- New volume examines how roads, digital networks and public systems shape identity, inequality and governance in the region
Sociologists from Nagaland University have published a new academic volume examining the social impact of infrastructure development across Northeast India, arguing that infrastructure should be understood not only as a technical intervention but also as a powerful social force shaping everyday life.
The book, titled Sociology of Infrastructure: Perspectives from Northeast India, has been edited by Sandeep Gupta, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Nagaland University, and Suraj Beri, Assistant Professor in the same department. The volume was published by Rawat Publications in 2026.
The editors argue that infrastructure is not a neutral element of development and must be analysed within the broader social systems in which it operates. The book calls for a shift in development thinking, suggesting that infrastructure planning should be grounded in social and cultural realities and treated as a form of social investment affecting mobility, identity, governance and access to services.
Drawing on field-based research across the region, the volume brings together contributions examining roads, dams, digital networks, markets and health systems as social institutions embedded in political structures, cultural relationships and everyday practices rather than as purely technical projects.
Nagaland University Vice-Chancellor Jagadish K. Patnaik said the publication highlights how infrastructure influences social relationships, political processes and patterns of inclusion and exclusion in the region.
According to the authors, infrastructures shape how communities interact, access services and experience opportunities or inequalities. The book examines how social relationships and institutional structures influence the functioning and accessibility of infrastructure, offering insights into how governance systems, markets and the state respond to different communities.
Gupta said the research was conducted in culturally diverse and geographically complex regions of the Northeast and shows that infrastructure should be viewed as a social artefact where identity, citizenship and inequality are negotiated.
Beri added that everyday interactions with infrastructure—such as access to drinking water, transport connectivity, healthcare facilities and internet networks—often reflect deeper social realities and governance priorities.
The volume also challenges policy approaches that evaluate infrastructure primarily through quantitative indicators such as kilometres of roads, electricity capacity or internet speed. Instead, the contributors emphasise the “sociological life” of infrastructure and its influence on livelihoods, environmental balance and emerging forms of inequality.
The research further explores the relationship between infrastructure, ecology and governance, suggesting that infrastructure development is shaped through ongoing negotiations between communities, governments and environmental conditions.
The authors argue that in borderland regions such as Northeast India, where questions of representation and regional development remain central, infrastructure policy must extend beyond economic metrics and recognise its broader role in democratic governance and social stability.
