Akhil Gupta

Akhil Gupta is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. His academic work focuses on sociocultural anthropology with particular attention to transnational capitalism, infrastructure, and corruption in South Asia.

His research interests include:

• Ethnography of information technology
• The state and development
• Anthropology of food
• Environmental anthropology
• Space and place studies
• History of anthropology
• Applied anthropology
• India and South Asian studies

Gupta's scholarly work examines contemporary capitalism, development, postcoloniality, globalization, and the state. His empirical research interrogates anthropological and social theory through ethnographic studies of peasants and other poor communities in India. He combines cultural and sociological analyses with postcolonial theory to rethink questions in social theory dealing with space, place, and temporality.

His publications show a consistent focus on South Asian political economy, state formation, and social stratification, with a methodological emphasis on ethnographic approaches to understanding complex social phenomena. The works span theoretical explorations of the anthropology of the state, analyses of postcolonial development, and examinations of bureaucratic practices and their relationship to poverty.

Award highlights include:

• Visiting Professor at Ecole des Hautes Etudes En Sciences Sociales, Paris (2009)
• Visiting Professor at Danish Research School of Anthropology and Ethnography (2008)
• Goel Lecturer at University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2007)

Gupta holds a Ph.D. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University (1988) and has established himself as a leading scholar in sociocultural anthropology with significant contributions to understanding the Indian state, development processes, and social theory from postcolonial perspectives.