 (2).png)
.svg)
.svg){kind=small}
Sujay Rao Mandavilli
| Sujay Rao Mandavilli
| |
| Born | 18 November 1969, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Anthropologist, Researcher, Post-colonial theorist, IT Professional |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Education |
|
| Known for | Globalization of Science movement; Twenty-first century historiography; Identity theory |
| Organization | Institute for the Study of the Globalisation of Science (ISGOS) |
| Website | globalisationsciencetrust.com |
Sujay Rao Mandavilli (born 18 November 1969) is an Indian anthropologist, researcher, post-colonial theorist, and IT professional. He is the Founder-Director of the Institute for the Study of the Globalisation of Science (ISGOS), registered as the Globalisation of Science Trust. His work focuses on globalization of science, historiography, identity theory, sociology of science, and reform of pedagogy in the twenty-first century.
He has authored over 150 research publications and more than 50 books, many of which have been republished on platforms such as SSRN and other academic and digital repositories.
Early life and background
Sujay Rao Mandavilli was born in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. He spent parts of his childhood in Coimbatore and Chennai, and briefly lived in West Germany during 1978–79, where he attended a German-medium school.
He completed his schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya and later at Vanavani Matriculation Higher Secondary School located within the IIT Madras campus in Chennai. He graduated with a B.Com degree in 1990.
Education
Mandavilli completed a Master of Arts in Anthropology from Indira Gandhi National Open University in 2020, with dual specializations in ethnography and environmental ethnography. He also holds degrees in M.Com and PGDBA, and completed CA Inter from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
In addition, he obtained professional certifications including ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, Six Sigma Master Black Belt, ITIL, CCNF, CEH, and PIMS.
Professional career
Mandavilli began his career in auditing and accountancy, completing his Chartered Accountancy articleship before transitioning into the IT industry in 1998.
He worked in software development and project management, including international assignments in Bhutan and Southeast Asia. From 2005 to 2011, he worked at IBM as Business Controls Head for the India GBS-GD division.
After 2011, he worked as an independent consultant in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), serving major corporate groups in India and abroad.
Research and intellectual contributions
Mandavilli has been active in research since the mid-2000s. His early work focused on the Aryan problem, Indo-European studies, and historiography. His research later expanded into:
- Sociology of science
- Anthropological economics
- Identity theory
- Language dynamics
- Theories of socio-cultural change
- Philosophy of science and scientific method
- Twenty-first century historiography
- Role of religion in modern society
He argues that many social science paradigms are rooted in Eurocentric frameworks and require intellectual multipolarity and cross-cultural ethnographic grounding. He advocates ideology-free, transparent, and globally collaborative scientific practices.
Institutions and initiatives
Mandavilli founded several research-oriented initiatives:
- Institute for the Study of the Globalisation of Science (ISGOS) – Promotes globalization of science and intellectual multipolarity.
- Scholars and Intellectuals for Mankind (SCHIMA)
- Movement for Open, Transparent, High-Quality, and Ideology-Free Science (MOTHIS)
- Movement for the Re-Orientation of Economic Studies (MORES)
- Think Tank for Research on Rationalizing and Modernizing Pedagogy (TH-RAMP)
- Think Tank for Accelerating the Rate of Progress in Foundational Science (TH-ARPIFS)
- Think Tank for the Reexamination of the Role of Religion in Society (TH-RERORS)
Publications
Mandavilli has authored more than 150 research papers and over 50 books. His publications have been republished on SSRN and distributed via platforms such as Google Books and Amazon. His writings are also available on ResearchGate, Medium, Substack, Reddit, and Tumblr.
His blog, Abhilasha: This is not Utopia, discusses themes related to scientific reform, pedagogy, historiography, and identity.
Mandavilli Foundation
In 2025, he launched the Mandavilli Foundation to provide cash-free awards to social science researchers in developing countries and scholarships for Ph.D. researchers in India whose work focuses on globalization of science in the humanities.
Views and ideology
Mandavilli has expressed concern that many fields within the social sciences continue to rely on what he considers outdated Eurocentric paradigms and intellectual traditions. He argues that greater intellectual multipolarity is necessary, particularly in the social sciences, to reflect diverse civilizational experiences and knowledge systems.
He emphasizes the importance of data-driven research grounded in empirical evidence drawn from diverse global contexts, including developing countries. According to him, developing nations should formulate their own economic frameworks, including bottom-up development models tailored to local realities. He has also called for significant reforms in pedagogy and education systems to promote innovation, creativity, and discovery among students.
Personal life
Mandavilli married Tara Mandavilli in 1996; the couple divorced in 2015. They have one son. Following his divorce, he decided to dedicate his life more fully to research and to the scientific and economic progress of developing nations. He has been a lifelong non-smoker and teetotaler.