Rajiv K. Mishra
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About
Rajiv K. Mishra is an assistant professor in infrastructure studies with joint affiliations with the communication and liberal arts programs. He received his PhD in Science and Technology Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. With an interdisciplinary background, his research and teaching focus on digital infrastructures, biometric governance, digital health, data and society, large technological systems, cybernetics, tinkering and frugality, and research methods.
His research publications can be found at his Google Scholar page.
Research Interests
- Digital Infrastructures
- Biometric Governance
- Large Technological Systems
- Digital Health
- Data and Society
- Cybernetics
- Tinkering and Frugality
- Research Methods
Teaching
- Gen-COMM 201-0: Research Methods in Communication
- INTERDIS 202-0: Introduction to Infrastructure Studies
- INTERDIS 311-0: Datafication and Society
- INTERDIS 302-0: Cybernetics
In the past, he has taught undergraduate sociology courses on research methods, social stratification, and political sociology at the Department of Sociology, Miranda House, University of Delhi.
Publications
Journal Articles
Mishra, R. K., & Bhaduri, S. (2026). Technopolitics of tinkering and the ‘new’ innovation economy: insights from India. Innovation and Development, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/2157930X.2026.2640738
Mishra, R. K. (2024). ‘Feedback and (Social) Loop: Biometric System and the Digital Empire in India’. Development 67, 91–99 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-024-00409-3
Al Dahdah, M., & Mishra, R. K. (2023). Digital health for all: The turn to digitised healthcare in India. Social Science & Medicine, 319, 114968. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114968
Mishra, R. K. (2021) ‘The Appropriated Body: Biometrics Regime, the Digital State and Healthcare in Contemporary India.’ Global Policy Volume 12, Supplement 6, July 2021. Wiley Blackwell. DOI. 10.1111/1758.5899.12945
Al Dahdah, M. and Mishra, R. K. (2020) ‘Smart Cards for All: Digitalisation of Universal Health Coverage in India.’ Science, Technology & Society 25:3 (2020): 426–443. SAGE Publications DOI: 10.1177/0971721820912920
Book Chapters
Rajiv K. Mishra (2022) ‘Corps, biométrie et soins de santé en Inde.’ Alternatives Sud Volume 29-2022/3. Centre Tricontinental et Éditions Syllepse, Belgique. ISBN: 979-10-399-0042-3.
Rajiv K. Mishra (2019) ‘The Digital State: A Tale of Tweets and Foods in Contemporary India’ in edited volume Digital Transactions in Asia: Economic, Informational, and Social Exchanges, edited by Adrian Athique and Emma Baulch, Routledge, New York.
Policy Reports
V. V. Krishna & Rajiv Mishra (2016) ‘INDIGO Policy Brief: Technology and Innovation, Comparative Analysis between EU-India and Other Countries: Indian Perspective,’ Published by Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI), Austria, 2016 under European Commission’s 7th Framework research grant.
V. V. Krishna & Rajiv Mishra (2016) ‘INDIGO Policy Brief: India Science and Technology Cooperation with EU and other Select Countries’, published by Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI), Austria, 2016 under European Commission’s 7th Framework research grant.
Book Reviews
Rajiv K. Mishra (2022) review of the book by D’Ignazio, C., & Klein, L. F. (2020). Data Feminism. MIT Press 2020. Published in Seminar-The Monthly Symposium, Issue #760, pp. 74-76
Rajiv K. Mishra (2019) review of the book ‘Science and Technology Diplomacy: A Focus on the Americas with Lessons for the World’, by Momentum Press Engineering, published in Science Diplomacy Review | Vol. 1, No. 4 | November 2019.
Rajiv K. Mishra (2015) review of Dhruv Raina’s book ‘Needham’s Indian Network: The Search for a Home for the History of Science in India (1950-1970).’ Yoda Press, New Delhi, 2015. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 357-360.
Rajiv K. Mishra (2015) review of the book “The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy,” Harvard University Press, 2004. Roots and Routes, Vol. 4, No. 4-5, published 04th June 2015.
Commentaries and Blogs
Mishra, R. K. (2024, January 23). The whims and fancies of technological modernity: Biometrics and the digital empire of (mis)trust. Global Qualitative Sociology Network. https://global-qualitative-sociology.net/2024/01/23/the-whims-and-fancies-of-technological-modernity/
Rajiv K. Mishra (2022) ‘Health in the Global South (India): Market, Technology and Misplaced Priorities’. The Collective Blog. 1st November 2022. The Collective for the Political Determinants of Health.
Mammo Muchie, Noklenyangla, Rajiv Mishra & Sheikh Fayaz (2016) ‘A Utopian University: Ideas, Imaginations, and JNU.’ The Thinker, 2016, 70, 72-75.
Rajiv K. Mishra (2015) ‘Factors impacting South Asian Migration today: Highlights of the UN Report’, Roots and Routes, Vol. 4, No. 5-6, May-June 2015.
Rajiv K. Mishra (2015) ‘Indian Diaspora and Its Role in Development of United States Technology and Engineering Industry: An Empirical Overview,’ Roots and Routes, Vol. 4, No. 7-8, July-August 2015.
Research Projects
May 2022-June 2023: Consultant researcher at the Transdisciplinary Research Cluster on Frugality Studies (TRCFS), School of Social Sciences, JNU, New Delhi. TRCFS is a partnership between the International Centre for Frugal Innovation (run by Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities in the Netherlands) and JNU, New Delhi.
August 2020-August 2021: Co-consulted on a project titled ‘ Do Science Clubs and Tinkering Labs Facilitate Frugal Innovation? A Study of Select States of India.’ This project, running from August 1, 2020, to August 31, 2021, was commissioned and funded by the International Institute of Social Studies (IISS), Erasmus University, the Netherlands.
May 2019-2023: Collaborating as a co-researcher in a four-year (until 2023) global project on Digital Empire(s) with a research group on Digital Studies in Asia and Africa comprising group fellow members from India, Nepal, South Africa, Kenya, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. This project is funded by the ‘Institut de Recherché Pour Le Développement’ (IRD), Marseille, France.
March 2017: Fieldwork consultant for the Digital Identities project (March 2017) run in collaboration with IIIT Bangalore, Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Omidyar Network, and Caribou Digital.
Aug. 2015-March 2016: Worked on a research project (2015-16) to review India-EU Science and Technology Cooperation, commissioned by the European Union under the 7 th Framework Horizon 2020 program.
Dec. 2013: Fieldwork Consultant for a project called ‘ Baseline Study Workers and Key Stakeholders Awareness and Understanding on Labour Rights — ETI Rajasthan Sandstone Programme. International NGO Prakruthi conducted it on behalf of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). Conducted the fieldwork in the Kota, Bundi, and Bhilwara districts of Rajasthan, India.
July-Sept. 2009: Worked as technical coordinator and Graphical Interface Designer for the M.Sc. project Localizations in Wireless Sensor Networks. This project was funded by SESAME (Sensing for Sports and Managed Exercises), EPSRC, UK (EP/D076943), for advanced sports coaching and monitoring.
Research Grants
April 2024: Awarded the Dean’s Conference Grant Fund from NUQ for organizing an international conference on Infrastructure Studies. The grant application is part of the collaborative project on infrastructures with fellow NUQ colleague Dr Anto Mohsin.
Fellowships
Jan-2018-Jan-2020: Two-year doctoral research fellowship by the Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR) supporting thesis research.
June 2018: Visiting PhD fellow in the thematic area ‘Remapping the Global South: Teaching, Researching and Exchanging’, funded by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Global South Studies Centre (GSSC), University of Cologne, Germany.
