Datta Publishes New Book on Indian Democracy

Rekha Datta, Ph.D., Freed Endowed Chair in Social Sciences and professor in the Department of Political Science, co-edited, "Justice and Sustainability in Indian Democracy: Tryst with Destiny" (Routledge, 2026).

Datta worked alongside Zaad Mahmood, Ph.D., (Presidency University) and Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Ph.D., (Jadavpur University). The book offers a unique examination of India's democratic political system by using the dual premises of justice and sustainability.

The chapters further explore how parties, identity, politics, gender, education, economic, and foreign policies intersect with justice and sustainable goals-challenging technocratic accounts of sustainability that detach environment from society. And ultimately provides a nuanced understanding of the challenges faced, and strengths needed, to stabilize India's democratic present, and to ensure its just and sustainable future.

It also argues that India's democratic trajectory, and the sustainability of democratic governance, depends on its capacity to deliver social, economic, and ecological justice to all citizens.

The book is also included in the series Routledge Studies in South Asian Politics, which focuses on recent political developments in the region and covers a range of different approaches.