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[[File:Akhil Gupta, 2020.jpg|thumb|Akhil Gupta in 2020]]
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'''Akhil Gupta''' (born 1959) is an [[India]]n-[[United States|American]] [[anthropologist]] whose research has focused on the anthropology of the [[Sovereign state|state]] and of development, as well as on [[postcolonialism]]. He is currently Professor of Anthropology at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].
{{Infobox person
| name = Akhil Gupta
| image = Akhil Gupta, 2020.jpg
| caption = Akhil Gupta in 2020
| birth_date = 1959
| occupation = anthropologist, university professor
| known_for = Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.
}}
⚫
'''Akhil Gupta''' (born 1959) is an [[India]]n-[[United States|American]] [[anthropologist]] whose research focuses on the anthropology of the [[Sovereign state|state]], development, as well as on [[postcolonialism]]. He is currently a Professor of [[Anthropology]] at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]]. He is a former president of the [[American Anthropological Association]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=AAA Past Presidents - Connect with AAA |url=https://www.americananthro.org/ConnectWithAAA/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1628 |access-date=2023-02-17 |website=www.americananthro.org}}</ref>


==Education==
==Education==
Akhil attended [[St. Xavier's School, Jaipur|St. Xavier's School]] in [[Jaipur]] and graduated in 1974. Gupta did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering from [[Western Michigan University]], following that with a Mechanical Engineering Masters from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]. Gupta then spent the next eight years getting a Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems from [[Stanford University]].
Gupta attended [[St. Xavier's School, Jaipur|St. Xavier's School]] in [[Jaipur]] and graduated in 1974. Gupta did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering from [[Western Michigan University]], following that with a Masters in [[Mechanical engineering|Mechanical Engineering]] from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 15, 2011 |title=Well-known Anthropologist visits UCT |url=https://humanities.uct.ac.za/articles/2011-08-15-well-known-anthropologist-visits-uct |access-date=May 21, 2024 |website=University of Cape Town}}</ref> Gupta then spent the next eight years getting a Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems from [[Stanford University]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}


==Career==
==Career==
===Research===
===Research===
In 1992, while still at Stanford, Gupta along with fellow Stanford anthropologist [[James Ferguson (anthropologist)|James Ferguson]] wrote the well-known and oft-cited essay, "Beyond 'Culture': Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference."<ref>{{cite journal| last=Gupta| first=Akhil|author2=James Ferguson| title=Beyond "Culture": Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference| journal=Cultural Anthropology|date=Feb 1992| volume=7| issue=1| pages=6–23| doi=10.1525/can.1992.7.1.02a00020| jstor=656518}}</ref> which argued that the analytic concept of culture had remained largely unproblematized by anthropological discourse, and that anthropologists of the day had failed to recognize and analyze the politics of cultural difference, how such differences were produced, and how such differences were used and abused by the state and by capital. The article argues for the examination of cultural anthropology as an unconscious mechanism of [[neo-imperialism]].
In 1992, while still at Stanford, Gupta along with fellow Stanford anthropologist [[James Ferguson (anthropologist)|James Ferguson]] wrote the well-known and oft-cited essay, "Beyond 'Culture': Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference."<ref>{{cite journal| last=Gupta| first=Akhil|author2=James Ferguson| title=Beyond "Culture": Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference| journal=Cultural Anthropology|date=Feb 1992| volume=7| issue=1| pages=6–23| doi=10.1525/can.1992.7.1.02a00020| jstor=656518}}</ref> which argued that the analytic concept of culture had remained largely unproblematized by anthropological discourse, and that anthropologists of the day had failed to recognize and analyze the politics of cultural difference, how such differences were produced, and how such differences were used and abused by the state and by capital. The article argues for the examination of cultural anthropology as an unconscious mechanism of [[neo-imperialism]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}


Gupta has done extensive work in rural [[North India]]. In his book, ''Postcolonial Developments: Agriculture in the Making of Modern India'', Gupta analyzes whether and how post-colonial theory can be applied to subaltern rural places. He attempts to understand the growth of modern India through its agricultural sector. Most of his work has taken place in the western part of the north Indian state of [[Uttar Pradesh]]. Gupta has also tried to understand the [[ethnography]] of the state - as lived, understood and discussed in rural India.
Gupta has done extensive work in rural [[North India]]. In his book, ''Postcolonial Developments: Agriculture in the Making of Modern India'', Gupta analyzes whether and how post-colonial theory can be applied to subaltern rural places. He attempts to understand the growth of modern India through its agricultural sector. Most of his work has taken place in the western part of the north Indian state of [[Uttar Pradesh]]. Gupta has also tried to understand the [[ethnography]] of the state - as lived, understood and discussed in rural India.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}


He is also a leading figure in the anthropology of the state, and is the co-editor of a book of collected essays called ''The Anthropology of the State: A Reader.''<ref>{{cite book| last=Aradhana Sharma| title=The anthropology of the state : a reader| year=2007| publisher=Blackwell| location=Malden| isbn=1-4051-1467-3| edition=[Nachdr.]|author2=Gupta, Akhil}}</ref>
He is also a leading figure in the anthropology of the state, and is the co-editor of a book of collected essays called ''The Anthropology of the State: A Reader.''<ref>{{cite book| last=Aradhana Sharma| title=The anthropology of the state : a reader| year=2007| publisher=Blackwell| location=Malden| isbn=978-1-4051-1467-7| edition=[Nachdr.]|author2=Gupta, Akhil}}</ref>


===Tenureship controversy===
===Tenureship controversy===
Gupta was unanimously approved for [[tenure (academic)|tenure]] in 1996 at Stanford, but was then denied tenure by the dean John Shoven. However, in the face of outcry from across the academy as well as mobilization by students, the dean's decision was overturned.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tenure decision on anthropologist to be reconsidered (5/97)|url=https://news.stanford.edu/pr/97/970506gupta.html|access-date=2021-07-06|website=news.stanford.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Faculty Board grants tenure to anthropologist Gupta (8/97)|url=https://news.stanford.edu/pr/97/970814guptaten.html|access-date=2021-07-06|website=news.stanford.edu}}</ref><ref>Ann Gibbons, "Cultural Divide at Stanford", ''Science'' 20 June 1997: Vol. 276, Issue 5320, pp. 1783-1784.</ref>
Gupta was unanimously approved for [[tenure (academic)|tenure]] in 1996 at Stanford, but was then denied tenure by the dean John Shoven. However, in the face of outcry from across the academy as well as mobilization by students, the dean's decision was overturned.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Tenure decision on anthropologist to be reconsidered (5/97)|url=https://news.stanford.edu/pr/97/970506gupta.html|access-date=2021-07-06|website=news.stanford.edu|archive-date=20 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820000237/https://news.stanford.edu/pr/97/970506gupta.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Faculty Board grants tenure to anthropologist Gupta (8/97)|url=https://news.stanford.edu/pr/97/970814guptaten.html|access-date=2021-07-06|website=news.stanford.edu|archive-date=10 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910161948/https://news.stanford.edu/pr/97/970814guptaten.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Ann Gibbons, "Cultural Divide at Stanford", ''Science'' 20 June 1997: Vol. 276, Issue 5320, pp. 1783-1784.</ref>


==Selected publications==
==Selected publications==
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Revision as of 16:52, 21 May 2024

Akhil Gupta
Akhil Gupta in 2020
Born1959
Occupation(s)anthropologist, university professor
Known forProfessor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Akhil Gupta (born 1959) is an Indian-American anthropologist whose research focuses on the anthropology of the state, development, as well as on postcolonialism. He is currently a Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is a former president of the American Anthropological Association.[1]

Education

Gupta attended St. Xavier's School in Jaipur and graduated in 1974. Gupta did his undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering from Western Michigan University, following that with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[2] Gupta then spent the next eight years getting a Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University.[citation needed]

Career

Research

In 1992, while still at Stanford, Gupta along with fellow Stanford anthropologist James Ferguson wrote the well-known and oft-cited essay, "Beyond 'Culture': Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference."[3] which argued that the analytic concept of culture had remained largely unproblematized by anthropological discourse, and that anthropologists of the day had failed to recognize and analyze the politics of cultural difference, how such differences were produced, and how such differences were used and abused by the state and by capital. The article argues for the examination of cultural anthropology as an unconscious mechanism of neo-imperialism.[citation needed]

Gupta has done extensive work in rural North India. In his book, Postcolonial Developments: Agriculture in the Making of Modern India, Gupta analyzes whether and how post-colonial theory can be applied to subaltern rural places. He attempts to understand the growth of modern India through its agricultural sector. Most of his work has taken place in the western part of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Gupta has also tried to understand the ethnography of the state - as lived, understood and discussed in rural India.[citation needed]

He is also a leading figure in the anthropology of the state, and is the co-editor of a book of collected essays called The Anthropology of the State: A Reader.[4]

Tenureship controversy

Gupta was unanimously approved for tenure in 1996 at Stanford, but was then denied tenure by the dean John Shoven. However, in the face of outcry from across the academy as well as mobilization by students, the dean's decision was overturned.[5][6][7]

Selected publications

  • Postcolonial Developments: Agriculture in the Making of Modern India, 1997
  • Editor, The Anthropology of the State: A Reader (with Aradhana Sharma), 2006
  • Editor, Caste and Outcast (with Gordon Chang and Purnima Mankekar), 2002
  • Editor, Culture, Power, Place: Explorations in Critical Anthropology (with James Ferguson), 1997
  • Editor, Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science (with James Ferguson), 1997

References

  1. ^ "AAA Past Presidents - Connect with AAA". www.americananthro.org. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Well-known Anthropologist visits UCT". University of Cape Town. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  3. ^ Gupta, Akhil; James Ferguson (February 1992). "Beyond "Culture": Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference". Cultural Anthropology. 7 (1): 6–23. doi:10.1525/can.1992.7.1.02a00020. JSTOR 656518.
  4. ^ Aradhana Sharma; Gupta, Akhil (2007). The anthropology of the state : a reader ([Nachdr.] ed.). Malden: Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-1467-7.
  5. ^ "Tenure decision on anthropologist to be reconsidered (5/97)". news.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Faculty Board grants tenure to anthropologist Gupta (8/97)". news.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 10 September 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  7. ^ Ann Gibbons, "Cultural Divide at Stanford", Science 20 June 1997: Vol. 276, Issue 5320, pp. 1783-1784.
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