Radhika Balakrishnan (born in

Ootacamund Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located northwest of Coimbatore, and is the headquarters of N ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) is the faculty director of the

Center for Women's Global Leadership The Center for Women's Global Leadership, based at Rutgers University, was founded in 1989 by Charlotte Bunch, the former executive director and an internationally renowned activist for women's human rights. Executive Director Krishanti Dharmara ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Currently, she serves as the Chair of the Board of the United States Human Rights Network and Chair on the Board of the

Center for Constitutional Rights The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR; formerly Law Center for Constitutional Rights) is an American progressive non-profit legal advocacy organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1966 by lawyers William Kunstler, Arthur Kin ...

, Commissioner for the Commission for Gender Equity for the City of New York, and President of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) for 2020-2021.

Biography

Radhika Balakrishnan grew up in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, India and moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois at the age of 13. She attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

initially to study engineering, but switched majors and graduated in 1980 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. It was at the University of Illinois that she first became involved in the women's movement, which inspired her to study economics. In 1985 she received her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in Economics, and in 1990 she received her Ph.D. in Economics, both from

Career

From 1992 to 1995, Radhika Balakrishnan worked at the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

as a program officer in the Asian Regional Program. From 2003 to 2009, she was a professor at

Marymount Manhattan College Marymount Manhattan College is a private college on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. As of 2020, enrollment consisted of 1,571 undergraduate students with women making up 80.1% and men 19.9% of student enrollment. Columbia University Masters ...

where she taught economics and international studies In September 2009, she joined Rutgers University as a professor of Women's and Gender Studies and the executive director of the

, where she focused on issues of economics and social justice from a feminist perspective as they relate to macroeconomic policy, especially in health and education. Balakrishnan now serves as the faculty director of the Center.

Interviews

"More Women Peacekeepers Is Not the Solution" Cléo Fatoorehchi interviews RADHIKA BALAKRISHNAN of the Centre for Women's Global Leadership
Inter Press Service, December 2010.
16 Days of Activism: Spotlight on Militarism
Global Fund for Women, November 2010.
Interview with Radika Balakrishnan on Huffington Post Article Why Human Rights are Indispensable to Financial Regulation
Law and Order Radio, Pacific Radio, April 2010.
NGLS Interviews Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director, Center for Women’s Global Leadership
UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN NGLS), January 2010.
Experts Comment on Rights in Times of Economic Crisis
Center for Economic and Social Rights, November 2009.

Research and publications

Balakrishnan's primary research interests are

gender and development ''Gender & Development'' is a peer-reviewed journal published triannually by Routledge and Oxfam to provide "promote, inspire, and support development policy and practice." The editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and the

global economy The world economy or global economy is the economy of all humans in the world, referring to the global economic system, which includes all economic activities conducted both within and between nations, including production, consumption, econ ...

, and human rights and economic social rights. Her publications include:

Books

* * *

Recent articles and book chapters

* * * * * * * Balakrishnan, Radhika; Sayeed, Asad (2004),
Why do firms disintegrate? Towards an understanding of the firm-level decision to subcontract and its implication for labor
, in

References

External links

From Classrooms to Centre Stage: A Professor Who Speaks for Women"More Women Peacekeepers Is Not the Solution" Cléo Fatoorehchi interviews RADHIKA BALAKRISHNAN of the Centre for Women's Global Leadership16 Days of Activism: Spotlight on MilitarismInterview with Radika Balakrishnan on Huffington Post Article Why Human Rights are Indispensable to Financial Regulation NGLS Interviews Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director, Center for Women’s Global Leadership
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100701215013/http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/radhika/Balakrishnan%20Publications.pdf Radhika Balakrishnan's Publicationsbr>Radhika Balakrishnan's Articles, Statements, and Interviews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balakrishnan, Radhika 1959 births Living people Indian women's rights activists Rutgers University faculty Educators from Chicago Indian emigrants to the United States University of Illinois College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni