About
Dr. Amit Jain is a sociologist with interdisciplinary training in the natural and social sciences. His research focuses on natural resource governance, development, community and identity, state–society relations, and the socio-ecological dimensions of rural and urban India. He has conducted extensive fieldwork in Delhi and in rural regions of eastern India, examining how environmental change, governance, and social institutions shape everyday life. His work has been supported by national and international agencies, including the University Grants Commission (India) and the European Commission, which enabled research collaborations with the TERI School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi, and the Comparative Politics and Environmental Policy Research Centre at the Free University of Berlin, Germany. Before joining Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, he was associated with the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business, Mohali, where he worked on policy-oriented research. Alongside his academic work, Dr. Jain maintains a strong interest in Indian knowledge systems, particularly philosophical and experiential understandings of the “Self.” His broader intellectual and creative pursuits include reading, writing poetry, cooking, and gardening.
Qualification
Ph.D., Department of Policy and Management Studies, Teri School of Advanced Studies, New Delhi.
M.Phil., Centre for Development Practice, Ambedkar University Delhi, New Delhi.
M.A., Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, New Delhi.
B.Sc., D.A.V. College, Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Kanpur.
Teaching / Research Experience
Dr. Jain’s teaching interests closely align with his research in environmental sociology, regional studies, development planning, community studies, and resource and identity politics. At Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, he has taught at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His courses include General Principles of Sociology, Sociology of Law, Sociology of Development, Collective Violence, Legal Research Writing, Caste Survey, and Resource Politics in the Global South. He has also been actively involved in designing and delivering doctoral-level coursework for research scholars at CNLU. Currently he is involved with the research project titled, “Unveiling the Dark Truth: A Pilot Socio-Legal Study on Witchcraft-based Persecution in Bihar.”
Area of Interest
Natural Resource Governance; Resource and Identity Politics; State-Society relations in postcolonial societies; Politics of Development and Climate Change.
Publications
- Jain A. (2024). Vayam Rakshamah (We Protect): Are Rights Enough to Protect Forest? Economic and Political Weekly, 59(15), 2-9. (Scopus, Q3)
- Jain, A., & A. Mohanty. (2023). Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 and the Changing Contours of Tribal Identity in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, IASSI Quarterly: Contributions to Indian Social Science, 42(3), 633-641.
- Jain, A. (2022). Forest Tenure Rights and the Will to Develop in Eastern India, HNLU Journal of Law and Social Sciences, VIII, 367-380.
- Jain, A. (2022). Negotiating Environmentality: Implementation of Joint Forest Management in Eastern India, Regional Studies Regional Science, 9(1), 446-456. (Scopus Q1, and Category A in Australian Business Deans Council list)
- Jain, A., & Das, S. (2019). Crisis of the Forest Community in Postcolonial Indian Forest Policies and Laws. Environmental Sociology, 5(1), 23-32. (Scopus Q1)
- Jain, A. (2018). Sustainability or (Sustain)ability? Environmentalism and Shades of Power in a Metropolis, in J. Mukherjee (ed.) Sustainable Urbanization in India. Singapore: Springer. (Scopus)
Conference / Seminar / Workshop
- Presented a paper titled “Unpacking Democratic Forest Governance: The Case of FRA in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand,” in XII International Geographical Union IndiaConference, Govt. Post Graduate College, Panchkula, India, 22-24 February 2019.
- Presented a paper titled “Forest Community in Postcolonial Forest Policies and Laws,” 44thAll India Sociological Conference, St. Philomena’s College (Autonomous), Mysuru, 27-29 December 2018.
- Presented a paper titled “Governing Commons: An Art of Negotiating Between Hegemonic and Non-Hegemonic,” XVI, Biennial Conference,International Association for the Study of Commons, Utrecht University, Netherlands, 10-14 July 2017.
- Participated in the Indo-German Dialogue on Sustainable Water Resource Management, TERI School of Advanced Studies, 3 -4 October 2016.
- Presented a paper titled “Sustainability or (Sustain)ability? Environmentalism and Shades of Power in a Metropolis,” Sustainable Urbanization in India: Challenges and Opportunities, Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata, 15-16 January 2015.
- Participated in a workshop titled “Rethinking Economic Development in India” organized by The Institute of New Economic Thinking, New York City, held at the Jadavpur University, Kolkata, from 22-24 July 2015.
- Participated in a workshop titled “Roland Barthes: Today, here” at theDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi, 10 – 11 December 2015.
- “Rehabilitation and Regeneration! Squinting at Urban Political Ecology through the lenses of Social Economy,” International Conference on Environment, Technology, and Sustainable Development: Promises and Challengesin the 21st Century, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Gwalior, March 2-4, 2014.
- Presented a paper titled “Imagining Space, Environment and Tracing Power in a Metropolitan City: Reflections on Displacement in a Neighbourhood at the Bank of River Yamuna,” Development Meet,Department of Development Studies, Central University Bihar, Patna, 1-3 March 2013.
- Participated in “Planet People or Profit? The Perilous Passage and the Capitalist Transformation of the Natural World,” organized by the Institute of Development Studies Kolkata, from 10-14 September 2012.
- Presented a paper titled “The Clamouring Silence: Environmentalism in a Metropolis,” 38th All India Sociological Conference, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, 27-29 December 2012.
Honours and Awards
- CNLU Best Teacher Award for Sociology, 2025
- Agriterra Grant, for attending XVI Biennial Conference, International Association for the Study of Commons conference at Utrecht University, Netherlands, 2017.
- Erasmus Plus Scholarshipby European Commission, 2016.
- UGC- JRF (Sociology), 2013.
Guest Lectures
- Resource Person at the Capacity-Building Workshop on Gender-Based Violence and Psycho-social Counselling for Case Workers in Bihar’s One Stop Centres, being organised by the Gender Resource Centre, Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Bihar and Women and Child Development Corporation, Bihar. August 5-7, 2025, Patna.
- Resource Person at the Capacity-Building Workshop on Gender-Based Violence and Psycho-social Counselling for Centre Administrators and Counsellors of Bihar’s One Stop Centres, being organised by the Gender Resource Centre, Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Patna, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Bihar and Women and Child Development Corporation, Bihar. August 28, 2025, Patna.
- Delivered a lecture titled ‘Individuals and Family in Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- Delivered a lecture titled ‘Importance of Caste, Community, and Class in Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- Delivered a lecture titled ‘Religions and the Importance of Religious Institutions in Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- Delivered a lecture titled ‘The Changes in Agrarian Structure and Impact on Rural Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- Delivered a lecture titled ‘The Changing Socio-Economic Profile of Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
Invited Lectures
- ‘Individuals and Family in Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- ‘Importance of Caste, Community, and Class in Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- ‘Religions and the Importance of Religious Institutions in Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- ‘The Changes in Agrarian Structure and Impact on Rural Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
- ‘The Changing Socio-Economic Profile of Indian Society’ at Bihar Institute of Correctional Administration, Hajipur, Vaishali, Bihar in 2022.
Other Accomplishments
- Editor-in-Chief, CNLU Law Journal. (UGC-CARE listed)
- Reviewer for Scopus-indexed and Peer-reviewed Journals
(a)Regional Studies Regional Science published by Taylor and Francis.
(b)Environmental Conservation published by Cambridge University Press.
(c)IASSI Quarterly published by Indian Association of Social Science Institutions.
- Reviewer for Student Conference on Conservation Science, organized by Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, 2023.
