Mitu Sengupta

Professor

EducationPhD (Political Science): Toronto

Phone(416) 979-5000 x 554183

Spoken Languages

English, Hindi, Bengali

Biography

Dr. Mitu Sengupta is Full Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, and a member of the Yeates School of Graduate Studies, at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is program faculty for the York and Toronto Met joint MA/PhD Program in Communication and Culture, as well as the MA in Public Policy and Administration and the PhD in Policy Studies.

Mitu has a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto (with specialization in Comparative Politics and Political Theory), a Master of Arts in Political Science from McGill University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy, also from McGill University. Prior to moving to Canada for her undergraduate studies, Mitu lived in the US, UK, and India. She is fluent in English, Hindi, and Bengali.

Selected Publications

Articles, Books, and Book Chapters

“Protecting Cancer Care through the Covid-19 Crisis and Its Aftermath” (with Asit Arora). ORF Issue Brief No. 391 (external link) . New Delhi: Observer Research Foundation, August 2020.
“Western Academic Activism and Poverty Research." In Dimensions of Poverty: Measurement, Epistemic Injustices, Activism (external link) , ed. Valentin Beck, Henning Hahn, and Robert Lepenies, 131-144. Berlin: Springer, 2020.
"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.
“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 link) s, 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 of International 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.
“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).
“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.]
“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.
“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.
"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.
“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.
“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.
"Labour Power and India's Market Reforms: The Politics of Decline and the Politics of Survival." Indian Journal of Labour Economic (external link) s 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.

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).
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.
“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.
“Slumdog Millionaire’s Troubling Policy Implications (external link) ,” The Toronto Star, 21 February 2009.

Research Interests

Mitu Sengupta has published widely on Indian market liberalization and development, on labour and migration in India, and on the politics and cultural impact of sporting events and film. Her more recent research engages with the fields of international development, international relations, and political philosophy. Mitu is working on a book-length project on the normative foundations of India’s economic policy and development strategy.

Current Courses

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