The Hind School Joins the International Political Science Association (IPSA)

The Hind School is proud to announce its acceptance as an Institutional Member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) — a globally renowned academic body dedicated to the advancement of political science through research, teaching, and international collaboration. This marks a significant milestone in the School’s journey as an independent institution committed to building a rigorous, field-based, and globally credible platform for the applied study of India.

Founded in 1949 under the auspices of UNESCO, IPSA is among the oldest and most prestigious academic associations in the social sciences. With members from over 100 countries and a robust network of over 100 research committees, IPSA promotes comparative political inquiry, interdisciplinary dialogue, and the strengthening of democratic institutions worldwide. Its mission — to create a space for political scientists to engage across boundaries of geography, language, and methodology — aligns closely with The Hind School’s own vision of fostering India-centred inquiry within a global intellectual framework.

Why IPSA Membership Matters

The Hind School’s acceptance into IPSA serves several critical functions at this formative stage of the institution’s growth:

1. Academic Legitimacy and Global Recognition
   Membership signals the School’s alignment with internationally respected standards of political science education and research. It places The Hind School in an esteemed peer network that includes globally recognized institutions and leading scholars, enhancing its academic credibility in India and abroad.

2. Access to International Research Networks
   As an IPSA member, The Hind School can now participate in a wide array of specialized research committees covering areas such as democratic theory, public administration, federalism, political culture, governance in the Global South, and more. This opens opportunities for faculty and researchers to collaborate internationally, co-author publications, and attend conferences that shape the global political science agenda.

3. Platform for the Global South
   India’s democratic journey — its tensions, innovations, contradictions, and institutional experiments — remains underrepresented in global political discourse. As an institution rooted in India but oriented globally, The Hind School seeks to contribute new perspectives to the study of governance and democracy, drawing from India’s civilisational context, its regional diversity, and the everyday realities of its state-society relations. IPSA provides an ideal platform to bring these perspectives into global circulation.

4. Support for a Field-Based, Interdisciplinary Pedagogy
   The Hind School’s flagship Postgraduate Program in Applied India Studies is a multi-city, immersive academic experience that integrates political theory with direct engagement in real-world governance and institutional settings. IPSA’s emphasis on both conceptual rigour and empirical depth resonates with this model and reinforces the School’s commitment to blending scholarship with practice.

5. A Foundation for Thought Leadership
   The School’s research arm — The Hind Think Tank — and its forthcoming academic publication — The Hind Journal of Applied India Studies — are part of a broader institutional effort to shape discourse on India’s governance, statecraft, and political future. IPSA membership strengthens the institutional scaffolding for these initiatives by connecting them to a global audience and framework of standards.

Advancing a Vision of Applied Political Thought

Political science in India has often remained confined to either abstract theory or the narrow frames of electoral commentary. The Hind School seeks to reimagine political education as a practice of civilisational understanding, ethical inquiry, and field-level engagement. Our academic model is built on the belief that political thought must be informed by lived experience, institutional context, and historical continuity. In this effort, IPSA offers not only a network but a tradition — one that values methodological pluralism, scholarly integrity, and public purpose.

Becoming an Institutional Member of IPSA is not a symbolic gesture; it is a deliberate step toward embedding The Hind School in a global intellectual community that shares our belief in the power of ideas, institutions, and inquiry to shape the future of societies.

Looking Ahead

As a member of IPSA, The Hind School will nominate faculty and fellows to relevant research committees, contribute to scholarly conferences, and work toward collaborative projects that connect India’s political discourse to broader regional and global trends. This membership also deepens the School’s ability to mentor a new generation of political thinkers, policy practitioners, and public scholars who are as grounded in the Indian experience as they are attuned to international debates.

In the years ahead, The Hind School will continue to build on this foundation — expanding its research output, strengthening faculty networks, and contributing to a global rethinking of how political knowledge is produced, shared, and applied.

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Issued by
Office of the Academic Director
The Hind School | The First School of Applied India Studies
www.hindschool.com | www.ipsa.org/profile/hind-school