visiting Professor at the Council for Social Development, external link (CSD) and a Senior Adjunct Fellow at Research and Information System for Developing Countries, external link (RIS).

The undergraduate courses she regularly teaches at Ryerson include POG323 (Politics of Development) and POL128 (Politics and Film).