CASI Deep Dive: Avinash Paliwal on India’s “Near East” and How History is Rhyming in Bangladesh
Avinash Paliwal & Rohan Venkat
March 31, 2025
In this issue of India in Transition, CASI Managing Editor Rohan Venkat speaks to author Avinash Paliwal about “near east” framing, what history can tell us about how India is reacting to Bangladesh and Myanmar today, how the US and China fit into the region, and why “connectivity” alone is not the answer to the myriad issues facing the region.
CASI in the News
CASI Non-Resident Visitng Fellow and former Postdoctoral Research Fellow Amrita A. Kurian (Ashoka University) published "'Progressive Farmers' and the Moral Economy of Standardization in Indian Agri-commodity Markets" in the May 2025 issue of Geoforum.
CASI Director Tariq Thachil took part in "The Powerful Politics of Urban Slums," a March 31, 2025 video interview (in Hindi) for The Wire with editor Ashutosh Bhardwaj. The two discussed Prof. Thachil's book Migrants and Machine Politics: How India's Urban Poor Seek Representation and Responsiveness (Princeton University Press, 2023), co-authored with CASI Non-Resident Visiting Scholar Adam Auerbach (SAIS, JHU).
CASI Fall 2024 Visiting Scholar Hilal Ahmed received the annual Ramchandra Khan Social Science Award (presented by the Patna-based Lok Darshan Nyas) for his book Allah Naam ki Siyasat (Hindi, Setu Prakashan, 2023).
CASI Welcomes Spring Visiting Scholars, Jahnavi Phalkey & Lubaina Rangwala
Jahnavi Phalkey is the Founding Director of Science Gallery Bengaluru, a public space for research-based engagement across the human, social, and natural sciences, and the producer-director of the 2020 documentary Cyclotron, and winner of the 2023 Infosys Prize in Humanities.
Lubaina Rangwala is Program Head, Urban Development & Resilience with the Sustainable Cities and Transport team at World Resources Institute (WRI), India. She is an Urban Planner and Architect from Mumbai, with over 18 years of work experience in India and the US.
CASI Student Programs
Applications for 2025-26 Sobti Family Fellowships (for eligible Penn students) are now OPEN!
Deadline to apply: April 30, 2025, 11:59pm EDT
Read all about Summer Interns and Summer Research Grant recipients' experiences on the CASI Student Programs Blog!
CASI Summer 2025 Internships in India & Summer Research Funds applications are now closed. Thanks to all who applied!
Questions about CASI Student Programs?
Please contact casi@sas.upenn.edu
Upcoming Events
April 9, 2025, 4:30pm at PCPSE
"Islamic Socialism: The Difficulty of Justice as Equality"
A Middle East Center event with Humeira Iqtidar (King's College London) co-sponsored with CASI, Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy, Department of South Asia Studies, and Penn Political Theory Workshop
2024-25 CASI Seminar Series
April 3, 2025, 12pm at CASI
"The IT Boom and Other Unintended Consequences of Chasing the American Dream"
CASI / South Asia Center / PDRI-DevLab Seminar with Gaurav Khanna (UC San Diego)
April 10, 2025, 12pm at CASI
"Science and State-Formation in Twentieth Century India"
CASI / South Asia Center / South Asia Studies Dept / History and Sociology of Science Seminar with Jahnavi Phalkey (Science Gallery Bengaluru; CASI Spring 2025 Visiting Scholar)
View Complete Spring 2025 Events List
Campus Location
CASI's office is located close to the heart of Penn's campus at the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science & Economics at 133 South 36th Street (Suite 230) Philadelphia, PA 19104-6215.
