Centre for the Study of Developing Societies

Since its inception in 1963, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies has been recognised as one of the leading intellectual institutions of India. The Centre has accomplished a generational transition by reinventing itself in the 21st century, with a fresh commitment to forging links between the social sciences and the humanities, and to discovering non-European lineages of political and ethical thought in Indian languages.

Centre for the Study of Developing Societies considers it an important function of intellectuals to stay close to, articulate and critically comment upon such practices. By remaining alert to the ways in which ordinary people negotiate and reinvent their worlds, and generate alternative systems and imaginations, CSDS has challenged the routes of social and political change that are accepted as ‘normal’. This frequently leads to a productive tension between rigorous scholarly work and living social movements, between academic engagement and political commitment. CSDS has been supported by the Indian Council for Social (ICSSR) Science Research, New Delhi under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India since 1969.

Lokniti is a research programme of the CSDS established in 1997. It houses a cluster of research initiatives that seeks to engage with national and global debates on democratic politics.

 

The Sarai programme at CSDS has arguably been South Asia’s most prominent and productive platform for research and reflection on the transformation of urban space and contemporary realities.

ILP was started in 2001 and over the years it has emerged as a distinct locus of activity with a number of books and publications to its credit. In the initial years.

‘Researching the Contemporary’ is the Centre’s uniquely designed summer teaching programme targeted at research students. Growing in popularity across India, the Centre’s teaching programme introduces critical themes that may be unavailable to students in a university system. Students are selected through a highly competitive process and they present their work in relaxed, engaged settings. Travel and sustenance stipends are also offered to outstation students.

The Centre is also involved in organising workshops to help build the research capacity of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR)-supported workshop, ‘Contemporary Marginalities’, is an important annual programme addressing issues relating to caste and tribal subjectivities. Lokniti too runs a special summer course on quantitative research methods. 

Although CSDS is a research institute, members of the faculty often teach at universities in India and abroad. Students from universities in and around Delhi regularly visit the Centre to attend lectures and interact with the faculty.

29 Rajpur Road,

Delhi - 110054

Email: admin@csds.in

Phone: 23942199

Website: https://www.csds.in