
Dr Kriti Kapila
Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology and Law
Biography
Kriti Kapila is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Law at King's India Institute and the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. She is currently on sabbatical as a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2023-24). She is Visiting Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris and was previously Visiting Professor at the Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale at the College de France (January - June 2022).
Kriti did her PhD at the London School of Economics and her master's at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Prior to working at King's, she held a Senior Research Associate position at the Institute of Global Health, University College London, and a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. Kriti chairs the Society for Ethnographic Theory.
Research
- Anthropology of the State
- Law and Anthropology
- Ethnographic Theory
- Anthropology of Science and Technology
- Anthropology of the Digital
- Contemporary India
Kriti is the author of Nullius: The Anthropology of Ownership, Sovereignty, and the Law in India (HAU Books, Chicago, 2022) and has written extensively on the politics of recognition and indigeneity. She is currently completing a book manuscript on the anthropology of ancient DNA and genomic medicine in India. Her new research focuses on digital statemaking in India in the wake of biometrics (Aadhaar).
Teaching
Kriti has previously taught a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, including The Politics of Medicine, The Politics of Life and Death, Law and Social Change in India, and India in the World: Anthropological Perspectives.
PhD supervision
Kriti welcomes PhD applications within her research areas and cognate topics.
Further details
"What counts as Gaddi?": An Afterword
Kapila, K., 5 Sept 2023, In: Himalaya. 42, 2, p. 133-137 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Nullius: The Anthropology of Ownership, Sovereignty, and the Law in India.
Kapila, K., 17 Mar 2022, 2022 ed. Chicago: HAU Books. 208 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Opening the New Street Almirah: The Properties of Culture in British India
Kapila, K., 15 Dec 2020, 1 ed., London: King's College London, p. 1-31.Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper
Unpopular Justice: Law and the Inexpediency of Culture in North India
Kapila, K., 14 Dec 2020, London: King's College London, p. 1-40.Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper
On global measures of culture: A view from India
Kapila, K., 2008, Cultural Politics in a global age. Oneworld PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Book Review: Towards a New Sociology of India
Kapila, K., 2018, In: CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIAN SOCIOLOGY. 52, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Book Review: Paper Tiger: Law, Bureaucracy and the Developmental State in Himalayan India
Kapila, K., 2018, In: ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
India Festival, 2016, V&A
Kapila, K., 2017, Parallel Perspectives. King's College London, p. 28-39Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
In South Asia
Kapila, K., 2013, In: HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory. 3, 2Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Old Differences and New Hierarchies: The Trouble With Tribes in Contemporary India
Kapila, K., 2013, (Accepted/In press) Interrogating Modernity: Essays in Honour of Dipankar Gupta. Delhi: Oxford University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Circulating Intimacies: Sex-surveys, Marriage and Other Facts of Life in Urban India
Kapila, K., 2011, Indian Mass Media and the Politics of Change. New Delhi: Routledge, p. 140-165 26 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
The Terms of Trade: Competition and Cooperation in Neoliberal North India
Kapila, K., 2011, The State in India After Liberalisation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Gupta, A. & Sivaramakrishnan, K. (eds.). New York: Routledge, p. 197-212 (Routledege Contemporary South Asia Series).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
The Measure of a Tribe: The Cultural Politics of Constitutional Reclassification in North India
Kapila, K., Mar 2008, In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI). 14, 1, p. 117 134 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research

Culture, Medicine & Power research group
The interdisciplinary study of social, cultural, political and historical dimensions of health and illness.
News
King's academic wins prize for book on anthropology of South Asia
Dr Kriti Kapila won the Bernard S Cohn prize for her book on the anthropology of ownership, sovereignty and the law in India.

King's academics selected as members of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton
Professor Ann Kelly and Dr Kriti Kapila were selected as 2023-24 members of the Institute which is a leading centre for theoretical research in sciences and...

India Institute academic releases new book about ownership in India
Kriti Kapila, Lecturer in Social Anthropology and Law, has released her latest book, ‘Nullius: The Anthropology of Ownership, Sovereignty, and the Law in...

From microfinance to advising policymakers in India – the journey of a Chevening alumnus
Jayshree Venkatesan, an alumnus of the Chevening Financial Services Leadership programme, supported India's adoption of social impact bonds.

Events

The Bombay Phenotype: Descent, Heredity, and the Physiology of Difference
Dr Kriti Kapila will deliver a talk on the discovery of the rare blood group.
Please note: this event has passed.

Book talk - Resistance as Negotiation: Making States and Tribes in the Margins of Modern India
Author and political scientist Uday Chandra will speak about his book at the King's India Institute.
Please note: this event has passed.

Change and continuity in South Asia: Unpacking identity, security and technology
Join Kriti Kapila and Rohan Mukherjee for the keynote address, opening the 2022 King's India Institute Graduate Conference.
Please note: this event has passed.

Nullius: The Anthropology of Ownership, Sovereignty, and the Law in India
A discussion with the author Dr Kriti Kapila
Please note: this event has passed.

The Greater India Experiment: Hindutva and the Northeast
A book discussion event with the author Arkotong Longkumer.
Please note: this event has passed.
Features
Partnerships, Power, Potential: GHSM on from 10
This exhibition takes a look at the research being undertaken by GHSM academics and students across the world.

"What counts as Gaddi?": An Afterword
Kapila, K., 5 Sept 2023, In: Himalaya. 42, 2, p. 133-137 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Nullius: The Anthropology of Ownership, Sovereignty, and the Law in India.
Kapila, K., 17 Mar 2022, 2022 ed. Chicago: HAU Books. 208 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Opening the New Street Almirah: The Properties of Culture in British India
Kapila, K., 15 Dec 2020, 1 ed., London: King's College London, p. 1-31.Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper
Unpopular Justice: Law and the Inexpediency of Culture in North India
Kapila, K., 14 Dec 2020, London: King's College London, p. 1-40.Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper
On global measures of culture: A view from India
Kapila, K., 2008, Cultural Politics in a global age. Oneworld PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Book Review: Towards a New Sociology of India
Kapila, K., 2018, In: CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIAN SOCIOLOGY. 52, 1Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
Book Review: Paper Tiger: Law, Bureaucracy and the Developmental State in Himalayan India
Kapila, K., 2018, In: ANTHROPOLOGICAL QUARTERLY.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review
India Festival, 2016, V&A
Kapila, K., 2017, Parallel Perspectives. King's College London, p. 28-39Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
In South Asia
Kapila, K., 2013, In: HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory. 3, 2Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Old Differences and New Hierarchies: The Trouble With Tribes in Contemporary India
Kapila, K., 2013, (Accepted/In press) Interrogating Modernity: Essays in Honour of Dipankar Gupta. Delhi: Oxford University PressResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Circulating Intimacies: Sex-surveys, Marriage and Other Facts of Life in Urban India
Kapila, K., 2011, Indian Mass Media and the Politics of Change. New Delhi: Routledge, p. 140-165 26 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
The Terms of Trade: Competition and Cooperation in Neoliberal North India
Kapila, K., 2011, The State in India After Liberalisation: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Gupta, A. & Sivaramakrishnan, K. (eds.). New York: Routledge, p. 197-212 (Routledege Contemporary South Asia Series).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
The Measure of a Tribe: The Cultural Politics of Constitutional Reclassification in North India
Kapila, K., Mar 2008, In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JRAI). 14, 1, p. 117 134 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research

Culture, Medicine & Power research group
The interdisciplinary study of social, cultural, political and historical dimensions of health and illness.
News
King's academic wins prize for book on anthropology of South Asia
Dr Kriti Kapila won the Bernard S Cohn prize for her book on the anthropology of ownership, sovereignty and the law in India.

King's academics selected as members of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton
Professor Ann Kelly and Dr Kriti Kapila were selected as 2023-24 members of the Institute which is a leading centre for theoretical research in sciences and...

India Institute academic releases new book about ownership in India
Kriti Kapila, Lecturer in Social Anthropology and Law, has released her latest book, ‘Nullius: The Anthropology of Ownership, Sovereignty, and the Law in...

From microfinance to advising policymakers in India – the journey of a Chevening alumnus
Jayshree Venkatesan, an alumnus of the Chevening Financial Services Leadership programme, supported India's adoption of social impact bonds.

Events

The Bombay Phenotype: Descent, Heredity, and the Physiology of Difference
Dr Kriti Kapila will deliver a talk on the discovery of the rare blood group.
Please note: this event has passed.

Book talk - Resistance as Negotiation: Making States and Tribes in the Margins of Modern India
Author and political scientist Uday Chandra will speak about his book at the King's India Institute.
Please note: this event has passed.

Change and continuity in South Asia: Unpacking identity, security and technology
Join Kriti Kapila and Rohan Mukherjee for the keynote address, opening the 2022 King's India Institute Graduate Conference.
Please note: this event has passed.

Nullius: The Anthropology of Ownership, Sovereignty, and the Law in India
A discussion with the author Dr Kriti Kapila
Please note: this event has passed.

The Greater India Experiment: Hindutva and the Northeast
A book discussion event with the author Arkotong Longkumer.
Please note: this event has passed.
Features
Partnerships, Power, Potential: GHSM on from 10
This exhibition takes a look at the research being undertaken by GHSM academics and students across the world.
