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.
Digital Media Practices and Political Mobilization
Media Propaganda
Diasporic Politics
Ethno-religious nationalism
Books
Basu, A. et al. ed. (2026) Pandemics and Mobilities (forthcoming), Brill, Leiden
Journal Articles
Book Reviews:
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
