Arani is a political sociologist whose work focuses on political economy of media, digital media, diasporic politics and politics of religion in India. His work examines the intersections of media, ideology, power, and transnational political mobilization. He is the author of Understanding Propaganda: A Study of Media in Contemporary India with Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore (2025), which critically examines media practices, ideological production, and propaganda in contemporary India through the lens of “propaganda infrastructure”. He is currently co-editing an interdisciplinary volume titled Pandemics and Mobilities with Brill Publishers, Leiden (2026) and is working on his second monograph on diasporic political formations and transnational religious mobilization. Arani earned his PhD in Sociology from the Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in Media Studies, jointly awarded by the South Asian Media School, Lahore, and Goldsmiths, University of London.

Research

• Digital Media Practices and Political Mobilization
• Media Propaganda
• Diasporic Politics
• Ethno-religious nationalism

Publications

Books

Basu, A. (2025) Understanding Propaganda: A Study of Media in Contemporary India (Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore) 

Basu, A. et al. ed. (2026) Pandemics and Mobilities (forthcoming), Brill, Leiden

Journal Articles 

Basu, A. et al. (2026). Indian hometown associations in Germany: diasporic fragmentations and Hindu majoritarianism. South Asian Diaspora, 1-25.

Basu, A. et al. (2025). Digital discords and digital othering: How social media practices in the diaspora mimic the home-grown social inequalities among the Indian migrants in Germany. Migration and Diversity, 4(2), 15-31.   

Basu, A et al. (2023) Saffronization of a Land: Is it possible to separate Hinduism from Hindutva in India?, Transcience: A Journal of Global Studies, Vol. 14, Issue 1/2

Basu, A. et al. (2023) Kerala Nurses in Germany: From Heteronormativity to Transnational Patriarchy, Migration and Diversity, Vol. 2, Issue 2

Basu, A. (2016) Understanding Media-Politics-Society-Economy Interrelationship: Relevance of Habermas and Chomsky in India, Transcience: A Journal of Global Studies, Vol. 7, Issue 2, pp. 27-35

Basu, A. (2016) Dissemination of News in India through Mediated Buzzwords, Journal of Media Critique, Vol. 2, Issue 7, pp. 55-76

Soyler, T., Basu, A. et al. (2016) Hindistan’dan tanıdık bir hikâye, Birikim Dergisi, Vol. 10, pp. 106-114. 

Basu, A. (2013) Political Bias of the Media in Bengal: A Sociological Perspective, Mainstream Weekly, Vol. LI. No. 13, pp. 19-24

Basu, A. (2013) History of Media in Bengal: A Chronological Overview, Transcience: A Journal of Global Studies, Vol. 4, Issue.1, pp. 13-19

Basu, A. (2013) Merkel Short of Absolute Majority Reaches out to Leftist Rivals”, Mainstream Weekly, Vol. LI. No. 43, pp. 35-41

Book Reviews: 

Basu, A. (2021) Review of Freedom, Civility, Commerce: Contemporary Media and the Public by Sukumar Muralidharan, Gurgaon: Three Essays Collective, 2018 in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 55, Issue 41

Basu, A.  (2018) Review of Making News in Global India: Media, Publics and Politics by Sahana Udupa, Cambridge University Press, 2015 in Society and Culture in South Asia, Vol. 5, Issue 1

Teaching Modules

• Media and the Public
• Social Conflict and Religious Division: Exploring Contemporary India
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Exploring the Social and the Historical
• Political Sociology of Globalisation
• Communities, Identities and Cultures in India
• Political Economy of Development