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Dr. Vidya Venkat's Outputs (27)

India’s Democratic Revolution: Right to Information and the Anti-corruption Discourse (2024)
Thesis
Venkat, V. India’s Democratic Revolution: Right to Information and the Anti-corruption Discourse. (Thesis). SOAS University of London

This doctoral thesis examines the right to information movement in India emerging from a democratic process of contestation of state power. Combining ethnography with history, the thesis situates the demand for an information law within the context o... Read More about India’s Democratic Revolution: Right to Information and the Anti-corruption Discourse.

Participatory democracy in Delhi: How the Aam Aadmi Party's model of governance is addressing unwellness in political institutions (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Venkat, V. (2023, April). Participatory democracy in Delhi: How the Aam Aadmi Party's model of governance is addressing unwellness in political institutions. Paper presented at Association of Social Anthropologists' Annual Conference 2023, SOAS University of London

This paper uses ethnographic research to study the model of governance established by the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi and explores the connections forged by legislative
members with their electoral constituencies via the organisation of nei... Read More about Participatory democracy in Delhi: How the Aam Aadmi Party's model of governance is addressing unwellness in political institutions.

Beyond the numbers: Ethnographic insights on women as politicians (2023)
Digital Artefact
Venkat, V. (2023). Beyond the numbers: Ethnographic insights on women as politicians

Based on fieldwork in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Vidya Venkat argues that poll statistics do not fully capture the complexity of women’s participation in electoral contests.

Incorporating people's will in governance (2022)
Journal Article
Venkat, V. (2022). Incorporating people's will in governance. Seminar (New Delhi.1959), 756, 29-34

In this essay, I use archival research to demonstrate how the framing of the Right To Information Act, 2005 was an expression of "people's will". The essay traces the formative phase of the right to information movement in Rajasthan and New Delhi.

From Ayodhya To Jerusalem: The Burden Of Civilisation’s Churn (2022)
Digital Artefact
Venkat, V. From Ayodhya To Jerusalem: The Burden Of Civilisation’s Churn

British colonialism left contested grounds both India and Israel. The narrative about Ram mandir’s existence at the site where the Babri Masjid once stood was a British lie to divide and rule India. The story of Jerusalem holds out a lesson: Dividing... Read More about From Ayodhya To Jerusalem: The Burden Of Civilisation’s Churn.

In India, democracy isn't dead (2021)
Digital Artefact
Venkat, V. In India, democracy isn't dead. [Blog post]

Opinion article comparing insights from my thesis research to explain the current farmer's struggle in India.

Registering the everyday state in India via the Right to Information Act, 2005 (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Venkat, V. (2021, March). Registering the everyday state in India via the Right to Information Act, 2005. Paper presented at Registering The Everyday: Documents, Bureaucracy, And The Socio-Legal (Socio-Legal Studies Association, Annual Conference 2021), Cardiff, UK

“Diversity, Culture and Transformation - All Injustices are Connected." Exploring economic, social, and political facets of poverty and investigating the ways in which organizations engage with communities, as well as how local authorities respond. (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Venkat, V. (2021, March). “Diversity, Culture and Transformation - All Injustices are Connected." Exploring economic, social, and political facets of poverty and investigating the ways in which organizations engage with communities, as well as how local authorities respond. Presented at Spring Workshop Series with SOAS: Training for Transformation and Participatory Methods for Engaged Research Fund (Open Society University Network), SOAS

On the idea of 'the people' (2020)
Journal Article
Venkat, V. (2020). On the idea of 'the people'. Biblio: a review of books, 26(10-12), 5-6

Despite Free and Fair Elections, Our Idea of the Republic Is at Risk (2019)
Journal Article
Venkat, V. (2019). Despite Free and Fair Elections, Our Idea of the Republic Is at Risk. Economic and political weekly, 54(3),

On the occasion of India’s 70th Republic Day, it is worth considering how the very foundational idea of a republic, in which supreme power is held by the people, is at risk despite free and fair elections. To arrive at that argument, this article del... Read More about Despite Free and Fair Elections, Our Idea of the Republic Is at Risk.

Another Freedom Struggle (2018)
Journal Article
Venkat, V. (2018). Another Freedom Struggle. Biblio: a review of books, 23(7-9),