Development Talk: Access to Power / Electricity and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan

The Growth Lab’s “Development Talks” is a series of conversations with policymakers and academics working in economic development. The seminar provides a platform for practitioners and researchers to discuss both the practice of development and analytical work centered on policy.

Speaker: Ijlal Naqvi, Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean (Curriculum and Teaching) at the School of Social Sciences of Singapore Management University

Prof. Naqvi will discuss his new book “Access to Power: Electricity and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan,” which explores state capacity in Pakistan by following the material infrastructure of electricity across the provinces and down into cities and homes.

Moderator: Abdurrehman Naveed, HKS MPP 2023

Whether attending in-person or virtually, please register in advance. Room attendance is limited to the Harvard community. Seating availability is based on a first-come, first-served basis. The Zoom webinar is open to the public. Lunch will be provided.

This talk is co-sponsored by the HKS South Asia Caucus. 

About the speaker:

Ijlal Naqvi is Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean (Curriculum and Teaching) at the School of Social Sciences of Singapore Management University. He studies governance and development in the Global South, using infrastructure as a lens on state-building and the citizen’s engagement with the state on an everyday basis. His book Access to Power: Electricity and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan was published by Oxford University Press (2022). Ijlal’s research has been published in Energy Research and Social Science, Journal of Development Studies, Urban Studies, Journal of Democracy, and Current Sociology. Ijlal earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.