Rachna Chaudhary‘s disciplinary training is in Political Science and her doctoral work is in the area of feminist jurisprudence and criminology. Most of her research engages with the intersections of law and feminism. Her other research interests include Masculinity Studies, Gender and Work, and Sexuality Studies. She is currently working on a project on Women in Police with focus upon Delhi Police. She is a coconvenor of the Indian Feminist Judgments Project, with two other colleagues, Ms. Jhuma Sen and Dr. Aparna Chandra. She been a part of the Gender Studies faculty at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University Delhi since 2010. She is the coordinator of the MA Gender Studies programme since May 2022. She was the coordinator of the MA Gender Studies programme from 2012-2014. She was the co-coordinator of the AUDCWDS M.Phil./Ph.D. programmes in Women‘s and Gender Studies from September 2015-6 th January, 2019. She has taught/co-taught courses like Feminist Theories, Reading Feminist Texts, Introduction to Gender, Masculinities, Sexualities, Bodies, Feminist Movements in South Asia, Family, Introduction to Research Methods, Feminist Research Methods, Violence: Feminist Critiques and Resistances, Ways of Humans, Reading Texts in Historical Contexts, Research Methodologies with Exemplary Works to MA, M.Phil and Ph.D. scholars.
EDUCATIONAL PROFILE
- MA in Political Science, University of Delhi
- M.Phil. in African Studies, University of Delhi
- Ph.D. Political Science, University of Delhi
UGC NET & JRF
Qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lectureship and the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) Examination in Political Science, conducted by the UGC in March, 1997. 2 Qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) for Lectureship in Public Administration, conducted by the UGC in June, 1997. Qualified the State Level Eligibility Test for Lectureship in Politial Science, conducted by Kurukshetra University, Haryana (accredited by the UGC) in February, 1997.
PROFESSIONAL TRAJECTORY
- Presently working as Associate Professor(Gender Studies), School of Human Studies, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Delhi (joined in July, 2010).
- Worked as Lecturer and later Associate Professor, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (GGSIPU, Delhi) during 2003-2010.
- Worked as Lecturer (ad-hoc), Bharti College, University of Delhi during 1999-2002.
- Worked as a Guest Lecturer and then as Lecturer (ad-hoc) in Political Science, Mata Sundri College, University of Delhi during 1998-1999.
ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS:
- Presented paper on Judicial Discourse and Institutionalisation of Patriarchal Norms at All-India Seminar, on Society and the State in Contemporary India: Intersectional Approach to Class Analysis Jointly organised by India International Centre & Council for Social Development, New Delhi, 20-21 August 2009
- Presented paper on Judicial Discourse and ―Violent‖ Women at the National Seminar on Aggression and Violence: Challenges for Social Well-Being organized by Department of Psychology, Jamia Millia Islamia University, March 17-18, 2010
- Presented paper on ―Women, Sexuality and Judicial Discourse‖ at XIII - IAWS National Conference, Wardha, Maharashtra during 20-22nd January, 2011.
- Presented paper on ―Judicial Construction of the ―Ideal Family‖ ‖ presented at the International Seminar on ―In the Name of Honour: A Dialogue on 3 Androcentric Matrimonial Practices and Women‘s Subjugation in South Asia‖ at the University of Delhi, held between 16th -18th Feb., 2011.
- Presented paper (in absentia) on ―Judicial Discourse and the Female 'Criminal'‖ at 2011 CPC Annual Women‘s Studies Conference on Gender and Violence sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Consortium, held at Dickinson College on March 26, 2011.
- Presented paper on ‗Engendering Violence and Sexuality in Contemporary Hindi Cinema‘ at the International Conference on, Brave New World: The Gendered Political Economy of Terrorism and Fundamentalism (TFGS), at St. Stephen‘s College, University of Delhi, Delhi, 14-16 March, 2012.
- Presented paper on ―The Sexual Politics of ―Law‖ and ―Order‖‖ at the National Seminar on Gender, Law and Social Transformation in India, at the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad from September 17-18, 2012, organised by RC 10 ‗Gender Studies‘, Indian Sociological Society, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion & Inclusive Policy and Centre for Women‘s Studies, University of Hyderabad.
- Presented paper on ―Discursive Deprivation of Dignity of the ―Sexually Depraved‖‖ at the International Conference on ―De-territorializing Diversities: Cultures, Literatures & Languages of the Indigenous‖, organized by Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi on February 6-7, 2013
- Presented paper on ―Performing Masculine Femininities: Women Traffic Police Constables in Contemporary Delhi‖ at the International Conference on Gender Relations in Developing Societies organised by Maharaja Agrasen College, University of Delhi on 19th and 20th March, 2013.
- Presented paper on ―Judging Dis(ability)- Scripting the Ideal‖ at the National Workshop on Disability, Gender, Subjectivity organized by Indian Association of Women Studies and School of Human Studies, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Delhi on 31st August, 2013.
- Presented paper on ―Courting Justice‖ during the Special Winter School held at Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi from December 2013 to January 2014.
- Presented paper on Engendering Policing: Women Traffic Police Constables in Contemporary Delhi at the XIV National Conferences of the IAWS held in Guwahati from 4th to 7th February 2014.
- Presented a paper on ―Writing ‗sexual culture‘ through the lives and bodies of ―fallen women‖ at the international conference on Language, Culture and 4 Values: East and West – Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, 16th-18th December, 2014.
- Co-Presented a paper on "Securing Public (Spaces): The Danger in Engendering Security" at an international conference organised by South Asian University, Gender, Conflict and Security: Perspectives from South Asia, New Delhi on April 23-24, 2015.
- Presented a paper on ―Engendering Policing: Reorganisation of Gender Relations in Contemporary Delhi, India‖ at an international conference organized by the Swedish South Asian Studies Network. The conference on Structural Transformation in South Asia, May 20-22, 2015, was held at the University of Lund, Sweden.
- Co-presented a paper on ―Writing Academic Cultures: The politics of knowledge production‖ at the 2nd Annual International Conference: Line-byLine: Habits and Practices of Writing, Department of English, Shiv Nadar University, Uttar Pradesh, India, February 19-20, 2016.
- Presented a paper on ―Refashioning Policing: ‗Rural‘ Women in ‗Urban‘ Delhi‖ at the Rural Urban Dynamics and Emergent Forms of Labor in India and China, Georg-August-Universitat, Gottingen, jointly organized by CeMIS, CeMEAS, CeTREN, February 22-23, 2016.
- Presented a paper on ―From Prostitute to Sex Worker: Rehabilitating the ‗deviant‘ and the Nation‖ at an international conference organized by the Swedish South Asian Studies Network. The conference on Modernity in South Asia, was held in September 2016, at the University of Lund, Sweden.
- Presented a paper on ―Countering Alienation: Re-reading Subversion in Discursive Practices‖ at an international conference on Marxism and Contemporary South Asia: Relevance and Issues, on 11th and 12th November, 2016 organised by South Asian University, New Delhi and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin (Germany).
- Presented a paper on ―Engendering Policing in Contemporary India: ‗Creating‘ a Gender-Just Work Culture‖ at an international conference on Society, Culture and Morality: East and West, organized by Centre for Arabic and African Studies, JNU, New Delhi, December 27-29, 2016.
- Presented a paper on Prostitution/Sex-Work: Moving Beyond The Legalisation And/ Or Decriminalisation Debate at a national conference on Protection of Marginalised Groups In India, organized by Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies and Delhi State Legal Services Authority on April 1, 2017. 5
- Presented a paper on ―‗‗Upholding‖ Law and holding on to the Rhetoric of Change‖ at a Workshop on Critical Theory and Criminal Justice, organised by National Law University Delhi in Association with School of Law, University of Warwick, UK on 6th and 7th April 2017.
- Presented a paper on ―The Liminality of Deviance‖ at an Academic Colloquium on Judicial Reasoning And Judicial Behavior: A Study of the Supreme Court of India, organized by the Center for Public Law and Jurisprudence, Jindal Global Law School, on April 29 – 30, 2017.
- Presented a paper on ―Finding ‗Marginalised‘ Men in the State‖ at UGC CASSAP National Seminar on Problematizing Sexuality and Violence: Deconstructing Institutions, Norms and Narratives in India organized by Research Network on Feminist Engagements with Law and the State (FELS), Department of Political Science, University of Delhi on August 23-24, 2017.
- Presented a paper on ―Policing the Police: Configuring Rights and Power‖ at the ICSSR NRC International seminar on Policing in South Asia: Dilemmas of Governance and Making of Participatory Communities organized by the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University on January 6, 2018.
- Presented a long abstract at the Writing Workshop held by Indian Feminist Judgment Project, held from 14th -16th May 2018. It was organised by Jindal Global Law School and National Law University, Delhi. The paper was on Rewriting Charu Khurana and others v. Union of India and Others.
- Presented a paper (in absentia) on ―The ‗gendered‘ future of policing in contemporary Delhi‖ at Feminist Geographies 2018: in/during Troubled Times: Dialogues, Interventions and Praxis, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, held from August 4-6, 2018.
- Presented final draft on Rewriting Charu Khurana and others v. Union of India and Others at the Writing Workshop held by Indian Feminist Judgment Project, held from 14th -16th May 2018. It was organised by Ambedkar University Delhi, Jindal Global Law School and National Law University, Delhi.
- Co-presented a paper on Destabilizing Gender Knowledge Production: (In)Discipline of the Illegitimate, at an international conference on Production and Circulation of Gender Knowledge in Global South, held from 28th February to 1st March, 2019, organized by Centre for South Asian Studies, Ecole des Hautes en Sciences (EHESS), Paris (France). The presentation was on 28th March, 2019. 6
- Presented a paper on Experiences of Indian Feminist Judgments Project at the Feminist Judgements Project Workshop titled Meeting at the Intersections of Feminist Judgments: The Indian, African and Scottish FJP Workshop, held at the Edinburgh Law School, University of Edinburgh from the 25th to the 26th of July 2019. The presentation was on 25th July, 2019 and deliberations were held on both the days.
- Presented a paper on Contextualising Gender and Policing in Contemporary Delhi based on the Seed Money Project that she had completed in 2018, at the Research Festival, AUD, on 16th January, 2020. The panel was on State, Marginality and Emancipation.
Invited Lectures:
- Evolution of the State in India‘, Special lecture delivered for B.A.LL.B. (H) students at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (GGSIPU), Delhi, 5 December, 2011.
- Invited to and participated in Women and Girls Thematic Workshop conducted by DFID and KPP at the British High Commission on February 20, 2013.
- Invited to and participated in the Women's Group meeting held by Ford Foundation, Delhi, India, on ―Issues of Gender Based Violence and Gender Inequity‖ on February 21, 2013
- Delivered the Inaugural lecture at the inter-college annual symposium of the Economics Society of Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi on 28th February 2014. The title was ―Engendering Delhi Police: Looking at the neo-liberal framework‖ under the theme Gender, Labour and Migration
- Delivered a lecture on ―Spatial Politics of Gender Roles Socialisation‖ at the Inter-College Academic Meet 'Dharini', organized by the Department of Geography, College, University of Delhi on 5th March 2014. The theme of the event was 'Gender, Space and Development'.
- Chaired two sessions titled 'Violence against women and the Media' and ‗Reproductive Rights of Women and Surrogacy‘ at National Conference on Family Structure, Social Change and Law organized by Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (GGSIPU) on 19th and 20th December, 2013
- Was a discussant in the session themed as 'Democracy and Identity Crises' and 'Democracy, Representation and Participation' at a two day national seminar 7 titled 'Democracy, Social Exclusion and Rights in Contemporary India' at Miranda House on April 19, 2016.
- Was an Evaluator for the UGC-Human Resource Development Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru University in the 1st Interdisciplinary Course in Women Studies from 7th November to 2nd December, 2016 at the UGC-HRDC, JNU.
- Was an invited speaker at the Round Table Conference on Creating Safe Cities: Discussion on Strategic Interventions and Innovative Response Mechanisms the 20th of December, 2016 at Juniper Hall, India Habitat Centre, held by Centre for Social Research, New Delhi.
- Chaired a session and delivered a special plenary lecture on Engendering Research at the International Interdisciplinary Seminar titled 'Gender Equity: Reflections, Discourses and Emerging Issues' organized by Sikkim Government College Tadong from February 23-25th, 2017. The lecture was on 25/02/2017.
- Delivered a guest lecture as an invited speaker at Lady Sriram College, University of Delhi, organized by the Department of History on January 23, 2018. The title of the talk was ―Researching the sexual subject of juridical discourse‖.
- Chaired a session at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Oral History Association of India, on Community, Place and Identity: Possibilities of Oral History, held on 1-2, February, 2019 at Ambedkar University Delhi, Kashmere Gate, Delhi.
- Participated as an invited resource person for regional consultation on review of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013 and Women's Property Rights held at NLU, Delhi on 18.01.2019. Organised by National Commission for Women and National Law University, Delhi.
- Co-chaired a session on Gender: Perspectives and Different Voices at an International Conference titled ―Transforming IDEAS (Inter-Disciplinary Exchanges, Analysis and Search) into Viable Solutions (IDEAS - 2019)‖ on 30th March, 2019 at Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi
- Delivered a lecture titled Literature Review: Formulating the Basis for the Study as a resource person at the School of Law, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, at their 4th National Faculty Development Programme on "Legal Research: Innovation and Development" during 4th-10th December, 2019. The lecture was on 6th December, 2019.
- Invited speaker for Panel Discussion during the Dissemination Workshop of CWDS Project on Violence against Girls and Women with Physical 8 Disabilities: Understanding the Issues and Promoting Legal Empowerment. The event was held on Friday, 13th September‘2019 at India International Center Annexe, New Delhi, organized by – Centre for Women‘s Development Studies (CWDS), New Delhi and Women‘s Fund Asia (Formerly South Asia Women‘s Fund).
- Invited as resource person by Centre for Women‘s Development Studies, Delhi to deliver a lecture titled Judgments as a site of violence: A feminist rereading of Tukaram v. State during the ICSSR supported Research Methodology Workshop – Gender in Research and Methods of Inquiry. The session was on 3rd February 2022.
- Invited to deliver the inaugural lecture as chief guest at the Inaugural Ceremony of the 1st Model United Nations hosted by the Department of Geography, Dyal Singh College, University of Delhi. The Inaugural Ceremony shall be held on Thursday, 3rd February 2022.
- Invited to deliver a lecture on ‗Rethinking Law and (Gendered) Justice: Policing as an Institution, Practices and Ideology‘ under the broad theme of the Webinar ―Rethinking Law, Gender and Justice in India‖ on 26th August, 2021 by the School of Gender and Development Studies, IGNOU, Delhi.
- Invited as resource person for an FDP organised by the Department of Law, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies (MAIMS), Delhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar National Law University, Sonepat. The FDP on was "Emerging Issues of Law and Justice in contemporary era" and the session title was The role of women in shaping the next generation of legal professions. The lecture was on 28th July, 2022 at Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies, Sector 22 Rohini (Delhi) .
