Education

• Ph.D in Anthropology from The Johns Hopkins University in October 1994 on the ecumenical movement in the U.S. called Habitat for Humanity. The title of my thesis is, In the Margins of Shacks: The Vision and Practice of Habitat for Humanity.
• M.A. in Anthropology from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, U.S.A. in 1989 with concentration on: Anthropology of Post industrial Societies, Ethnographic Perspectives on American Culture and Comparative Social Movements
• M.A. in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India with a Gold Medal (1986)

Current Work

Professor, Madras Institute Development Studies, 79, Second Main Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar, Chennai 600-020, India.

Research Interests

• New Horizons of Human Development and Social Transformations in India and the World: Dialogues, Dignity and Responsibility
• Religion, Spiritual Mobilizations and Social Transformations
• Social Theory and Social Movements: Criticism, Creativity and the Contemporary Dialectics of Transformations
• Creative Transformations in Education, Philosophy and Literature.

Research, Teaching and Work Experience:

• Visiting Scholar, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, November 2019;
• Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Politics and Public Administration, Savitribai Phule University, Pune, October 2019;
• Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Sociology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, March 2017;
• Visiting Scholar, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla, May 2016;
• Visiting Professor, Center for Media Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, April 2016;
• Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Arts and Business, The University of Sunshine Coast Queensland, Australia, March 2015;
• Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, Indonesia, February 2015;
• Visiting Scholar, Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland, October 2014;
• Visiting Scholar, Department of Religion and Culture, Virginia Tech, USA, March 2013;
• Visiting Professor, Department of Development Studies and School of Transformative Leadership, Palacky University, Olomouc, Checz Republic, February 2013;
• Directeur d'Etudes (DEA), Associate Director of Studies, Fondation Maison des Sciences del'Homme (FMSH), Paris, November 2012;
• Visiting Scholar, Dept of Sociology, Babasaheb Ambedkar Central University, Lucknow, March 2012;
• Visiting Scholar, Dept of Sociology, Ravenshaw University, August 2011;
• Fellow of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin, June-August 2010;
• University Visiting Scholar, Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, September-October 2008;
• Fellow of Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Institute of Sociology, Albert Ludwig Universitat, Freiburg, May 2006-Feb 2008;
• Visiting Professor, Department of Sociology, Punjab University, Chandigarh, August 2006;
• Visiting Associate Professor, Research Center on Development and International Relations, Aalborg University, Denmark, March 2004-Feb.2005;
• Visiting Scholar, Department of Education, Lund University, Sweden, October 2003;
• Visiting Scholar, Korea Foundation and Seoul National University, March 2003;
• Rockefeller Humanities Fellow, Appalachian Center for Social Theory, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, August-December 2002;
• Visiting Fellow, Center for Social Studies, The Jacob-Blaustein Institute of Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University at Negev, Israel, June-July 2002;
• Visiting Fellow, International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden, Netherlands, June-August 2001; March-May 2002;
• Fellow, Indo-French Academic Exchange Program, MSH, Paris, January 2000;
• Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow, International Social Science Institute, The University of Edinburgh, November-Dec., 1999;
• Visiting Scholar, Dept. of Cultural Anthropology and Non-Western Sociology, Free University, Amsterdam, Sept.-Oct. 1999;
• Assistant Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Jan. 1995 to April 2001 and Associate Professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies, April 2001 August 2015;
• Visiting Professor, Ravi Matthai Center for Educational Innovations, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad from August 1993 to July 1994;
• Lecturer in Anthropology, G.B. Pant Social Science Institute, Jhusi, Allahabad from May 1992 to July 1993;
• Lecturer in Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi from January, 1992 to April 1992;
• Four months of fieldwork among the managers and management educators of India understanding their discourse of managerial values and business ethics, January 1994 to April 1994;
• Four months of research (both fieldwork and documentary study) on the People's Science Movement of India sponsored by National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), New Delhi;
• Fifteen months of fieldwork on Habitat for Humanity in Georgia, Florida, Andhra and Kerala (spread over September, 1989 to July, 1991); and
• Research on the Chipko Movement in the summer of 1987 under the auspices of The Program in Atlantic History, Culture and Society of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore;

Awards and Honors

• Best Citizens Award 2012, Best Citizens of India, Delhi
• Bharat Jyoti Award (India Glory Award), India International Friendship Society, New Delhi, 2012;
• Presented the De Smet-De Mennerf Memorial Lecture, "With and Beyond Plurality of Standpoints," Jnana Deepa Vidyapeetha, Pune, Jan 20, 2012;
• 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century-2011-International Biographical Center, Cambridge;
• Top 100 Educators of 2011, International Biographic Center, Cambridge, England;
• Presented the First SP Nagendra Memorial Lecture on "Towards a New Art of Transformative Knowledge," Jan 11, 2011, Lucknow;
• Presented R. Sathianathier Endowment Lectures for 2005-2006, Dept. of Political Science, Annamalai University on "New Horizons of Political Theory: Transforming Power and Freedom," Feb. 18, 2006 ;
• Presented the First Freedom Fighter Satyamurthi Endowment Lectures on "New Horizons of Social Theory and Human Development," Annamalai University, March 24, 05;
• Doctoral dissertation grant for the project on Habitat for Humanity from National Science Foundation, USA 1989;
• Gold Medal from University of Delhi, 1986;
• Swami Vivekananda Memorial Scholarship from Delhi Young Entrepreneur's Association, Delhi, 1984 1986;
• National Scholarships from High School to M.A.;

Membership of Professional Bodies and Board of Journals and Book Series

• Member, Indian Sociological Society, New Delhi
• Member, Odia Gabeshana Parishada (Institute of Odia Studies), Cuttack, Odisha
• Associate Member, India International Center, New Delhi
• Member, The Club of Rome
• Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, 3D: IBA Journal of Management and Leadership, Bengaluru

Books and Monographs

(A) In English

Authored Books

1. The Calling of Global Responsibility: New Initiatives In Justice, Dialogues and Planetary Realizations. New Delhi: Routledge (forthcoming).
2. Learning the Art of Wholeness: Integral Education and Beyond. New Delhi: Routledge (forthcoming).
3. Cultivating Integral Development. New Delhi: Routledge (forthcoming).
4. Social Healing. New Delhi: Routlege (forthcoming).
5. Alphabets of Creation: Taking God to Bed. A Book of Poems (forthcoming).
6. Weaving New Hats: Our Half Birthdays. A Book of Poem. Foreword by Marcus Bussey. Delhi: Studera Press, 2019.
7. Knowledge and Human Liberation: Towards Planetary Realizations. Foreword by John Clammer. London et al.: Anthem Press, 2013.
8. Sociology and Beyond: Windows and Horizons with a foreword by Piet Strydom. Jaipur: Rawat Publications: 2012.
9. Self-Development and Social Transformations? The Vision and Experiments of the Socio-Spiritual Mobilization of Swadhyaya. With a Foreword by Arjun Appadurai. Jaipur: Rawat and Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008.
10. Reflections and Mobilizations: Dialogues with Movements and Voluntary Organizations. Foreword by Professor C.T. Kurien. New Delhi: Sage Publications, 2005;
11. Indian Edition of this as New Horizons of Social Theory: Conversations, Transformations and Beyond. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2006.
12. Conversations and Transformations: Towards a New Ethics of Self and Society. Introduction by Professor Fred R. Dallmayr. Maryland, USA: Lexington Books and Rowman & Littlefield, 2002;
13. Building in the Margins of Shacks: The Vision and Projects of Habitat for Humanity. Foreword by Professor Alain Touraine. Delhi: Orient Longman 2002;
14. Values, Ethics and Business: Challenges for Education and Management. Foreword by S.K. Chakraborty. Rawat Publications, 1998;
15. Global Transformations: Postmodernity and Beyond. Foreword by Ronald Robertson. Jaipur and Delhi: Rawat Publications, 1998;

Edited and Co-edited Books

1. (edited) Cross-Fertilizing Roots and Routes: Identities, Social Creativities, Cultural Regeneration and Planetary Realizations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021;
2. (edited) Roots, Routes and a New Awakening: Beyond One and Many and Alternative Planetary Futures. Sanghai / Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021;
3. (edited) Pragmatism, Spirituality and Society: Border Crossings, Transformations and Planetary Realizations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021;
4. (edited) Pragmatism, Spirituality and Society: Border Crossings, Transformations and Planetary Realizations: New Pathways of Consciousness, Freedom and Solidarity. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan , 2021;
5. (editing) Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo. New Delhi: Routledge (forthcoming).
6. (co-editing with Su-Chen Wu of Fo Guang University, Taiwan) Cross-Currents of Social Theorizing of Contemporary Taiwan: Self, Culture and Society. New Delhi: Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming).
7. (co-edited with Ivan Marquez) The Essays of Chitta Ranjan Das on Literature, Culture and Society: On the Side of Life In Spite Of. New Castle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press. 2020.
8. (edited) Practical Spirituality and Human Development: Creative Experiments for Alternative Futures. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2019;
9. (edited) Transformative Harmony. Delhi: Studera, 2019;
10. (edited) Beyond Cosmopolitanism: Towards Planetary Transformations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018;
11. (edited) Social Theory and Asian Dialogues: Cultivating Planetary Conversations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018;
12. (edited) Beyond Sociology: Transcivilizational Dialogues and Planetary Conversations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018;
13. (edited) Practical Spirituality and Human Development: Transformations in Religions and Societies. Foreword by Fred Dallmayr and Afterword by Piet Strydom. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2018;
14. (co-edited with John Clammer) The Aesthetics of Development, Art, Culture and Social Transformations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017;
15. (edited) Pathways of Creative Research: Towards a Festival of Dialogues with a foreword by Professor James L. Peacock. Delhi: Primus Books, 2017;
16. (edited) Cultivating Pathways of Creative Research: New Horizons of Transformative Practice and Collaborative Imagination. Delhi: Primus Books, 2017; Delhi: Primus Books, 2017;
17. (edited) Research as Realization: Science, Spirituality and Harmony. Delhi: Primus Books, 2017;
18. (edited) New Horizons of Human Development. Delhi: Studera Press, 2015;
19. (edited) A New Morning with Chitta Ranjan: Adventures in Co-Realizations and World Transformations. Foreword by Professor Jatin K. Nayak. Bhubaneswar: Sikshasandhan (2013);
20. (edited) Adventures of Education: Vistas and Variations by Chitta Ranjan Das. Delhi: Daanish Books, 2013;
21. (co-edited with John Clammer) Philosophy and Anthropology: Border-Crossing and Transformations. London et al.: Anthem Press, 2013;
22. (edited) The Modern Prince and the Modern Sage: Transforming Power and Freedom. With a Foreword by Johan Galtung. New Delhi: Sage, 2009;
23. (co-edited) The Development of Religion, The Religion of Development. Deltef, The Netherlands: Eburon Publishers, 2004;
24. (edited) Creative Social Research: Rethinking Theories and Methods. Foreword by S.N. Eisenstadt. Lexington Books, USA and Sage, New Delhi: 2004;
25. (co-edited with Dr. Philip Quarles van Ufford of Free University, Amsterdam) A Moral Critique of Development: In Search of Global Responsibilities (London: Routledge, 2003; Translated into Bhasa Indonesia as Kritik Moral Pembangunan. Yogyaykarta, Indonesia: Penerbit Kanisius, 2003);
26. (edited) Rethinking Social Transformation: Criticism and Creativity at the Turn of the Millennium. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2001;

Translated Books

1. Kristen Kold: A Pioneer of Danish Folk High School Movement and a Revolutionary in Education (Translation of biography of Kristen Kold originally written by Chitta Ranjan Das in Oriya into English). New Delhi: Shipra Publications, 2007.
2. Khalil Gibran’s The Wanderer and Mad Man to Odia as Pagala Paribrajaka (forthcoming).

(B) In Odia

1. Shri Jagannathanka Saha: Kshyata, Khati o Khetra (With Jagannatha: Injury, Loss and the Field). Bhubaneswar: Vishwalekha, 2018
2. Alingana (Embrace, A Book of Poems). Forthcoming
3. Bahudhara Barnabibha (The Colors of Pluralism). Forthcoming.
4. Ehi Alokasnata Pruthivi (This World Bathed with Light). Cuttack: Grantha Mandir, 2017.
5. Mochi o Darshanika (The Shoemaker and the Philosopher). Bhubaneswar: Pathika Prakashani, 2009.
6. Hrudayara Sehi Akhi Duiti (Those Two Eyes of the Heart). Bhubanewar: Pathika Prakshani, May 2007.
7. Srasta, Sastra O Saskrunti (The Creator, The Text and Culture). Bhubaneswar: Pathika Prakashani, 2004.
8. Bagalara Tila Chihna (The Dot on the Left Cheek). Bhubaneswar: Pathika Prakshani, 2004;
9. Koinonia Diary. Bhubaneswar: Pathika Prakashani, 2000;
10. Pathaprantara Nrutattwa (Anthropology of the Street Corner): A collection of essays in Oriya. Bhubaneswar: Pathika Prakashani, 1999;
11. Sameekhya O Purodrusti (Criticism and the Vision of the Future). Cuttack: Arya Prakashani, 1998;
12. With Chitta Ranjan Das, Rachanatmaka Karmi, Swaraj O Satyagraha (The Constructive Worker, Swaraj and Satyagraha). Bhubaneswar: Mayur Publications, 1996;
13. Mujadi Dhumaketu Hoithanti (If I were a Comet). Cuttack: Orissa Book Store, 1991;

(C) Edited Creative Multiverse Series: A Brief Note Creative Multiverse:

New Explorations in Transformative Learning and Research

There is an epochal challenge of learning from multiple experiments in self and social transformations now. Creative Multiverse seeks to explore and present different pathways of transformations in societies and histories around the world. It builds upon engagements in learning in different disciplines of life and academy and seeks to create a transdisciplinary space of research, dialogues and transformations.

Books in the Creative Multiverse Series with My Forewords (These have been published from Shipra.)

• Chittaranjan Das, Benedict Spinoza: An Appreciation (2009)
• Piet Strydom, New Horizons of Critical Theory: Collective Learning and Triple Contingency (2009);
• Julian Korab-Kaporowicz, Love and Wisdom: Towards a Philosophy of Life (2011);
• John Clammer, Diaspora and Belief: Religion, Identity and Globaization in Postcolonial Asia (2008);
• Chitta Ranjan Das, A Revolutionary in Education, Kristen Kold: A Pionneer of the Danish Folk High School Movement (2007);

Currently unavailable..

Available on request