Bio
Devesh Kapur is Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies at SAIS Europe
Devesh Kapur has a distinguished background in research and academia. He joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in July 2018 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for the Advanced Study of India, holding the Madan Lal Sobti Chair for the Study of Contemporary India. Prior to his tenure at Penn, he was Associate Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Frederick Danziger Associate Professor of Government at Harvard. Kapur received the Joseph R. Levenson Teaching Prize, awarded to the best junior faculty at Harvard College and Outstanding Teaching in Political Science by the American Political Science Association, in 2005.
Kapur’s research has focused on five broad areas that examine the political and institutional determinants of economic development: international financial institutions; political and economic consequences of international and internal migration; the effects of market forces and urbanization on the well-being of socially marginalized groups in India; governance and public institutions; and higher education. His book,
Diaspora, Democracy and Development: The Impact of International Migration from India on India (Princeton University Press) earned him a 2012 Distinguished Book Award of the International Studies Association, while
The Other One Percent: Indians in America (with Sanjoy Chakravorty and Nirvikar Singh) was a Choice Outstanding Title of 2017. His other publications include
The World Bank: Its First Half Century (with John Lewis and Richard Webb) and
Defying the Odds: The Rise of Dalit Entrepreneurs (co-authored with D. Shyam Babu and Chandra Bhan Prasad). His latest edited works are
Navigating the Labyrinth: Perspectives on India’s Higher Education (with Pratap Bhanu Mehta),
Rethinking Public Institutions in India (with Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Milan Vaishnav),
The Costs of Democracy: Political Finance in India (with Milan Vaishnav) and
Regulation in India: Design, Capacity, Performance (with Madhav Khosla).
EDUCATION: BTech in Chemical Engineering from IIT (BHU) Varanasi; MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota; PhD from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton.
Courses
- International Migration, Diasporas and Development
While there are fierce debates on the impact of immigration on advanced industrial countries, the effects of emigration and diasporas on the source country are poorly understood. This seminar will seek to understand the economic, political and social consequences of international migration and diasporas on countries of origin. Is the phenomenon of greater import in the current (and future) context than it has historically been and if so, why? How do selection characteristics of international migrants and reasons for leaving – whether as students, workers or refugees – affect the country of origin? What are the human capital effects ranging from the “brain-drain” of limited human capital to “brain-gain” effects arising and social norms and thereby influence social and political change? When do diasporas engage in “long- distance” nationalism that support more polar political parties and groups from diasporic networks? What are the different forms of economic engagement of diasporas with their countries of origin, ranging from remittances to trade to FDI, and why do these vary? Do diasporas transmit "social" remittances which reshape individual preferences engaged in conflict and civil wars? And what are the effects of destination country policies on immigrant selection, assimilation and deportation on the above questions?
Prerequisites: Students may not register for this class if they have already received credit for SA.400.748[C]
