Dr Jay Sarkar

  • Senior Lecturer in Economic and Social History (Economic & Social History)

email: Jayita.Sarkar@glasgow.ac.uk
pronouns: She/her/hers

Adam Smith Building, 806, Bute Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RT

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6075-4400

Biography

Jayita Sarkar is associate professor of economic and social history at the University of Glasgow. Her research and teaching areas are global and transnational histories of decolonisation, capitalism, nuclear infrastructures, and South Asia.

Her first book, Ploughshares and Swords. India’s Nuclear Program in the Global Cold War (Cornell University Press, 2022), received Honorable Mention for the 2023 Best Book Award from the International Studies Association's Global Development Studies Section. The book can be freely read here.

She is currently writing two books: Atomic Capitalism. A Global History (under contract with Princeton University Press, America in the World series) and Connected Partitions: From South Asia to the World. She is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and serves on the board of directors for Arms Control Association in Washington, DC.

Before joining Glasgow, she was an Assistant Professor at Boston University, a Niehaus Fellow at Dartmouth College, Fellow at the Weatherhead Initiative in Global History, Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy, and Stanton Postdoctoral Fellow, all at Harvard University. 

For more information and a full CV, please visit: JayitaSarkar.com

Research interests

Global and transnational histories of

  • decolonisation
  • capitalism
  • technology
  • South Asia
  • United States

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2015 | 2014
Number of items: 17.

2023

Sarkar, J. (2023) Battlefields to borderlands: Rohingyas between global war and decolonisation. In: Guyot-Réchard, B. and Leake, E. (eds.) South Asia Unbound: New International Histories of the Subcontinent. Series: Global Connections: Routes and Roots (5). Leiden University Press/University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9789087284091

2022

Sarkar, J. (2022) New Books Network Podcast: Jayita Sarkar Ploughshares and Swords. [Audio]

Sarkar, J. (2022) 1869, Cornell University Press Podcast, Ep. 118 with Jayita Sarkar, author of Ploughshares and Swords. [Audio]

Sarkar, J. (2022) Ploughshares and Swords: India's Nuclear Program in the Global Cold War. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, New York. ISBN 9781501764400 (doi: 10.1353/book.95092)

Sarkar, J. (2022) Nuclear Reaganomics: Corporate lobbying after Three Mile Island, 1979-1985. In: Dietrich, C. R. W. (ed.) Diplomacy and Capitalism: The Political Economy of U.S. Foreign Relations. University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pp. 206-220. ISBN 9780812253955 (hardback); 9780812298567 (ebook); 9780812225310 (paperback) (doi: 10.2307/j.ctv1sjwpfz.14)

Sarkar, J. and Mehta, S. (2022) Understanding the Rohingya Crisis with Jayita Sarkar. [Audio]

2021

Sarkar, J. (2021) From the dependable to the demanding partner: the renegotiation of French nuclear cooperation with India, 1974–80. Cold War History, 21(3), pp. 301-318. (doi: 10.1080/14682745.2019.1694908)

Sarkar, J. (2021) The economic strategies of U.S. nonproliferation policy during the Nixon-Ford years. Journal of Global Security Studies, 6(1), ogaa009. (doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogaa009)

2019

Blarel, N. and Sarkar, J. (2019) Substate organizations as foreign policy agents: new evidence and theory from India, Israel, and France. Foreign Policy Analysis, 15(3), pp. 413-431. (doi: 10.1093/fpa/ory009)

Sarkar, J. (2019) U.S. policy to curb West European nuclear exports, 1974–1978. Journal of Cold War Studies, 21(2), pp. 110-149. (doi: 10.1162/jcws_a_00877)

2018

Krige, J. and Sarkar, J. (2018) US technological collaboration for nonproliferation: key evidence from the Cold War. Nonproliferation Review, 25(3-4), pp. 249-262. (doi: 10.1080/10736700.2018.1510465)

Sarkar, J. and Snow, D. (2018) Update on the Rohingya Crisis with Jayita Sarkar. [Audio]

Rabinowitz, O. and Sarkar, J. (2018) ‘It isn’t over until the fuel cell sings’: a reassessment of the US and French pledges of nuclear assistance in the 1970s. Journal of Strategic Studies, 41(1-2), pp. 275-300. (doi: 10.1080/01402390.2017.1328355)

2017

Sarkar, J. (2017) Managing nuclear risk in South Asia: an Indian response. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 73(1), pp. 59-61. (doi: 10.1080/00963402.2016.1264215)

2015

Sarkar, J. (2015) The making of a non-aligned nuclear power: India's proliferation drift, 1964–8. International History Review, 37(5), pp. 933-950. (doi: 10.1080/07075332.2015.1078393)

Sarkar, J. (2015) ‘Wean them away from French tutelage’: Franco-Indian nuclear relations and Anglo-American anxieties during the early Cold War, 1948–1952. Cold War History, 15(3), pp. 375-394. (doi: 10.1080/14682745.2014.989840)

2014

Sarkar, J. (2014) Atomic compatriots? The trajectory of Franco-Indian nuclear cooperation, 1950-1976. Critique Internationale, 63(2), pp. 131-149. (doi: 10.3917/crii.063.0131)

This list was generated on Mon May 29 07:10:58 2023 BST.
Number of items: 17.

Articles

Sarkar, J. (2021) From the dependable to the demanding partner: the renegotiation of French nuclear cooperation with India, 1974–80. Cold War History, 21(3), pp. 301-318. (doi: 10.1080/14682745.2019.1694908)

Sarkar, J. (2021) The economic strategies of U.S. nonproliferation policy during the Nixon-Ford years. Journal of Global Security Studies, 6(1), ogaa009. (doi: 10.1093/jogss/ogaa009)

Blarel, N. and Sarkar, J. (2019) Substate organizations as foreign policy agents: new evidence and theory from India, Israel, and France. Foreign Policy Analysis, 15(3), pp. 413-431. (doi: 10.1093/fpa/ory009)

Sarkar, J. (2019) U.S. policy to curb West European nuclear exports, 1974–1978. Journal of Cold War Studies, 21(2), pp. 110-149. (doi: 10.1162/jcws_a_00877)

Krige, J. and Sarkar, J. (2018) US technological collaboration for nonproliferation: key evidence from the Cold War. Nonproliferation Review, 25(3-4), pp. 249-262. (doi: 10.1080/10736700.2018.1510465)

Rabinowitz, O. and Sarkar, J. (2018) ‘It isn’t over until the fuel cell sings’: a reassessment of the US and French pledges of nuclear assistance in the 1970s. Journal of Strategic Studies, 41(1-2), pp. 275-300. (doi: 10.1080/01402390.2017.1328355)

Sarkar, J. (2017) Managing nuclear risk in South Asia: an Indian response. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 73(1), pp. 59-61. (doi: 10.1080/00963402.2016.1264215)

Sarkar, J. (2015) The making of a non-aligned nuclear power: India's proliferation drift, 1964–8. International History Review, 37(5), pp. 933-950. (doi: 10.1080/07075332.2015.1078393)

Sarkar, J. (2015) ‘Wean them away from French tutelage’: Franco-Indian nuclear relations and Anglo-American anxieties during the early Cold War, 1948–1952. Cold War History, 15(3), pp. 375-394. (doi: 10.1080/14682745.2014.989840)

Sarkar, J. (2014) Atomic compatriots? The trajectory of Franco-Indian nuclear cooperation, 1950-1976. Critique Internationale, 63(2), pp. 131-149. (doi: 10.3917/crii.063.0131)

Books

Sarkar, J. (2022) Ploughshares and Swords: India's Nuclear Program in the Global Cold War. Cornell University Press: Ithaca, New York. ISBN 9781501764400 (doi: 10.1353/book.95092)

Book Sections

Sarkar, J. (2023) Battlefields to borderlands: Rohingyas between global war and decolonisation. In: Guyot-Réchard, B. and Leake, E. (eds.) South Asia Unbound: New International Histories of the Subcontinent. Series: Global Connections: Routes and Roots (5). Leiden University Press/University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9789087284091

Sarkar, J. (2022) Nuclear Reaganomics: Corporate lobbying after Three Mile Island, 1979-1985. In: Dietrich, C. R. W. (ed.) Diplomacy and Capitalism: The Political Economy of U.S. Foreign Relations. University of Pennsylvania Press: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pp. 206-220. ISBN 9780812253955 (hardback); 9780812298567 (ebook); 9780812225310 (paperback) (doi: 10.2307/j.ctv1sjwpfz.14)

Audio

Sarkar, J. (2022) New Books Network Podcast: Jayita Sarkar Ploughshares and Swords. [Audio]

Sarkar, J. (2022) 1869, Cornell University Press Podcast, Ep. 118 with Jayita Sarkar, author of Ploughshares and Swords. [Audio]

Sarkar, J. and Mehta, S. (2022) Understanding the Rohingya Crisis with Jayita Sarkar. [Audio]

Sarkar, J. and Snow, D. (2018) Update on the Rohingya Crisis with Jayita Sarkar. [Audio]

This list was generated on Mon May 29 07:10:58 2023 BST.

Grants

Research & Knowledge Exchange

PI, Stanton Foundation Nuclear Security Grant at University of Glasgow, 2023-25, US$ 49,500

PI, British Academy Grant for “Partition Machine," conference and edited volume for Oxford University Press, 2023-24, £20,000

PI, University of Glasgow Chancellor’s Fund, “Decolonisation Podcast & Archive Fellows,” 2022-24, £4,000 

PI, Swiss National Science Foundation, Open Access Book Grant, 2021, PI, 14,000 CHF

External research fellowship: Harvard University, Ernest May Fellowship in History and Policy, 2020, US$ 44,000

PI, Stanton Foundation Applied History Grant at Boston University, 2019, PI, US$ 34,909

External research fellowship: Dartmouth College, US Foreign Policy & International Security Fellowship, 2018, US$ 46,000

PI, Stanton Foundation Nuclear Security Grant at Boston University, 2017, US$ 50,000

External research fellowship: Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, Research Fellowship, 2014, 13,000 NOK

External research fellowship: Albert Gallatin Pre-doctoral Fellowship in International Affairs at Yale University, 2013, US$ 14,000

 

Archival Research 

External research fellowship: Henry Belin du Pont Research Fellowship, Hagley Museum & Library, 2023-24, for archival research, US$1,700

External research fellowship: American Institute of Bangladesh Studies Senior Research Fellowship, 2023-25, for archival, oral history, and ethnographic research in Dhaka and Chittagong, US$ 6,700

External research fellowship: Hoover Institution, Silas Palmer research grant for archival research, 2022, US$ 2,500

 

Postgraduate Study

Hans Wilsdorf Foundation Doctoral Scholarship at Graduate Institute Geneva, 2010–11, 20,000 CHF

Regional Council of Paris Region Masters Scholarship, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne, 2009–10, 10,000 EUR

 

Supervision

I welcome students interested in the following research themes at BA, MA/MSc, and PhD levels:

The temporal framework is 1890s to 1990s.

  • South Asia in the world
  • Global Cold War
  • Nuclear politics (mining, explosions, energy, and waste)
  • US global power
  • Histories of capitalism
  • Histories of decolonisation
  • Histories of technology

Current PhD students:

  • Chou, Tzu Yin
    Local mobility, medical management, and the founding of hospitals by the Chinese communities in the Straits-Settlements-era Singapore, circa. 1826-1942
  • Yi, Duanyi
    How unique was China's Nuclear Strategy ( 1964-1993)

Teaching

At the University of Glasgow:

  • ESH 4087, Global South Asia: Honours-level undergraduate course, sole convenor
  • SPS 5063: Nuclear Technologies in History, Politics, and Society: Graduate course, sole convenor
  • ESH 5069, Decolonisation & International Economic Relations: Graduate course, sole convenor
  • ESH Level 1A: Team-taught module; contributor on themes of global histories of inequalities, including, colonialism, slavery, and empires.
  • ESH Level 1B: Team-taught module; contributor on themes of global histories of inequalities, including, anticolonialism, development politics, and cold wars.

Prior teaching, at Boston University:

  • Global South Asia
  • History, Policy, & Statecraft [historical methods course]
  • International Nuclear Politics
  • History of International Relations since 1945 [core undergraduate course]
  • Global Decolonization Research Internships [co-curricular]

Professional activities & recognition

Prizes, awards & distinctions

  • 2023: Honourable Mention for Best Book Award (International Studies Association Global Development Studies Section)
  • 2018: Grand Prize Winner for Best Article of the Year (Doreen and Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Challenge)
  • 2022: Elected Fellow (Royal Historical Society)
  • 2022: Elected Fellow (Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland)

Research fellowships

  • 06/2022 - 08/2022: University of Edinburgh, Institute for the Advanced Studies in the Humanities
  • 09/2020 - 06/2021: Harvard University, Weatherhead Initiative on Global History
  • 09/2020 - 06/2021: Harvard Kennedy School, Ernest May Fellowship in History & Policy
  • 09/2018 - 06/2019: Dartmouth College, Niehaus Postdoctoral Fellow
  • 08/2016 - 06/2017: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SNSF Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • 09/2015 - 05/2016: Harvard Kennedy School, Managing the Atom Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • 08/2014 - 06/2015: Harvard Kennedy School, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellowship

Grant committees & research advisory boards

  • 2021 - 2024: Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, William Appleman Williams Emerging Scholar Research Grant Committee
  • 2022 - present: Arms Control Association, Board of Directors
  • 2020 - 2021: American Institute of Bangladesh Studies, Board of Trustees
  • 2018 - 2020: Society for the History of Technology, Joan Cahalin Robinson Prize Committee Member
  • 2019 - 2019: American Academy of Berlin, Grant Application Reviewer
  • 2017 - 2017: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Grant Application Reviewer
  • 2015 - 2015: Smith Richardson Foundation, Grant Application Reviewer

Editorial boards

  • 2022 - present: Cold War History (journal)
  • 2022 - present: Global Nuclear Histories, McGill-Queen’s University Press (book series)

Professional & learned societies

  • 2021 - 2021: Officer-at-Large, Diplomatic Studies Section (DPLST), International Studies Association
  • 2020 - 2023: Internationalization Task Force Member, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations
  • 2018 - 2020: Officer-at-Large, South Asia in World Politics Section (SAWP), International Studies Association
  • 2019 - 2019: Program Committee Member, Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations

Selected international presentations

  • 24/04/2023: Washington History Conference (Woodrow Wilson Center and American Historical Association, Washington, DC, USA)
  • 11/04/2023: Conversations on South Asia (Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA)
  • 28/11/2022: International History & Politics Forum, IHP/ANSO (Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland)
  • 10/03/2022: Book Talk, CISAC, Nuclear Reading Group (Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA)
  • 14/02/2022: Weatherhead Initiative on Global History Seminar (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)
  • 18/11/2021: Book Talk, Security Studies Seminar (Carnegie India, New Delhi, India)
  • 07/04/2021: Science and Global Security Seminar (Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA)
  • 30/11/2020: Science, Technology, and Society Circle (Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)