Dr Kumud Rana
Lecturer in Sociology (Gender and Decolonisation)Current Teaching
SOCL.913 Gender, Sex and Bodies - Convenor
SOCL.201 Skills in Researching Social and Cultural Lives - Convenor
SOCL.314 Feminism and Social Change - Co-Convenor
GEN.101 Gender Studies: Identities, Inequalities and Politics
Profile
I am an interdisciplinary scholar working at the intersections of gender, caste, queer Indigeneity and decolonial thought in South Asia, with a regional focus on Nepal and its borderlands. My core research contribution emerges from a four-year, multi-sited study of transnational LGBTI+ activism in Nepal which forms the basis of my forthcoming monograph. The book analyses how queer mobilisation is shaped by global health regimes, donor infrastructures, and regional circulations of ideas, resources, and activist expertise. It advances a new framework for understanding queer politics in the global South by theorising how governed intimacies, multi-scalar power and selective solidarities configure which queer subjects become visible, fundable and politically actionable. This work received the (2021). Articles from this research have been published in and .
Building on this foundation, I now lead a growing research programme on queer Indigeneity and heritage-making in Nepal. Developed in collaboration with Indigenous researchers, artists and LGBTI+ activists, my current project examines the politics of caste and Indigeneity within queer organising, and the politics of gender and sexuality within Indigenous and Dalit organising. As part of the consortium, Heritage as Place-Making: The Politics of Solidarity and Erasure in South Asia (funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond), I direct the project Queer Indigeneity and Heritage-Making in Nepal. Two publications - on and - have emerged from this work. In collaboration with an Indigenous artists' collective Artree Nepal, I have also authored a book chapter on 'Decoloniality, Indigeniety and Queerness in Nepal' (Sternberg Press/Para Site).
My research has been supported by the Swiss Government Excellence Research Fellowship (2021-2022) for my postdoctoral work at the University of Zurich; the College of Social Sciences Scholarship (2015-2019) for my doctoral research at the University of Glasgow; the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (2011-2012) at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University; and multiple internal and external grants at the University of Glasgow and at 糖心视频.
Other projects include a co-authored book chapter documenting the #MeToo movement in Nepal, with a focus on the complicities of higher education insitutions within and outside the country (University of Colorado Press, forthcoming); a study of male migrant identities as dependents of highly skilled female workers in the UK for the project (Ume? University); and research on gendered nationalism and ethnic exclusion within the feminist campaign for equal citizenship rights for Nepali women (in , Palgrave Macmillan).
I also have experience of working with various third sector and development organisations. I serve on the Executive Committee of the Britain-Nepal Academic Council and as an Advisory Member of Indigenous Without Borders, Nepal. I have acted as a country expert in UK legal proceedings, where my reports have contributed substantively to judicial understandings of caste, Indigeneity, gender-based violence and queer marginalisation in Nepal.
At Lancaster, my pedagogical practice is informed and strengthened by my research expertise. I currently teach on SOCL913 Gender, Sex and Bodies; SOCL314 Feminism and Social Change; GEN101 Gender Studies; and SOCL201 Skills in Researching Social and Cultural Lives. I welcome PhD supervision across gender and sexuality studies, caste and Indigeneity, social movements and decolonial and postcolonial thought. and development, social movements, caste and Indigeneity. I am also open to projects on transnational activism, development, and South Asian or Himalayan studies, particularly those employing interdisciplinary, comparative, ethnographic or participatory approaches.
Selected Publications
Rana, K. 26/05/2026 In: Feminist Review.
Journal article
Rana, K. 1/11/2025 In: Transgender Studies Quarterly. 12, 4, p. 462-479. 18 p.
Journal article
Rana, K. 30/11/2022 In: Culture, Health and Sexuality. 24, 11, p. 1451-1465. 15 p.
Journal article
Rana, K. 1/01/2019 In: Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History. Gale Cengage p. 1465-1472. 8 p. ISBN: 9780684325538. Electronic ISBN: 9780684325545.
Chapter
Rana, K. 1/12/2016 In: Bodies in Resistance. Palgrave McMillan p. 95-115. ISBN: 9781137477798, 9781349693351. Electronic ISBN: 9781137477804.
Chapter
All Publications
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15/06/2025 → …
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03/06/2024 → …
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01/02/2022 → …
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01/03/2021 → 07/06/2024
Research
Publication peer-review
Non-governmental organization
Publication peer-review
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
Oral presentation
Invited talk
Participation in conference - Academic
Oral presentation
Invited talk
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited talk
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Invited talk
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
Membership of committee
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
Publication peer-review
Oral presentation
Participation in conference - Academic
Membership of committee
Invited talk
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
Publication peer-review
Membership of council
Publication peer-review
Publication peer-review
Prize (including medals and awards)