Alif Shahed

Alif Shahed is a doctoral candidate at the Department for the Study of Religion. His research brings an anthropological lens to the study of religion, infrastructure, and governance in South Asia. His dissertation traces how postcolonial regimes categorise or collapse “publics” (religious, cultural, social, economic) through Bangladesh’s ‘festival economy’; where development, bureaucracy, and religion intertwine in the governance of collective life and spaces. He is more broadly interested in issues of cultural politics, postcolonial theory, political economy, and the anthropology of religion and culture. His research has been supported by the Faculty of Arts and Science, the Social Science Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. 

Outside of academia, Alif is an avid textile enthusiast. His ‘textile trails’ have taken him to various weaving clusters in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal to learn about the history and weaving practices of traditional textiles. He also hosts Bengali cultural programs in Toronto as co-director of ‘Anondodwhoni’, an organization aimed at spreading and fostering Bengali cultural art forms.