Dr. Sudheesh Bhasi, 2015-2018
Curriculum Vitae
Sudheesh Bhasi received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Macquarie University. As a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the MPI, Sudheesh examined transnational Hindu networks in Malaysia and Singapore. His work focused on exploring the enduring transnational religious connections of the ‘old Indian diaspora’ and document the extent of the economic, material, affective, and symbolic ties that exist within the transnational and translocal social space of Hindu networks. In his earlier doctoral research, Sudheesh examined everyday religious practices and the production of social capital within the Hindu diaspora in Sydney. Adopting an ethnographic approach, his work sought to rethink the concept of social capital from within the traditional concerns of critical social theory, rather than through a neo-liberal economic lens. His research investigated the production of social capital in three main contexts: (1) the religio-cultural norms surrounding food and commensality; (2) the impact of space and place on social interaction and religious structural forms; and (3) the transnational flows which link the localized religious community to a wider, global Hindu diaspora. Sudheesh’s research interests encompass religion and migration, transnational communities, community development, urban sociality, social inclusion, and neoliberalism. Currently, he is working as a community cohesion policy officer in Harrow Council.