معرفی
Dr. Ashwin Varghese serves as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Centre for Governance and Human Rights (CGHR) within the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS) at the University of Cambridge. Previously, he was founding faculty for the B.A. (Hons.) Sociology programme at O.P. Jindal Global University, India.
He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology (2023) from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi, where his doctoral research examined power relations in Indian police stations through ethnographic fieldwork. His academic trajectory reflects deep engagement with state institutions and governance structures.
Varghese's research centers on algorithmic governance and digital transformations of state practices, analyzing shifting dynamics of discretion, autonomy, and control within governmental systems. He integrates political economy perspectives with Science and Technology Studies frameworks, employing ethnographic methods to investigate how technology reconfigures state-citizen interactions and internal bureaucratic processes. His work bridges sociology of governance, development studies, and critical technology studies.
He has contributed to major international research initiatives including the Research Council of Norway funded project 'Algorithmic Governance and Cultures of Policing: Comparative Perspectives from Norway, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa (AGOPOL)' and the SSHRC Insight Grant project 'Police Unions, Democratic Security, & Social Justice'. Prior to his Cambridge appointment, he worked as a Research Assistant to Legislators at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies.
