Nayanika Mathur

Nayanika Mathur is a Professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies at the University of Oxford, affiliated with Wolfson College. Educated at the Universities of Delhi and Cambridge, she specializes in the anthropology of politics, development, environment, law, and human-animal relations. Her work combines ethnographic fieldwork in India with critical theoretical interventions.

• Education: B.A. and M.A. from University of Delhi; MPhil and Ph.D. from University of Cambridge

Her research explores bureaucratic practices in South Asia, the Anthropocene, and climate crisis implications. She co-directs the TORCH research network on Climate Crisis Thinking in Humanities and Social Sciences. Her publications analyze developmental states, human-animal conflicts, and knowledge production under ecological collapse.

Key themes from her 15 most recent articles include critiques of bureaucratic transparency, climate crisis impacts on human-animal relations, and conspiracy theories in governance. Awards include the Sharon Stephens Prize for her first monograph. Current projects examine technology-government intersections and climate crisis impacts on anthropological knowledge.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Sharon Stephens Prize (American Ethnological Society) for Paper Tiger

She has contributed extensively to public discourse through media outlets like The Times of India and The Conversation, addressing topics such as human-animal conflict, bureaucratic corruption, and climate crisis governance.