Fahmida Zaman, a graduate student in the Department of Politics and Government, presented her paper titled “State Formation in Bangladesh: An Incomplete Project?” at the 45th annual South Asia conference at Madison, Wisconsin, on October 23, 2016. The annual conference is organized by University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Zaman’s research re-examined the process of state-formation in Bangladesh in order to understand the current political instability and divergence from democracy. She argued that Bangladesh’s existing political crisis is a result of the incomplete state formation process, and that one of the main barriers to democratic consolidation of democracy in Bangladesh has been its weak institutions.

The panel, “The Perpetual Crisis of the Bangladeshi Politics and the State,” was chaired by Professor Navine Murshed of Colgate University, New York. Other presenters include Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman of Clark University, Massachusetts, and Professor Ali Riaz of Illinois State University.