Jagannath Ambagudia is Dean, School of Social Sciences and Humanities (2020–), and Associate Professor at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, School of Social Sciences and Humanities (2014–), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Campus, Assam, India. He was also the Chairperson, Unit for Research and Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Campus, Assam, India (2016–2020). Previously, he taught at the Department of Political Science, Rajdhani College, University of Delhi (2009–2014); National Law School of India University, Bangalore, Karnataka (2008–2009); and ARSD College, University of Delhi (2006–2008). He obtained MA, M. Phil. and Ph. D. in Political Science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is the author of Adivasis, Migrants and the State in India (Routledge, 2019). His area of interest lies on issues of Adivasi society, social exclusion and inclusion, development and deprivation, marginalisation, preferential treatment, distributive justice and community conflict. He is currently working on the role of tribal MPs in Indian Parliament within the broader relationship between scheduled tribes and democracy in India.

Virginius Xaxa is currently visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development (IHD), New Delhi. Prior to joining IHD, he was Professor of Eminence and Bharat Ratna Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Chair at Tezpur University (2016–2018). He was also Professor and Deputy Director of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati Campus (2011–2016). He taught Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi (1990–2011), and North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong (1978–1990). He obtained MA in Sociology from Pune University and Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur. He is the author of Economic Dualism and Structure of Class: A Study in Plantation and Peasant Settings in North Bengal (Cosmo, 1997) and State, Society and Tribes: Issues in Post-Colonial India (Pears