Pranay Somayajula

Pranay Somayajula is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science, specializing in political theory and international relations. As a writer, organizer, and political educator, his work primarily revolves around the structures of global imperialism, as well as questions of decolonization, internationalism, and anti-imperialist resistance—both historically and in the present day. As a scholar, his specific research interests center on the adaptation and translation of Marxist revolutionary theory by revolutionary movements that considered themselves to be part of the Third World struggle against global imperialism, focusing in particular on the Black Panther Party and the Black Power movement in the United States. 

In addition to his academic work, Pranay has written for public audiences in a variety of outlets including The Drift, Jacobin, and Monthly Review, as well as on his Substack blog, culture shock. He also hosts the anti-imperialist podcast Return to Bandung. Pranay's first book, The Sun Never Sets: Making Sense of Modern Empire, is currently under contract with Haymarket Books, and offers an accessible Marxist analysis of imperialism for a general audience while also taking up the question of what it means to be an anti-imperialist in the imperial core today.

Prior to joining the Department of Political Science, Pranay worked as Organizing and Advocacy Director at Hindus for Human Rights, an organization that mobilizes progressive Hindus in the United States and across the diaspora to oppose caste, Hindu nationalism, and all forms of bigotry and oppression.