Priya Raghavan is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, with multi-disciplinary teaching and research expertise in gender and development, anti-colonial feminist theory, anti-racist and especially abolition feminisms, and critical race theory. With a PhD in Gender Studies and a MA in Development Studies, her approach is interdisciplinary, intersectional and transnational, bringing together insights from sociology, anthropology, history and international relations, with a focus on the interactions of coloniality, racial capitalism & carcerality, and gender & caste hierarchies in South Asia more generally and India in particular. Priya has worked in teaching, research, consultant and practitioner roles across leading global universities, international and domestic NGOs, and state policy institutions, often facilitating and participating in collaborations across these organisations. Priya is currently working on two projects studying how women’s movement’s respond to escalating backlash in the Global South – SuPWR and Countering Backlash.
Journal articles:
Raghavan, P. Dismantling Development: Towards an Abolitionist Theory of Development. Eur J Dev Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-024-00666-5
Raghavan, P. 2023. Resisting the Binary: Reconciling Victimhood and Agency in Discourses of Sexual Violence. Feminist Theory 25(3): 417-435. https://journals-sagepub-com.sussex.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1177/14647001231201059
Raghavan, P. 2022. ‘Oh! There are Politics in Billie’s Work!’: Billie Zangewa and/at the Boundaries of Feminist Visual Activism. Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change 7(2) https://www.lectitopublishing.nl/Article/Detail/oh-there-are-politics-in-billies-work-billie-zangewa-and-at-the-boundaries-of-feminist-visual-12760
Raghavan, P. and Holzberg, B. 2020. ‘Securing the nation through the politics of sexual violence: tracking continuities between Delhi and Cologne’. International Affairs 96(5): 1189-1208. https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/107061/
Blogs and policy documents:
Lewin, T.; Cannon, M.; Johnson, V.; Philip, R. and Raghavan, P. 2023 Participation For, With, and By Girls: Evidencing Impact, REJUVENATE Working Paper 2, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, DOI: 10.19088/REJUVENATE.2023.001
https://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/participation-for-with-and-by-girls-evidencing-impact/
Lewin, T.; Raghavan, P. and Baek, C.A. (2025) ‘Connecting, Contesting, and Consolidating’, IDS Briefing, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, Connecting, Contesting, and Consolidating – Institute of Development Studies
Chopra P., Kirshnan, M. and Raghavan, P. 2023. Investments in Childcare for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific. ILO and ADB https://www.ilo.org/publications/investments-childcare-gender-equality-asia-and-pacific
Raghavan, P., Mushtaq, S. 2024. Indian Elections: The Gendered and Sexual Politics of National Development. Blogpost on IDS Website
Raghavan, P. 2021. Vocabularies of Backlash in South Asia. Blogpost on IDS Website
https://www.ids.ac.uk/opinions/vocabularies-of-backlash-in-south-asia/
Raghavan, P. 2018. Curriculum Reform in UK Higher Education. Blogpost on LSE Engenderings.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2018/06/06/curriculum-reform-in-uk-higher-education/
Raghavan, P. 2018. Why Feminisms? In the Name of Feminism. Blogpost on LSE Engenderings https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2018/10/31/why-feminisms-in-the-name-of-feminism/
Raghavan, P. 2017. Practicing Decoloniality: Decolonial Dilemmas. Blogpost on LSE Engenderings.
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/gender/2017/02/27/practicing-decoloniality-13-decolonial-discomforts/
