Shagun Gupta
Assistant Professor of International Affairs and Government and Law
Degrees
- Ph.D. and M.Phil., American University
- M.Sc., University of Oxford
- B.A., Hindu College, University of Delhi
Shagun Gupta holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from American University, Washington, D.C. Her research focuses on political trust, specifically trust in local government institutions among residents of unauthorized colonies (a type of informal settlement) in Delhi, India. She uses ethnographic, experimental, and survey research methods to investigate the persistence of trust in local institutions despite low public service provision. More broadly, her work interrogates issues of citizenship, governance, and belonging in urban areas across the Global South. Prior to her career in academia, she worked in the international development and humanitarian aid sector in Southeast Asia, principally in Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand.
Research interests: Trust, Urban Governance, Democratic Participation, Local Accountability, Citizen Behavior, Democratic Institutional Design, Political Economy of Development, South Asia