C.V. | Current Projects | Publications
Research Interests
e-governance, biometric technology, state-citizen interaction, urban citizenship, social justice, journalistic practices, ritual theory and urban Hinduism, India
Research Cooperations & Networks
SFB 1199, Shaping Asia, LOST, Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe (KFG) "Religion and Urbanity: Reciprocal Formations" (FOR 2779)
Profile
Ursula Rao is Director of the Department 'Anthropology of Politics and Governance' at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle (Saale), Germany. Her research explores questions of politics and governance in India, with a specific focus on urban dynamics. Currently, she is involved in several research projects about the social consequences of biometric technology and e-governance. How do the new tools and techniques of governing impact human relations and state-citizens interactions? Other fields of interests include question of urban citizenship and social justice, as well as journalistic practices, ritual theory and urban Hinduism.
Before joining the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Ursula Rao was Professor of Anthropology at the University of Leipzig and held academic positions at the University of Heidelberg (1999-2002), the University of Halle (2002-2006) and the University of New South Wales, Sydney (2007-2012).