Unmute with Prof. Navdeep Mathur: Civil Society, Public Policy & Shifting Spaces | Part 2

Episodes Summary

In Part 2 of this conversation, hosts Gagan and Minar continue their dialogue with Professor Navdeep Mathur, exploring the deeper tensions shaping India’s democracy and civic life. They discuss why economic growth doesn’t always mean social equity, how the traditional roles of civil society protest, innovation, and service delivery are shifting, and what this means for active citizenship. The episode also introduces discursive and interpretive policy analysis as a way to decode government narratives, while looking ahead to emerging arenas where civil society must engage from education and technology to the rights of workers in a changing economy.

Key Highlights

• Inequality & Poverty Reduction Claims – why GDP growth is not equal to equity.

• Civil Society’s Tripod – service delivery, innovation, protest and how it’s tilting

• Citizenship & Nationalism – restrictive definitions and shrinking civic spaces

• Discursive & Interpretive Policy Analysis – a tool for civil society to unpack government narratives

• Education, Technology & Workers’ Rights – key battlegrounds for civil society in the future

References & Resources

• Discursive Policy Analysis  https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PanelDetails/278

Hosts

• Gagan Sethi – Development practitioner with 40+ years of experience in organisational development, policy advocacy, and minority rights. 

• Minar Pimple – Founder of YUVA (Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action), and former senior Director at Amnesty International, Regional Director- Asia Pacific (UN Millennium Campaign) and Founding Chair, Oxfam India.

Guest 

• Prof. Navdeep Mathur - Associate Professor of Public Systems Group, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad