Anand Kumar, convener from South Asia, is Professor of Sociology and Coordinator of the Global Studies Programme at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. He holds an MA from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, an MPhil from JNU, and a PhD from the University of Chicago.

Past positions include National Secretary of the Indian Sociological Society (2005-7), Chair of the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU (2003-5), and President of the Federation of Central Universities Teachers Associations of India (2001-3). He has also held visiting positions at Albert Ludwig University, Freiburg (Germany), Johannes Keppler University, Linz (Austria), and MSH, Paris (France).

His areas of special interests include political sociology, globalisation and postcolonial India, and poverty and society. His current research engagements address the political sociology of poverty, the limits of representative democracy, and globalisation of the Gandhian way.

His books include State and Society in India: Making of the State's Agenda (1989), Parivartan Ki Rajniti Aur Rajniti Ka Parivartan (1996), and Political Sociology of Poverty (2005). He has also edited Nation-Building in India (1996), Tibet Sourcebook (2004), Global Quest for Participatory Democracy (2008), and Satyagraha : Globalisation of the Gandhian Way (forthcoming).

When asked why he joined the Building Global Democracy Programme and what his aspirations for the programme were, Anand replied:

"I have been interested in studying the political sociology of globalization in the context of democracy and democratization. I was successful in bringing together a group of scholars from different parts of the world to share their perceptions and studies about a) the problems of representative democracy and b) quest for participatory democracy. It resulted into an international seminar on global quest for participatory democracy at my university in New Delhi in 2007. Then came the invitation to consider the idea of joining an international interdisciplinary group of scholars to study the dynamics of building global democracy. I liked the idea so I accepted the invitation."

"I want the BGD programme to be a catalytic agent in making the academic community, media and the fraternity of policymakers aware about the significance of the processes of building global democracy. They should also be encouraged through our studies, dialogues and publications to pay attention to the problems and prospects of democratisation of the values, institutions, and processes which are associated with the processes of globalisation in its different Avatars. Finally, I also expect the programme to be a source of strength for the democratic forces and movements all over the world."