Dr. Khurshed Alam

Dr. Khurshed Alam
Personal details
Born	21 November 1954, Feni, East Bengal (Nationality  Bangladeshi)
Alma mater	University of Pune University of Dhaka
Profession	Sociologists
Website	Official website

Dr. Khurshed Alam

Khurshed Alam (Bengali: খুরশিদআলম; born in 1954) is a Bangladeshi sociologist. He worked as a national and international Consultant for more than 32 years mainly with World Bank and ADB in home and abroad. He started his professional career only after completing his Ph.D in 1985. He has actively participated in preparing the national plan for the country called PRSP-II and national policy and strategy like coastal zone policy for Bangladesh. He is the founder and chairperson of Bangladesh Institute of Social Research (BISR) Trust.

Early life and education

Khurshed was born and brought up at Feni district of East Bengal which is Bangladesh today where he had school and college level education. Since his school life he was keen to read social sciences as he felt to do something for the country through using the social science knowledge. He did his master’s in sociology from the University of Dhaka in 1980 and Ph.D from the University of Pune, India in 1985.

Career

Dr. Khurshed Alam is a former university teacher of Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University and a leading social scientist of Bangladesh. Currently he is the Chairperson of Bangladesh Institute of Social Research (BISR) Trust, based in Dhaka, Bangladesh . He also worked as mission leader or member for several international organizations in Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. In the academic field he has contributed several theories and concepts covering socialand political dimensions. His writings cover different areas of social science .Hepublished articles and book chapters from Elsevier science, Routledge, Emerald, World Scientific Publisher,etc. He works as referee to several world reputed journals. He is also an associate editor of BMC women health journal. He was the Editor of Bangladesh Sociological Studies - A Biannual International Journal published by the Bangladesh Institute of Social Research (BISR) Trust.

Views

He strongly believes that the poverty can be removed by using the capability of poor employing a bottom up approach where only poor households need little external support. In the case of government agencies he believes that those must work with the people, not only for the people.In the case of government officials rather than misuse of power nonuse of power is the major challenge in the developing countries.Dr. Alam has developed a theory of Muslim social stratification with particular reference to Bangladesh .He claimed that the hierarchy basically determined among the Muslims based on Tawangari not Saraphati.Denying the existence of caste system of hierarchy he claimed that the class line of hierarchy is there among the Muslims of Bangladesh where they can change their social status by acquiring wealth.Based on decision-making process he classified the governments into three which include: Government by Public Opinion (GPO-1); Government by Party Opinion(GPO-2) and Government by Person’s Opinion (GPO-3). In most of the countries,he claimed that, the second and third types of governments are mainly prevailing there. He theorized the people’s responses against anti-people activities of government of three types which include: (i) apathetic; (ii) evaluative; and (iii) assertive.He advocated for reducing poverty through using enabling factor(s) of a country .Also he mentions that using the IGA mapping capital utilization of the poor can be multiplied several times.He developed a new concept for understanding escalating corruptions in a developing country where after the poverty reduction people also go for acquiring more wealth using illegal means.After fulfilling their needs they go for satisfying the greed.In the development field he has developed several new ideas and models such as a concept of Canal Maintenance Group (CMG) using landless people for maintaining the canal round the year at a very low cost; rehabilitation of river eroded people using a participatory method; IGA mapping for poverty reduction extending scope of use of micro-credit; institution for landless poor for Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) which has been established in all Upazilas of Bangladesh; and developed a new method of people’s participation in planning and implementation of infrastructures collecting 10% cost from the local people, etc.

Works

1. Poverty reduction through enabling factors, World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, Vol. 14 Issue: 4, pp.310-321. 2. Extending the Reach of Microcredit: A New Model for Poverty Alleviation Through Livelihood Mapping in Bangladesh, Journal of Poverty Alleviation and International Development, Vol. 5, No. 1, June 2014. 3. −with Md. HabiburRahman. Women in Natural Disasters: A Case Study from Southern Coastal Region of Bangladesh, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 8 (2014) 68–82 from Elsevier science. 4. Jayanta Kumar Basak and KhurshedAlam. Impacts of Carbon Dioxide Emission and Subsequent Rise of Temperature on Rice Production in Bangladesh: Implications for Food Security, International Research Journal of Environment Sciences, Vol. 2(9), 60-67, September (2013). 5. Adaptation of Coastal dwellers: The case of Bangladesh, Man and Development, Vol. XXXIII, No. 3, September 2011. 6. Forced Labour in Bangladesh, Journal of Social Studies, No. 123 July-September 2009 7. Social Exclusion of Two Adibashi Communities in Bangladesh, The Eastern Anthropologist Volume 61:1, Jan-March 2008. 8. Social Aspects of Water Management with Particular Reference to Bangladesh, Bangladesh Sociological Studies, Vol. 3. No.1, March 2007. 9. People’s Power in Third World Democracy, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, (Humanities), Vol. 51, Number 1, June 2006. 10. Towards a Theory of Muslim Social Stratification, Bangladesh Sociological Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2005. 11. Government and Politics: An Analytical Framework, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, (Humanities), Vol. 49, Number 2, 2004. 12. Peasants Movement in Bangladesh (1972-1986), Labour, 6th. Year, 3rd. issue, July-September, 2003. 1.Alam, Khurshed (co-author) (2011), Adapting to Climate Change: Strengthening the Climate Resilience of Water Sector Infrastructure in Khulna, Bangladesh. Asian Development Bank. ISBN 978-92-9092-272-8

He is married and has one son. His son is currently doing Ph.D in Boston University, USA.

References

“Social Research Key for Sustainable Development”.BanglaNews24.com. Retrieved 7 October 2020. 
“Bangladesh Institute of Social Research (BISR)”.BD-Directory.com. Retrieved 7 October
“BISR Journal”. bisrbd.org. 
“A new poverty reduction perspective”.the independent. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
Arini, Fina; Widaningrum, Ambar; Hadna, Agus (2019).“Poverty Reduction and Financial Literacy 

for Women in Indonesia”, Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research. 122: 241-258.

Shaikh, Kais (2010). “Fifty Years of Bangladesh Sociology: Towards a 'Hybrid Sociology'?”, Bangladesh e-Journal of Sociology.2: 326-356.
Noorsetya, Bambang; Dinata, Chandra; Chayatin, Umi (2020). “Social Inclution Dan PenguatanKelembagaanSosialDalamOtonomiPenanggulanganKemiskinanPedesaan”, Dinamika Governance: JurnalIlmuAdministrasi Negara.10 (1).