Research Interests
Professor Radhika Balakrishnan's work focuses on gender and development, gender and the global economy, human rights and economic and social rights. Her research and advocacy work has sought to change the lens through which macro-economic policy is interpreted and critiqued by applying international human rights norms to assess macro-economic policy.
Biographical Notes
Radhika Balakrishnan is a professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Rutgers University and holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Rutgers University. Formerly, she held the role of Faculty Director at the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) at Rutgers. Radhika currently sits on the board of the Global Initiative of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) and is a member of the Global Future Council on the Future of the Care Economy. Throughout her career, her roles include serving as a Commissioner for the Commission for Gender Equity for the City of New York and participating in the Global Advisory Council for the United Nations Population Fund. She was the President of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) from 2020 to 2021. She has chaired the board of the United States Human Rights Network and the Board of the Center for Constitutional Rights. Her prior academic experience includes a Professor of Economics and International Studies position at Marymount Manhattan College from 2003 to 2009. Additionally, she contributed her expertise to the Ford Foundation as a program officer in the Asia Regional Program from 1992 to 1995.
Radhika Balakrishnan is the co-author of Rethinking Economic Policy for Social Justice: The radical potential of human rights with James Heintz and Diane Elson (Routledge, 2016). She is the co-editor with Diane Elson of Economic Policy and Human Rights: Holding Governments to Account (Zed Books, 2011). She edited The Hidden Assembly Line: Gender Dynamics of Subcontracted Work in a Global Economy (Kumarian Press, 2001) and co-edited Good Sex: Feminist Perspectives from the World's Religions, with Patricia Jung and Mary Hunt (Rutgers University Press, 200). She is the author of Why MES with Human Rights: Integrating Macro Economic Strategies with Human Rights (Marymount Manhattan College, 2005) and has authored numerous articles in books and journals. Her research and advocacy work has sought to change the lens through which macroeconomic policy is interpreted and critiqued by applying international human rights norms to assess macroeconomic policy.
Selected Publications
- The Integration of Gender and Human Rights into the Post-2015 Development Framework (2013). This report is based on the discussion that took place at the "Post-2015 Expert Group Meeting" held at the Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) from December 13-14, 2012. (editor)
- Balakrishnan, R. & Elson, D. The Post-2015 Development Framework and the Realization of Women's Rights and Social Justice, 2012
- Debt, Power, and Crisis: Social Stratification and the Inequaitable Governance of Financial Markets, Project MUSE - Volume 64, Number 3, September 2012 American Quarterly by James Heintz and Radhika Balakrishnan, 2012
- Balakrishnan, R. & Elson, D., Economic Policy and Human Rights: Holding Governments to Account, Zed Books (2011)
- “Financial Regulation, Capabilities and Human Rights in the US Financial Crisis: The Case of Housing”, coauthored with Diane Elson and James Heintz, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 12:1, 153‐168, 2011
- Maximum Available Resources & Human Rights: Analytical Report (2011)
- Huffington Post: Occupy Wall Street from a Human Rights Lens by Radhika Balakrishnan and James Heintz (November 4, 2011)
- Corporate Control of Our Democracy: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission by Radhika Balakrishnan and James Heintz, The Huffington Post, July 2010
- Making the International Monetary Fund Accountable to Human Rights by Radhika Balakrishnan and James Heintz, The Huffington Post, April 2010
- Balakrishnan, Radhika; Elson, Diane; Patel, Raj, Rethinking Macro Economic Strategies from a Human Rights Perspective, Development, Volume 53, Number 1, March 2010, pp. 27-36(10)
- Why Human Rights are Indispensable to Financial Regulation by Radhika Balakrishnan and James Heintz, The Huffington Post, March 2010
- Balakrishnan, R., Heintz, J., and Seguino, S. A Human Rights Response to the Economic Crisis in the U.S. (2009)
- Rethinking Macro Economic Strategies from a Human Rights Perspective: Why MES with Human Rights II (Spanish Translation: Repensando Estrategias Macroeconómicas desde una Perspectiva de Derechos Humanos: Por qué EME y Derechos Humanos II) (2009)
- Balakrishnan, R. & Elson, D. The Economic Crisis is a Human Rights Issue (2008)
- Balakrishnan, R. & Elson, D. Auditing Economic Policy in the Light of Obligations on Economic and Social Rights (2008)
- Why MES with Human Rights? Integrating Macro Economic Strategies with Human Rights (Spanish Translation: ¿Por qué EME y DERECHOS HUMANOS? Integración de Estrategias Macro Económicas (EME) con Derechos Humanos (2005)
Statements
- The Big Five » Race, Gender and Economic Justice in the U.S., March 9, 2010, NCRW
Interviews
- 16 Days of Activism: Taking on Violence Against Women, Global Fund for Women, November 24, 2010
- From Classrooms to Centre Stage: A Professor Who Speaks for Women by Sakuntala Narsimhan, September 26, 2010
- Flashpoints, Law and Disorder Radio, April 19, 2010
- NGLS Interviews Radhika Balakrishnan, Executive Director, CWGL, January 2010
- CWGL's new executive director, Radhika Balakrishnan, interviewed in Rutgers University Focus Magazine, November 30, 2009
- The Global Economic Crisis through a Human Rights Lens, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre, HuriTalk Insight Series, Issue 6, May 2009
Presentations
- Macroeconomics and Human Rights, Radhika Balakrishnan
Highlights
Videos
- Executive Director, Radhika Balakrishnan, spoke on the economic crisis and human rights panel at the Obama Administration and Human Rights Conference, Washington, DC, April 28-29, 2011
- Brown Bag Seminar with Prof. Radhika Balakrishnan: Rethinking Macro Economic Strategies from a Human Rights Perspective, The Poverty Group of the Bureau for Development Policy, New York, NY, February 16, 2011
- People at the Centre: Human Rights in Global Economics and Development, A Discussion in Commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Conference Room E, North Lawn Building, UN Headquarters, NY. Click here for video of Executive Director Radhika Balakrishnan's presentation, December 5, 2011 (10am-1pm)
- Executive Director, Radhika Balakrishnan, participated in a BBC World News television channel special edition of The World Debate programme on the Millennium Development Goals at the United Nations, New York, NY, September 21, 2010
- Ecologies in the Balance: An Interdisciplinary Conversation, Global Initiatives, Rutgers University, September 23, 2009
Podcasts
- AWID, Transforming Economic Power to Advance Women's Rights and Justice , Istanbul, Turkey April 2012
- Global NGO Forum on Beijing +15, March 5, 2010, File Size: 9.59 MB
