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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar
@surbhikesar.bsky.social
1.2K followers 340 following 72 posts
Economic development & political economy. Senior lecturer - Economics, SOAS U of London. Researches informality, structural transformation, post-colonial capitalist development, decolonizing econ. https://sites.google.com/view/surbhikesar/bio
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economicsinten.bsky.social
EconomicsInTen @economicsinten.bsky.social · Sep 2
In our podcasts we like to recommend books and here are some of our recommendations from our latest, including books by Nancy Folbre, Marilyn Waring, @devikadutt.bsky.social @ingridhk.bsky.social, @cacrisalves.bsky.social, @surbhikesar.bsky.social, @timjackson.org.uk & @clubofrome.org. #EconSky
Books from our Jayati Ghosh podcast.
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iipp-ucl.bsky.social
UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose @iipp-ucl.bsky.social · 17d
🆕 Book Launch: Decolonising Economics

Join us for the launch of the new book 'Decolonizing Economics', by IIPP Professor @cacrisalves.bsky.social, @devikadutt.bsky.social, @surbhikesar.bsky.social and @ingridhk.bsky.social.

🔗 Learn more and register here: buff.ly/c3e34Sn
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soaseconomics.bsky.social
SOAS Economics @soaseconomics.bsky.social · 16d
👏🏽 We are proud to announce that our @soasuni.bsky.social #Economics Senior Lecturer, Dr. @surbhikesar.bsky.social, has been appointed Associate Editor of the Oxford Development Studies journal. @Oxford Development Studies
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soaseconomics.bsky.social
SOAS Economics @soaseconomics.bsky.social · 16d
💬 How do we really approach issues in economics from a decolonised vs non-decolonised lens?

Read the last piece of our @soasuni.bsky.social #Economics Senior Lecturer @surbhikesar.bsky.social on Exploring Economics

🔗 www.exploring-economics.org/en/discover/...
Decolonising economics: An illustration of the informal economy | Exploring Economics
What does decolonising economics mean? Eurocentrism continues to shape the discipline of economics, leading to inaccurate theories that frame Europe’s development as a universal model.
www.exploring-economics.org
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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Aug 14
Thank you, let us know your thoughts when through !
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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jul 20
Thanks so much, Nooshin !
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ingridhk.bsky.social
Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven @ingridhk.bsky.social · Jul 13
Thanks everyone for coming to the launch of our book Decolonizing Economics with @devikadutt.bsky.social @cacrisalves.bsky.social @surbhikesar.bsky.social! Had such a great time engaging with students, friends, the public. And thanks to Marx Memorial Library for hosting 🤗
hetecon.net/2025/07/03/dec…
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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jul 11
Thanks for your reflections and for engaging!
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robertbigg.bsky.social
Robert Bigg @robertbigg.bsky.social · Jul 11
Some thoughts on reading ‘Decolonizing Economics’ by @devikadutt.bsky.social @cacrisalves.bsky.social @surbhikesar.bsky.social @ingridhk.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/robertbi...
Reorienting the Economic Debate
Thoughts on ‘Decolonizing Economics’ by Dutt, Alves, Kesar, & Kvangraven. This is a significant book, despite what, for some, might be a forbidding title. It is not always comfortable reading, it can ...
open.substack.com
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saldru.bsky.social
SALDRU @saldru.bsky.social · Jul 11
Join us next week for a book launch co-hosted with
Rethinking Economics for Africa at UCT!

@surbhikesar.bsky.social & @ingridhk.bsky.social will discuss their new book, "Decolonising Economics: An introduction"

Date: 16 July
Time: 12:50-14:00 (lunch at 12:00)
Venue: UCT & online
(links below)
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aljazeera.com
Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · Jul 3
At least 73 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since dawn, including 33 aid seekers, according to medical sources.
‘Horrific scenes’ in Gaza as Israel kills dozens of aid seekers
At least 73 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since dawn, including 33 aid seekers, according to medical sources.
bit.ly
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soaseconomics.bsky.social
SOAS Economics @soaseconomics.bsky.social · Jun 30
🌏 New in World Development, @rosaabraham6 & our @soasuni.bsky.social #Economics Senior Lecturer @surbhikesar.bsky.social study the trajectories that characterise Indian labour market, & identify 7 dominant ones.

How do they 👀?🧵

🔗https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X25001147
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Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
8/
This should be read in light of Indian’s labour market structure:

1983:
Salaried: 16%
Casual wage: 27%
Self-employed: 56%

2019:
25% | 23% | 50%

While salaried work grew slightly, it became precarious—those w/ secure contracts & benefits fell from 32%(2005 ) to 23%(2019).
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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
7/

Education and experience matter—but not evenly.

They help access formal salaried jobs (as expected).
But they have no consistent effect in trajectories involving informal wage work or transitions in/out of the workforce.

Skills matter only if the structure allows it.
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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
6/
Let’s talk caste
Caste shapes not just outcomes, but entire employment trajectories.
SC/ST workers are concentrated in the lowest-earning, highest-churn informal wage trajectory. Caste penalty operates expectedly, expect in this traj, where SC/ST workers earn > General.
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Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
5/
Are people at least sorting into jobs that best match their education or experience or other characteristics?
Nope.
Most workers earn far less than they could if they were in trajectories that rewarded their characteristics.
A segmented labour market, not one based on sorting.
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Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
4/
Another surprise?

Self-employment—usually seen as subsistence-level fallback—offers higher and more stable earnings than most informal wage work.

Far from self-employment being desirable, wage work is just worse and transition to it is not voluntary.
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Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
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No trajectory from informal to formal jobs. Most workers aren’t climbing toward better jobs.
They’re stuck or churning.

Is informal work a stepping stone to formal jobs?
No!

Workers in informal wage work have the same chance of getting a formal job as those out of workforce.
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Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
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We tracked 87k workers over 8 time points over 2017-19 using @CMIEIndia data. We use trajectory analysis / finite fixture models to identify the dominant trajectories. Looks like👇🏽

Largest traj: Always self-employed.
2nd: Transition b/w different forms of informal wage work.
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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 28
How do we make sense of the many transitions across employment arrangements in India’s labour market?

New in World Development, @rosaabraham.bsky.social & I study the trajectories that characterise Indian labour market, & identify 7 dominant ones. What do they look like? 🧵

x.com/surbhikesar/...
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emanabdelhadi.bsky.social
Eman Abdelhadi @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social · Jun 13
The entire West Bank is fully under siege now. All movement restricted.
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pkes.bsky.social
Post-Keynesian Economics Society @pkes.bsky.social · Jun 11
Our Annual Workshop is tomorrow, 12 June, at SOAS with Hannah Hasenberger, @hulya-dagdeviren.bsky.social,
@lorena-lombardozzi.bsky.social, @leilagautham.bsky.social @jomichell.bsky.social and Peter Skott.

13:30 - 18:30 UK time. No registration required.

postkeynesian.net/event/2025-a...
13:30 – 16:00 Panel 1 Yannis Dafermos, SOAS University of London, PKES Annual Report Hannah Hasenberger, University of Cambridge, From austerity to bankruptcy: Tracing the impact of Coalition Government cuts on English local government (with Hulya Dagdeviren and Mia Gray) Hulya Dagdeviren, University of Hertfordshire, The political economy of financing net zero at local level (with Christina Wolf) Lorena Lombardozzi, SOAS University of London, Energy transition, industrial policy and the new geo-economic governance in Central Asia Chair: Christina Wolf, University of Hertfordshire 16:00 – 16:30 Coffee break 16:30 – 18:30 Panel 2 Leila Gautham, University of Leeds, Extended income poverty and time poverty: New estimates for the U.S. Jo Michell, University of the West of England, An analytical heterogeneous agent macro model of concentration, markups, and falling labour shares (with Ayoze Alfageme and Karsten Kohler) Peter Skott, Aalborg University Business School and University of Massachusetts Amherst, The recent wage compression: Tightness, turbulence, and power-biased economic policy (with Adam Aboobaker) Chair: Maria Nikolaidi, University of Greenwich 18:30 – 20:00 Drinks reception
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economicsinten.bsky.social
EconomicsInTen @economicsinten.bsky.social · Jun 10
It's the book we've been waiting for!! Our podcasts are Eurocentric but that's why we finish our 'Short History' poem as we do. There is still much to learn & @cacrisalves.bsky.social, @devikadutt.bsky.social, @surbhikesar.bsky.social & @ingridhk.bsky.social are helping us with our journey. #EconSky
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soaseconomics.bsky.social
SOAS Economics @soaseconomics.bsky.social · Jun 10
📚 Check out the latest symposium edited by our @soasuni.bsky.social #Economics Senior Lecturer @surbhikesar.bsky.social and Don Goldstein in the Review of Radical Political Economics:

“Political Economy of Occupation, Colonialism, and Conflict in Palestine”

🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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surbhikesar.bsky.social
Surbhi Kesar @surbhikesar.bsky.social · Jun 9
The silence of political economists on this is shocking. We must remember: “A failure to intervene in this current moment—which is
probably the most destabilizing and politically charged one in the last few decades—would be a
failure of the radical political economy project.” 8/8