Abhay Kumar Dubey

Biography

Abhay Kumar Dubey is a social science scholar, translator, and editor. A professor at Centre, he also directs CSDS’ Indian Languages Programme. Dubey’s recently published work Hindi Mein Hum: Aadhunikta Ke Aine Mein Bhasha aur Vichar contains the outcome of his findings that seeks to challenge established social science wisdom that imposes a secular-communal quick-fix on the history of Hindi. Under Dubey’s stewardship the Indian Languages Programme of the Centre has published number of anthologies, translated and self-contained original works in last fourteen years. One of his earlier works, the study of changing face of Naxalite politics, became a best seller and has seen several reprints. In nineties he edited Samay Chetna, a reputed monthly of ideas and analysis; and wrote prolifically in various journals. Recently he has compiled the enormous Samaj-Vigyan Vishwakosh, a six-volume Hindi encyclopaedia of social sciences and humanities. Currently he edits the refereed biannual social science journal Pratiman Samay Samaj Sanskriti. Four anthologies of his essays are in pipeline.

Research Interest

His current research focuses on the past, present, and future of Hindi by looking into the configurations of its modernity. While underlining historically sustained structural conditions that are amenable to Hindi’s increasing status as an all-India link language, he prefers to investigate the plethora of Dalit, Muslim, and women’s writings to unravel the problems and prospects of the increased plurality of Hindi’s own cultural democracy. His other agenda of research is focused on the processes of a fast changing social scenario, which filtered in through reading the history of globalisation(s), by analysing the fast mutating structures of patriarchy, by dissecting newly emerging cultures of media, through examining the startling claims of a sweeping sexual revolution in the Indian metros, and by making sense of global impacts on the developing language cultures.