Ashwini Vasanthakumar

Biography

"Dr Ashwini Vasanthakumar joined The Dickson Poon School of Law in September 2016 as a Lecturer in Politics, Philosophy & Law. She is also a researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies (Stockholm) on the project ‘The Boundary Problem in Democratic Theory’, and an external affiliate of the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security (Osgoode Hall Law School). Previously, she was a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of York, a Term Fellow in Political Theory at University College, Oxford, and a Yale Ruebhausen Fellow and Assistant Professor at the Jindal Global Law School. Dr Vasanthakumar holds an AB in Social Studies from Harvard; an MA in Political Theory from the University of Toronto; a JD from Yale Law School; and a DPhil in Political Theory from Oxford, where she studied as a Canadian Rhodes Scholar."   "Dr Ashwini Vasanthakumar joined The Dickson Poon School of Law in September 2016 as a Lecturer in Politics, Philosophy & Law. She is also a researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies (Stockholm) on the project ‘The Boundary Problem in Democratic Theory’, and an external affiliate of the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security (Osgoode Hall Law School). Previously, she was a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of York, a Term Fellow in Political Theory at University College, Oxford, and a Yale Ruebhausen Fellow and Assistant Professor at the Jindal Global Law School. Dr Vasanthakumar holds an AB in Social Studies from Harvard; an MA in Political Theory from the University of Toronto; a JD from Yale Law School; and a DPhil in Political Theory from Oxford, where she studied as a Canadian Rhodes Scholar."  

Research Interest

My research interests and training are in contemporary political theory and law. My current research focuses on questions of political membership and obligation in the context of migration and transnationalism. I also have interests in comparative constitutionalism, especially in the 'global South,' and privatisation. Current research projects include: the political obligations and activism of exiles; the role of allegiance in citizenship; survivors' special responsibilities to resist oppression; privatisation and border control; and the boundary problem in democratic theory.