Ranabir SAMADDAR is a founder of the MCRG - Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, India- and its journal, Refugee Watch. He was earlier a professor of South Asia Studies, and subsequently the founder-Director of the Peace Studies Programme at the South Asia Forum for Human Rights, Kathmandu.
Known for his critical studies on contemporary issues of justice, human rights, and popular democracy in the context of post-colonial nationalism, trans-border migration, community history, and technological restructuring in South Asia, he has served on various commissions and study groups on issues such as partitions, critical dictionary on globalisation, patterns of forced displacement and the institutional practices of refugee care and protection in India, rights of the minorities and forms of autonomy, technological modernization, and occupational health and safety. His recently published study of dialogues as part of war and peace politics, titled "The Politics of Dialogue" (Ashgate, 2004) is a product of his four-year research on war and peace in South Asia.