Bijoyetri Samaddar

Bijoyetri Samaddar is a PhD researcher who explores how the interpretive instability of sociological and political constructs like trust and fairness can affect causal inference claims. She is currently grappling with the idea of a “fractured Nash equilibrium,” where stable behavioral patterns emerge not from aligned incentives but from splintered conceptual understandings of the “game” itself. Drawing on insights from cultural, social, political and economic theory as well as empirical cases, she investigates how shifts in meaning, influenced by factors like public memory and AI-mediated discourse, can lead to precise yet substantively misleading causal effects. Samaddar also delves into climate-related issues, examining how linguistic diversity and multigenerational living serve as crucial resilience strategies. She is currently developing a project inspired by John Snow’s “grand experiment” on cholera adapted to contemporary contexts of urban decay and environmental justice in India. Her goal is to bridge quantitative rigor with qualitative insights.