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Ivy Dhar

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Affiliation

  • Associate Professor , School of Development Studies

Email

    ivy@aud.ac.in

Qualification

  • PhD in Political Science, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • M.Phil in Political Science, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 
  • M.A. in Political Science, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
  • BA in Political Science (Hons.), Cotton College, Gauhati University
     

Past Experience

  • Dr Dhar was a Junior Fellow (2009-10) at the Centre for Contemporary Studies, Prime Minister Museum and Library (formerly NMML), New Delhi and a Project Associate Fellow (2008-09) with the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), New Delhi. She has been a Guest Faculty (2009-10) at the GRS, University of Delhi. She has also completed project consultancy with the UKIERI- British Council and various NGOs.

Area of Expertise

  • Dr. Dhar’s doctoral thesis examined the historical development and contemporary issues of identity-cultural politics, class politics and state-civil society relations taking case studies of cultural organisations of Assam. Presently, her research has been largely inter-disciplinary focusing on issues of Democracy, Identity and Inclusion, Peace and Conflict, Public Goods and Development, and Material Culture. She focusses on the development and political issues of North-east India and has been researching on the region from the beginning of her academic career.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT & TEACHING (AUD)

  • Dr Dhar has contributed to the curriculum development and has been teaching Peace, Conflict and Development (PG), Indian Development: Thoughts, Debates and Experiences (PG), Introduction to Theoretical Perspectives’ (PG), Environment, Natural Resources and Development (PG), Democracy and Conflict in South Asia (PG) and Indian Constitution and Democracy (UG, 2010-17).

PhD & MPhil RESEARCH GUIDANCE (AUD)

  • Sweta Suman [SDS PhD Scholar]: Gender, Institutions and Political Mobilisation: A Study of Women’s Wings of Political Parties in Delhi (Awarded, 2023).
  • Rahul Kumar Yaduka [SDS PhD Scholar]: Politics and Policies for Environmental Issues: Understanding River Floods in the context of Kosi (Awarded, 2025).
  • Jasodhara Borthakur [SDS PhD Scholar]: Indigenous Narratives on Land, Autonomy and Development with Karbi Anglong as a Case Study (Awarded, 2025).
  • Dechen Wangmo [MPhil Development Practice Scholar]: Language Social Institutions & Tribes: Strategies for Oraon Language Revitalisation in the Parha of Khatanga Village in Jharkhand (Awarded,2014).

RESEARCH PROJECT 

  • Household Water in Unauthorised Colonies of Delhi and Social Dimensions of Access, Principal Investigator, supported by SMGFR III, AUD, 2022 -24.
  • Material Culture, Creation and Use: Perspectives from Inside the Community, in collaboration with AUD faculty, project supported by North East Forum- Centre for Community Knowledge, AUD, 2011-12.
  • Tribal Integration and Development since 1980s: State policies on Linguistic-tribal minorities of Assam, project under fellowship at Centre for Contemporary Studies, formerly Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML), 2009-10.
  • Foreign Education Providers in India, Project leader & Principal Investigator, supported by UK-Indian Education Research Initiative-British Council, 2007-2008.

RESOURCE PERSON 

  • Developing Tools for Fostering Critical Thinking in Middle Stage Social Science Textbooks: An Analytical Study, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi, 2025.
  • Development of Handbook on Electoral Literacy for Teachers and Teacher Educators, Department of Education in Social Science, NCERT, 2024.
  • Development of Guidelines for Higher Education Institutions for the Implementation of ULLAS-Nav Bharat Saksharta Karyakram, Cell for National Centre for Literacy, NCERT 2023.
  • Development of Modules on Managing Student Diversity in Higher Education, Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE), NIEPA, 2017
  • Evaluation of Environmental, Health and Hygiene Awareness through School Children in Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) II; 2007, 2008 & 2009, in association with Association for Better Health & Society (ABHAS), New Delhi
  • Course Content Reviewer, Online Certificate Course prepared by Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee - National Institute of Water and Sanitation (SPM-NIWAS), 2025.
  • Reviewer, Social Sciences publishing list at Cambridge University Press, 2021.
  • Team Leader for Impact of Migration on Women, project supported by UNDP-TAHA in association with Damini: Centre for Social Action and Research, 2007.

AWARDS/ DISTINCTIONS

  • ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship 2003-05.
  • Graduate Scholarship from Assam Government, 1993-96.

MEMBERSHIP OF ACADEMIC BODIES

  • Member, Indian Political Science Association
  • Member, Development Studies Association: The Professional Association for Development Research and Knowledge

Publications

JOURNALS.

  • Gendered Water Burden: Situating the Experiences of Women in Urban Households. The Asian Quarterly, Vol. 2, Issue 2, Apr-Jun 2026: 227-238
  • Finding the Blue Drums: A Micro Study of Urban Household Water in Delhi. Journal of Kolkata Society for Asian Studies. December 2024, Special Issue II, Vol 10 Issue 2, 2024: 273-284.
  • Democracy and Identity Politics: Examining the Narratives of Regionalism in Assam. The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 85, Issue 2: 393-400.
  • Navigating Tensions and Stabilising Public Safety with Internet Shutdowns. Indian Public Policy Review, Vol.5, Issue 2, April-June 2024: 59-67. doi: 10.55763/ippr.2024.05.02.004.
  • Literary Associations and Language Activism: Reading the Past and Present Motivations of Asam Sahitya Sabha. History and Sociology of South Asia, Vol.18, Issue 2, 2024: 256-272. doi: 10.1177/22308075231226369.
  • Revisiting Hand washing and Water as Basics during Pandemic and Beyond. Children First: Journal on Children’s Lives, Issue 1, August 2022: 87-90.
  • Labelled Unauthorised: Interrogating Water Provisions in Urban Informal Settlements. Inclusive, Vol.2, Issue 19, July-August 2021: 15-26.
  • Right to Pray:  The Tensions between Gender and Faith Traditions in India. Religions of South Asia, Vol. 14, Issue 3, 2020:  258–284. doi:10.1558/rosa.19328. April-June 2024
  • Rethinking Conflict Prevention through Grassroots Activism: Narratives of Women Building Peace in Rural India (Co-authored with D. Poddar). Explorations- E Journals of the Indian Sociological Society, Vol. 4 Issue 2, October-December 2020: 25-48.
  • Gender Violence and Public Protest: The New Face of Indian Activism. The Indian Journal of Political Science, Special Issue, Vol. 76 Issue 3, July-September, 2015: 501-514.
  • Assam’s Ethnic Diversity and Need for Institutional Reform. Journal of Peace Studies, Vol.12, Issue 1, Jan-Mar 2005: 62-72.

BOOK CHAPTERS & MODULES

  • Textiles, Collections, Communities and Trade: The Past in the Contemporary (co-edited). The K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai, 2025 [ISBN: 978-93-81324-23-3].
  • Introduction: The Social Text in Textiles in Ivy Dhar and Archana Shastri (eds.) Textiles, Collections, Communities and Trade: The Past in the Contemporary, The K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai, 2025: 09-20.
  • Social Significance of Ka Jainsem Dhara: Perspectives on the Attires of the Khasi Community in Ivy Dhar and Archana Shastri (eds.) Textiles, Collections, Communities and Trade: The Past in the Contemporary, The K.R. Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai, 2025: 97-108.
  • Activism of Literary Organizations: Asom Sahitya Sabha in Contemporary Times in Neus Gimeno Gimeno, Amrit Raj & Indrani Mukherjee (eds.) Nomadic Subterfuges in Indo-Luso Hispanic Narratives [Int. Conference Proceedings on ‘Art and Literature from Conflict Zones: India, Spain and Latin America, JNU, 2021], Dungri Publications, West Bengal, 2024:242-250.
  • Student Diversity and Civic Learning (Co-authored) in Nidhi S. Sabharwal & C. M. Malish (eds.) Modules on Student Diversity and Civic Education, National Institute of Educational Planning & Administration, New Delhi, 2023:1-39.
  • Assamese Identity and the Ethnic Dissent: Asom Sahitya Sabha at the Crossroads in Dilip Gogoi (ed.) Unheeded Hinterland: Identity and Sovereignty in Northeast India, Routledge, Oxon and New York, 2016:144-162
  • Weaving and Wearing Ka Jainsem Dhara: Exploring the Cross-Cultural Creation of Khasi Attires in Dharitri Narzary Chakravarty and Surajit Sarkar (eds.) Objects, Identities, Meanings: Insiders Perspectives from North East India, Ambedkar University Delhi, Delhi, 2015: 19-35
  • Assam Through the Prism of Reorganisation Experience: Fragmentation of Identities and Political Disintegration in Sudha Pai and Asha Sarangi (eds). Interrogating States Reorganization: Culture, Identity and Politics in Contemporary India, Routledge, New Delhi, 2011:282-303.
  • Whom to Blame? Negotiating Vulnerability and Living in Safety in Assam. 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, GENDER.ED. December 7, 2022. https://16daysblogathon.blog/2022/12/07.
  • Book review of Michaela Martin, ‘The management of university-industry partnerships in Eastern Asia: Report of an IIEP/ESMU Distance Education Course 2nd-5July 2002’ in Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, Vol 21, No3, July 2007

 

Seminar/Conferences

CONFERENCE PAPERS (SELECTED)

  • ‘Reading Language and Script Politics through Associational Spaces’, talk in SPARC-sponsored Workshop on Script Politics: Border Effects and Everyday Governance in the Bengal Boderlands, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Silchar, held on 7 March, 2026.
  • ‘Gender and Literary Associations: Women, Agency and the Asom Sahitya Sabha’, presented in 62nd All India Political Science Conference & International Seminar on ‘We the People’, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneshwar, held on 27-28 December, 2025.
  • Panelist in a discussion on City, Conservation of River, Community Resources and Community Rights, organised by People’s Resource Centre (PRC), IIC Annexe, New Delhi, held on 27 July 2025.
  • ‘Urban Household Water from Gender Perspective: Field Insights’, presented in 61st All India Political Science Conference and International Seminar on “Vikshit Bharat @2047”, Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner, 1 held on 8-19 October, 2024.
  • ‘Reflections on Water’s Publicness: Access and Provisions in Delhi’, presented in International Conference on Water Purification and Management, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, held on 6-7 July, 2024.
  • ‘If Not a Right Only a Basic Need: Locating the Household Water Stress in Informal Settlements’, talk in a Department Seminar organised by the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University, held on 16 February, 2023.
  • ‘Democracy and Identity Politics: The Power Sharing in Contemporary India’, presented in Southern Political Science Association Annual Conference, International Political Science Association, at Florida, USA, held on 11-14 January, 2023.
  • ‘Activisms of Literary Organisations: The Asom Sahitya Sabha in Contemporary Assam’, presented in International Graduate Conference on Art and Literature from Conflict Zones in India, Spain and Latin America, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, held on 26-27 October, 2021.
  • ‘Menstruation—Myths and Taboos: A Gendered Culture of Exclusion in South Asia’, presented in an International Online Workshop on Dilemmas of Difference: Research Perspectives in Gender, Body Politics and Ethics, Vasanta College for Women, Varanasi, held on 20-24 July 2020.
  • ‘Right to Pray: Tensions between Gender and Faith’, presented in International Conference on Religion and Culture in Conflict and Peace: Reconciliation and Peace Building in South Asia, organised jointly by Lumbini Development Trust and University of Winchester, UK at Lumbini, Nepal, held on 26-27 March, 2019.
  • ‘Civic Learning and Young Citizens: Democractic Engagements in Higher Education’, presented in International Conference on Frontiers of Democracy, J.M.Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University, Boston, USA, held on June on 21-23, 2018.
  • ‘Politics of the Peripheral State: Locating Assam in the Asian Landscape’, presented in International Convention of Asia Scholars, Chiang Mai International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand, held on July 20-23, 2017.
  • ‘My Daughter to India’s Daughter: Silence and Protest over Violence’, presented in International Conference on Elimination of Violence against Women,  Aberystwyth University, Mauritius, held on November 25, 2016.
  • ‘Ka Jainsem Dhara: Weaving Borders and Cultures’, presented in International Conference on Oral Traditions: Continuity and Transformations, North East India and South East Asia organised jointly by Centre for Community Knowledge of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), at Shillong, held on February 1-4, 2016.
  • ‘The Social Significance of Ka Jainsem Dhara: Perspectives on the Costumes of the Khasi Community’, presented in International Seminar on Textiles, Collections, Communities, Culture and Trade, The KR Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai, held on January 9-10, 2016.
  • ‘Gender and Conflict Prevention: Activism of Women's Peace Brigade’, co-presented in International Conference on Gender, Conflict and Security: Perspectives from South Asia, organised in collaboration with UN Women, at South Asian University (SAU), New Delhi, held on April 23-24, 2015.
  • ‘Gender Violence and Public Protest: The New Face of Indian Activism’, presented in National Conference on Re-inventing Politics in India, Indian Political Science Association at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, held on October 25-27, 2015.
  • ‘Decentralised Governance and Rethinking Gandhian Peace: Women as Change Agents’, presented in International Conference on Gandhi, Gram Swaraj and Democratic Decentralisation, Kerala Institute for Local Administration (KILA), Thrissur, Kerala, held on 27-29 November, 2014.
  • ‘On the Borders: An Array of Security Threats in North-east India’, presented in International Conference on Social Science, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, held on November 22-23, 2013
  • ‘Development and Human Security in a Conflict Scenario: Challenges in the North-East India’, presented in National Seminar on Development, Conflict and Democratic Governance: India’s experience in the North East, organised in association with Council for Social Development- New Delhi, at North Eastern Regional Centre, ICSSR, Shillong, held on June 9-10, 2011. 
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