FACULTY
Prof. Saswata Guha Thakurata
Prof. Saswata Guha Thakurata is an Assistant Professor - Economics at FLAME University. He holds a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Hyderabad and has also completed his Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Hyderabad. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira, Belur Math.
Before joining FLAME University, Prof. Guha Thakurata served as Assistant Professor of Economics at the School of Arts and Sciences, Azim Premji University, Bhopal, and earlier at Kanchrapara College (affiliated to University of Kalyani), West Bengal, where he taught undergraduate courses. He has also designed and delivered online and in-person courses across diverse programmes, including a 6-credit MOOC on Development Economics II (SWAYAM, EMMRC – St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata). In addition, he has taught courses such as Economics for Engineers and delivered invited lectures for postgraduate students at the University of Kalyani on Macroeconomics, Development Economics, History of Economic Ideas, and Introduction to Data Analysis using R. He enjoys teaching courses on Introduction to Economics, Macroeconomics (Introductory and Intermediate), Development Economics, Indian Economy, Political Economy of Development, and History of Economic Thought.
Prof. Guha Thakurata’s research has been published in leading academic journals such as Social Indicators Research, Review of Radical Political Economics, The Singapore Economic Review, Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, and Review of Development and Change. He has also contributed to an edited volume published by Routledge. His broader research interests include economic growth and distribution, inequality and poverty under neoliberalism, capital accumulation, political economy of development, migration, informal labour, dynamics of wealth accumulation, urban crisis, and history of economic thought.
In addition to academic publications, Prof. Guha Thakurata has written popular articles in both English and Bengali for outlets such as The Wire, Ei Samay, and Arek Rakam. He is an active member of the Young Scholars Initiative of the Institute for New Economic Thinking (YSI-INET) and the Indian Society for the History of Economic Thought (ISHET). He has also collaborated with the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, on research related to wealth inequality in the Global South.
Journal Publications
- Sahoo, P., Guha Thakurata, S. and Biswas, D. (2025), “Investigating Inclusive Growth: A Comparative Analysis of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat", Review of Development and Change, 30(1): 29-46. https://doi.org/10.1177/09722661251341721
- Guha Thakurata, S. (2024), “India’s Economic Growth since 1980s and the Role of the State: An Alternative Perspective", Review of Radical Political Economics, 56(3): 380-404. https://doi.org/10.1177/04866134241232492
- Sahoo, P., Biswas, D. and Guha Thakurata, S. (2022), “Is Growth Pro-Poor among the States of India? A Poverty Decomposition Exercise during the 2000s", Social Indicators Research, 165: 107-133. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-022-03006-4
- Bhowmik, M. R., Guha Thakurata, S., and Biswas, D. (2020), "Economic Growth and Rural Crisis in India: Imagining Cooperatives as a Viable Solution", Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, 9(2): 228-254. https://doi.org/10.1177/2277976020935408
- Vakulabharanam, V. and Guha Thakurata, S. (2014), "Why Do Migrants Do Better than Non-Migrants at Destination? Migration, Class and Inequality Dynamics in India", The Singapore Economic Review, 59(1): 1450003-1 - 1450003-13. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590814500039
Chapter in Edited Volume
- Guha Thakurata, S. and Pramanik, R. N. (2021), "India’s Recent Slowdown and Neoliberal Regime of Accumulation: Is There a Link?" in Byasdeb Dasgupta, Archita Ghosh and Bisakha Ghosh (Eds.) Neoliberalism in Emerging Economy of India – Political Economy of International Trade, Investment and Finance, New Delhi: Routledge, eBook ISBN: 9781003131762 https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003131762-11/india-recent-slowdown-neoliberal-regime-accumulation-saswata-guha-thakurata-rajendra-paramanik
Working Paper
- Guha Thakurata, S., Bhowmik, M. R., and Basu, R. (2023),"Wealth Elites of Kolkata", Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS)Working Papers No. 51, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/items/97b63820-9129-4b72-9143-b2f9c2673932
Other Publications
- Guha Thakurata, S., and SS, Swathysree (June 23, 2025), “It is Misleading to Attribute Improvement in India’s Global GDP Ranking Solely to the Past One Decade", opinion piece published in The Wire https://thewire.in/economy/it-is-misleading-to-attribute-improvement-in-indias-global-gdp-ranking-solely-to-the-past-one-decade
- Nataraj, M. and Guha Thakurata, S., (September 6, 2024), “Skilling Alone Won’t Save Us: The Alarming Rise of Unsecured Jobs in India", opinion piece published in The Wire https://thewire.in/economy/skilling-alone-wont-save-us-the-alarming-rise-of-unsecured-jobs-in-india
Paper Presentation
- Guha Thakurata, S. and SS, Swathysree (October 11-12, 2025), "Investment Dynamics in Capitalism: A Comparative Analysis of the Multiple Contending Traditions within Heterodox Macroeconomics", 2nd International Conference of the Indian Society for the History of Economic Thought (ISHET), held at IIT Delhi.
- Guha Thakurata, S., Bhowmik, M. R., and Basu, R. (May 16-17, 2025), "Space, Caste and Class: Understanding the Dynamics of Wealth Accumulation in Kolkata”, at the New Approaches to Economy and Society Workshop jointly organized by the New Political Economy Initiative, IIT Bombay and Azim Premji University Bengaluru.
- Nataraj, M. and Guha Thakurata, S., (December 5 - 6, 2024), "Curious Case of Structural Transformation: Has India Missed the Lewisian Train for Good?" at the "Structural Transformation and Contemporary Late Development" - at 70th Anniversary Workshop in Honour of Arthur Lewis’ (1954), hosted at The Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK.
- Guha Thakurata, S., and Sarkar, S., (October 2-3, 2024), “Cinematic Reflections of Urban Tensions: A Study of Neo-liberal Kolkata through Films", at the "Mediated Geographies: Exploring the Dynamic Nexus of Media, Environment, and Place", at Jakobstad, Finland, organized by Novia University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenia), Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Poland), University of Basel (Switzerland)
- Guha Thakurata, S. and Nataraj, M. (October 13 - 14, 2023), "Crisis, Inequality and Populism: Analysing the Relationship between Changing Sources of Growth and Distributional Dynamics", presented at the Political Economy of Contemporary South Asia held at UC Berkeley, USA.
- Guha Thakurata, S. and Paramanik, R. N. (October 6 - 7, 2023), "Accumulation, Inequality and Growth: Understanding India’s Growth Dynamics from the Perspective of Heterodox Macroeconomics", presented at the International Conference on the Political Economy of Development held at FLAME University, Pune, India.
- Guha Thakurata, S. and Nataraj, M. (28-31 August, 2023), "Political Economy of Growth in India since 1980s: A Demand-Side Analysis of the Relationship between Changing Sources of Growth and Distributional Dynamics", presented at the 6th Annual UNCTAD YSI Summer School held at UN, Geneva, Switzerland.
- Guha Thakurata, S. and Vakulabharanam, V. (June 28-30, 2023), "Understanding India’s Fastest Growth Episode (1980-2012) After Independence", presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Heterodox Economics: Bringing together heterodox approaches to economic challenges in association with Anglia Ruskin University’s Faculty of Business & Law and The Centre for Pluralist Economics, held at ARU, Cambridge, UK.
- Guha Thakurata, S. and Pramanik, R. (February 13-14, 2020), "India’s Recent Slowdown and Neoliberal Regime of Accumulation: Is There a Link?", presented at the National Conference on Trade, Investment and Finance organized by the Department of Economics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani.
- Guha Thakurata, S. (August 12-15, 2019), "Sources of Growth in India since 1980s: A Political Economy Perspective Emphasizing the Role of Enclave and the State", presented at Young Scholars Initiative Asia Convening held at Hanoi, Vietnam.