Photo : The Book Co-Authors Dr. Sandeep Gupta (R) and Dr. Suraj Beri, Faculty, Department of Sociology, Nagaland University
LUMAMI, NAGALAND, 11th March 2026: Sociologists from Nagaland University, the only Central University in the State, have published a new academic volume that critically examines how infrastructure development shapes social life in Northeast India.
The editors argue that infrastructure is never neutral and cannot be understood in isolation from the social systems within which it operates.
Titled ‘Sociology of Infrastructure: Perspectives from Northeast India’, the book is edited by Dr. Sandeep Gupta, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Nagaland University and Dr. Suraj Beri, Assistant Professor in the same department. The book was published by Rawat Publications in 2026.
Based on these findings, the book calls for a shift in development thinking. Infrastructure planning, the authors argue, must be rooted in social and cultural realities and treated as a form of social investment — one that affects mobility, identity, social cohesion, environmental sustainability and equitable access to services.
Drawing on extensive empirical research from across the North East, the volume brings together contributions that examine roads, dams, digital networks, markets, health systems and other infrastructures not merely as technical projects, but as deeply social institutions embedded within cultural relationships, political structures and everyday life.
Commending the Authors for studying such an area of critical importance to the Region and the local community, Prof. Jagadish K. Patnaik, Vice-Chancellor, Nagaland University, said, “Nagaland University is proud to announce that its sociologists have published a new book examining infrastructure in Northeast India. The book argues that infrastructure is not merely a matter of technical development, but a powerful social force that shapes identity, inequality, governance, and everyday life across the region. Through critical sociological analysis, the authors highlight how roads, bridges, digital networks, and public utilities influence social relationships, political processes, and patterns of inclusion and exclusion in Northeast India. The publication marks a significant academic contribution from Nagaland University to national and regional scholarship on development and society.”
According to the authors, infrastructures profoundly influence how people relate to each other, how communities access services, and how opportunities and inequalities are structured within society. The book highlights how invisible social relationships shape the functioning and accessibility of infrastructure, influencing how institutions such as the state, markets and governance systems respond to different communities. In this sense, infrastructure becomes a lens through which broader questions of development, recognition and marginalisation can be understood.
Elaborating further, Editor, Dr. Sandeep Gupta, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Nagaland University, said, “Our volume arrives at a significant moment when the Indian state is increasingly prioritising infrastructure-led development in the Northeast. Based on fieldwork conducted in culturally diverse and geographically complex regions, we demonstrate that infrastructure should be seen not only as a physical asset but also as a social artefact. Through this perspective, infrastructures become key sites where identity is negotiated, citizenship is expressed, inequalities are reproduced and community resilience is forged. I hope that this book will serve not only as an academic resource but also as a platform for dialogue—between disciplines, between policy and practice, and most importantly, between scholarship and society.”
Co-Editor, Dr. Suraj Beri, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Nagaland University, notes, “Everyday interactions with infrastructure, such as access to drinking water, distance to hospitals and schools, availability of internet connectivity, or transport links to administrative centres, reveal deeper social realities. These experiences reflect the priorities of planning systems, the nature of governance, and the long-term patterns of inclusion and exclusion within society. In this way, infrastructure becomes a language through which governments, markets and communities communicate their priorities and values.”
The book also challenges dominant policy approaches that evaluate infrastructure primarily through quantitative indicators such as kilometres of roads, megawatts of electricity or internet speeds. While such metrics are important, the contributors emphasise the “sociological life” of infrastructure — how roads influence mobility and livelihoods, how hydroelectric projects affect community relations and ecological balance, and how digital systems may simultaneously enable connectivity while reinforcing new forms of digital inequality.
Another key theme explored in the volume is the relationship between infrastructure, ecology, citizenship and governance. The research shows that infrastructure development is an ongoing process shaped by negotiation between communities, governments and environmental realities. Rather than being passive recipients, communities actively interpret, resist, adapt to and reshape infrastructural projects in ways that reflect their social and ecological contexts.
In borderland regions such as North East India, where questions of inclusion, representation and regional development carry significant political and social importance, the authors suggest that infrastructure policy must go beyond economic metrics. Instead, it should recognise the broader role infrastructure plays in democratic governance, social stability and the everyday lives of citizens.
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