Dr Rohit K Dasgupta

Prior to my current role I was Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow where I am currently Honorary Senior Research Fellow. I have previously held teaching and research posts at Loughborough University, University of Southampton, University of Sussex, University of West London and University of the Arts London. I have also held visiting fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania and Fordham University in New York. I have experience in policy making and political strategy for a number of years as elected councillor in the London Borough of Newham in the areas of Equalities, Social Justice and Culture.

Using ethnographic and creative methodologies I have explored the relationship between sexuality, class and belonging in contemporary India which led to my first monograph Digital Queer Cultures in India: Politics, Intimacies & Belonging (Routledge, 2017) and the subsequent books Queering Digital India: Activisms, Identities, Subjectivities (Edinburgh University Press, 2018); Social Media, Sexuality & Sexual Health Advocacy in Kolkata, India (Bloomsbury, 2018) and Friendship as Social Justice Activism (Seagull/University of Chicago Press, 2018), which received an Honourable Mention by Pen America.

I currently edit two book series- Ethnographic Innovations, South Asian Perspectives (with Niharika Banerjea & Paul Boyce) for Routledge and South Asian Screens (with Sangita Gopal) for Bloomsbury.

Expertise

queer politics, diaspora, media & cultural production, cultural labour

My current research interests are in cultural and queer politics in South Asia & the diaspora. I have recently completed a British Academy funded project on South Asian Queer diasporic organising & cultural production in Britain and a Carnegie Trust funded project on Queer film festivals and community making in India and about to start a three-year AHRC funded project 'Crafting Sustainability & Equitability' which will explore cultural labour in the Indian handicraft sector with an aim to address inequalities of gender, sexuality, religion, and caste from an intersectional perspective.

I am currently working on two co-authored monographs - Desi Queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians & Cultural Belonging in Britain (Hurst & Co) and India's Imperial Formations: Cultural Perspectives(Fairleigh Dickinson University Press).

I am also particularly interested in the role of digital culture and media for social change in relation to activism and intimate community making.

I have received numerous grants & my research has been funded over the years by Wellcome Trust, Royal Society of Edinburgh, British Academy, Carnegie Trust, UKRI India and AHRC.