Latest Updates
To know the details for B.Tech. (Hons.) seat allotment schedule under JEE Main Quota, please click here | Ph.D. Admissions 2026 Now Open | Full-Time and Part-Time | Apply Before 10 April 2026 – Apply Now | Information submitted to UGC for inspection purpose | UGC Public Self Disclosure | CET Code: E285 | CET Code: E285 / MBA – CET Code – B413 / M.Tech – CET Code – T615

Ranjini Basu

Ranjini Basu

Assistant Professor

About

Ranjini Basu is an Assistant Professor at RV University, Bangalore in the School of Economics and Public Policy.

Previously she was the Garware Post-Doctoral Fellow (2022-2025) at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for Advanced Study of India (UPIASI), New Delhi and was Spring 2024 Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Advanced Study of India (CASI), University of Pennsylvania.

She received her Ph.D. from the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her research interests include Development Studies, Public Policy, Political Economy, Agrarian Studies , Agrarian Mobilizations and Food Governance.

Over the past decade, she have been part of various village study projects across India and co-edited the book, Socio-Economic Surveys of Three Villages in Tripura: A Study of Agrarian Relations (Tulika Books, 2019). Previously, working as an agricultural policy researcher, she has interacted and worked closely with peasant organizations and participated in international processes of food governance at the United Nations-Committee on World Food Security (CFS). She has also taught as a Visiting Faculty at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore. Her writings have appeared in journals, books, blogs, policy briefs, and media outlets.

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing"- Albert Einstein

Books
Swaminathan, Madhura and Basu, Ranjini (ed.) (2019), Socio-Economic Surveys of Three Villages in Tripura, Tulika Books, New Delhi
Book Chapters
Basu, Ranjini (2021), “The Impact of Land Reforms on the Ownership and Distribution of Land: A Study of Three Villages in West Bengal”, in Bakshi, Aparajita and Modak, Tapas Singh (ed.) Socio-Economic Surveys of Three Villages in West Bengal, Tulika Books, New Delhi
Basu, Ranjini (2019), “Features of Asset Ownership in the Three Study Villages” in Swaminathan and Basu (eds.) opcit
Basu, Ranjini, Dutta, Ritam, Modak, Tapas, Patra, Subhajit and Das, Arindam (2019), “Agrarian Structure, Production and Agrarian Relations in Mainama” in Swaminathan and Basu (eds.) opcit
Basu, Ranjini, Dutta, Ritam, Patra, Subhajit and Das, Arindam (2019), “Agrarian Structure, Production and Agrarian Relations in Khakchang” in Swaminathan and Basu (eds.) opcit
Refereed Journal
Basu, Ranjini (2015), “Land Tenures in Cooch Behar District, West Bengal: A Study of Kalmandasguri Village”, Review of Agrarian Studies, vol. 5, no.1, ISSN 2248-9002, available at: http://www.ras.org.in/land_tenures_in_cooch_behar_district_west_bengal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25003/RAS.05.01.0004
Book Reviews
Basu, Ranjini (2024), “Book Review: Sukhpal Singh, Regulating Agricultural Markets in India: A Smallholder Perspective”, Indian Journal of Human Development, vol 18, no. 2, pp: 1-4, https://doi.org/10.1177/09737030241280131
Basu, Ranjini (2023), “Character of the Indian Farmers’ Movement”, Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 58, no.34, pp: 32-34, https://www.epw.in/journal/2023/34/book-reviews/character-indian%C2%A0farmers%E2%80%99-movement.html
Working Papers
Basu, Ranjini (2024), Changing Correlations in Foodgrain Mandis of Punjab, University of Pennsylvania Institute for Advanced Study of India, https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/upiasi/Changing%20Correlations%20in%20Foodgrain%20Mandis%20of%20Punjab%20%28Ranjini%20Basu%29.pdf
Basu, Ranjini (2023), We Feed the Nation: Taking Stock of Punjab’s Contribution to Public Foodgrain Procurement, University of Pennsylvania Institute for Advanced Study of India, https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/upiasi/We%20Feed%20the%20Nation%20-%20Ranjini%20Basu.pdf
Basu, Ranjini (2023), Fraught with Contestations: Crop Diversification Under Agrarian Distress in Indian Punjab, University of Pennsylvania Institute for Advanced Study of India, https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/upiasi/Fraught%20with%20Contestations%20Crop-Diversification%20under%20Agrarian%20Distress%20in%20Indian%20Punjab%20-%20Ranjini%20Basu.pdf
Policy Briefs
Basu, Ranjini (2024), Contemporary Crisis in India’s Dairy Sector, Focus on the Global South, https://focusweb.org/publications/283413/
Basu, Ranjini (2022), India in the Present Global Food Crisis: A Myopic Approach towards Public Stockholding of Foodgrains, in ‘The Global Food Crisis, This Time’, Focus on the Global South, https://focusweb.org/india-in-the-present-global-food-crisis-a-myopic-approach-towards-public-stockholding-of-foodgrains/
Basu, Ranjini and Guttal, Shalmali (2022), Agricultural Negotiations at WTO MC12: No Real Solutions in Sight, Focus on the Global South, https://focusweb.org/agriculture-negotiations-at-wtomc12/
Basu, Ranjini (2021), Farm Workers During COVID: Biggest Casualty of Neoliberal Food Systems, Focus on the Global South in collaboration with Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, https://focusweb.org/publications/farm-workers-during-covid-biggest-casualty-of-neoliberal-food-systems/
Basu, Ranjini (2020), Migrant Agricultural Workers in India and the COVID- 19 Lockdown, Focus on the Global South COVID Bulletin, May 7, https://focusweb.org/migrant-agricultural-workers-in-india-and-the-covid-19-lockdown/
Selected Media
Basu, Ranjini (2021), The Threat of Corporate Interest is a Key Unifying Factor in the Farmer Protests, The Wire, January 21, https://thewire.in/agriculture/farmers-protests-agriculture-laws-corporate-interests
Basu, Ranjini (2021), Long March to Peasant Unity, Frontline Magazine, January 1, https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/farmers-protests-long-march-to-peasant-unity-in-india-building-up-over-decades-now-visible-against-new-farm-laws-2020/article33320513.ece
Basu, Ranjini (2019), Economic Slump: Bursting Official Myths on Consumer Preferences, Newsclick, 14 September, https://www.newsclick.in/Slump-in-Market-Economic-Slowdown-Nirmala-Sitharaman
Basu, Ranjini and Jitendra (2015), Who dropped MESA?, In-depth story, Down to Earth Magazine, June 7, http://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/who-dropped-mesa-41200
Academic Blogs
Basu, Ranjini and Modak, Tapas Singh (2020), MGNREGS and the Pandemic Crisis: Reflections from Tripura, Blog post, Foundation of Agrarian Studies, May 26, https://fas.org.in/blog/mgnregs-and-the-pandemic-crisis-reflections-from-tripura/
Basu, Ranjini and Bakshi, Aparajita (2018), Documenting the Kisan Long March, Blog post, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, July 18, https://fas.org.in/blog/documenting-the-kisan-long-march/
Basu, Ranjini (2017), Migrant Tomato Pickers of Southern Italy, Blog post, Foundation for Agrarian Studies, November 24, https://fas.org.in/blog/migrant-tomato-pickers-of-southern-italy/

Agriculture Policy

Food Governance

Agrarian Mobilizations

Agrarian Political Economy

Village Studies

Land Relations

Regional Development of Agriculture

Ecological and Rural Transitions

Research Interests
Development Studies, Public Policy, Political Economy, Agrarian Studies , Agrarian Mobilizations and Food Governance

Non-Resident Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India ( awarded in April 2025)

Developing Nations Scholarship by the Midwest Political Science Association (awarded complimentary Membership and fee waiver for attending 82nd Annual MPSA Conference-2025 in hybrid mode) ( awarded in 2024)

Spring Visiting Scholar, Centre for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania (February, 2024)

Non-Resident Visiting Scholar at the Centre for the Advanced Study of India, University of Pennsylvania https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/visiting/ranjini-basu (2022- 2025)

Doctoral Fellowship, Indian Council of Social Science Research ( 2016-2018)

Pre-doctoral Fellowship in Governance, Justice and Security in South Asia by International Development Research Centre and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (2012-2014)

Ranjini Basu

Assistant Professor

PhD (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai)

School of Economics and Public Policy

1