Vivek Yadav specializes in democratic theory, with a focus on modern Indian politics. His doctoral dissertation and ongoing book project provide a genealogical account of “Political Drama,” a degraded form of democratic practice that has arisen in Indian politics over the past decade and a half. Offering an alternative to the prevailing academic narrative of the global rise of populism, the project theorizes Indian democracy by taking as its starting point the conceptual vocabulary of its practitioners. Dr Yadav is also a student of philosophical aesthetics and has a special interest in Rasa, a distinguished Indian tradition of philosophy of art, to which his second book project is devoted.
Dr Yadav received his PhD from the department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University. He also holds a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and an MBBS from Seth G.S. Medical College and K.E.M. Hospital, Mumbai.
