JHU - Department of Sociology : Rina Agarwala

Rina Agarwala earned her Doctor in Philosophy (Ph.D.) in sociology and demography at Princeton University. At Princeton, Agarwala was affiliated with the Office of Population Research and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Agarwala’s research interests include social demography, inequality, international development and globalization, social movements, labor, and gender. Her dissertation entitled “From Work to Welfare: Informal Workers’ Organizations and the State in India,” examines democratic participation among poor women workers as state welfare rhetoric and policy declines on the one hand and the percentage of insecure and unprotected informal labor increases on the other hand. In particular, it investigates (1) how the informal nature of employment affects workers’ collective action strategies, and (2) what role the state plays in affecting informal workers’ ability to secure labor benefits.

Currently, Agarwala is co-editing a volume with Ron Herring entitled, Recovering Class: Reflections from the Subcontinent. This volume seeks to reassert the analytical utility (and limitations) of class in explaining the differentiation of life chances and political dynamics in South Asia. The scholars in the volume use a critical and empirical approach to investigate and refine the contributions and limits of class in understanding politics and allocative patterns in a globalizing South Asia. In addition to analyzing why class analysis has fallen out of favor among contemporary scholars of South Asia, the volume examines the dynamic social processes of middle classes, formal proletariat, informal proletariat, and farmers in India and Pakistan.

Prior to beginning her Ph.D., Agarwala worked in the development field at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in China, the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in India, and Women’s World Banking (WWB) in New York. Agarwala holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and government from Cornell University and a Masters in Public Policy in political and economic development from Harvard University.

COURSES

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

SOC 230.150 Issues in International Development

SOC 230.318 State and Society Relation in Modern India

SOC 230.324 Gender & International Development

SOC 230.625 Seminar on International Development

Agarwala, Rina. Forthcoming. “Reshaping the social contract: Emerging relations between the state and informal labor in India.” Theory and Society

Agarwala, Rina. 2007 - "Resistance and Compliance in the Age of Globalization: Indian Women and Labor Organizations," in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 610, March.

Agarwala, Rina and Scott M. Lynch. June 2006. "Refining the Measurement of Women's Autonomy: an International Application of a Multi-dimensional Construct. Social Forces, V. 84, No. 4, pp. 2077-2099.

Agarwala, Rina. 2006. "From Work to Welfare: A New Class Movement in India." Critical Asian Studies. Vol. 38, No. 4, December. (Pp. 419-445)

Herring, Ronals and Rina Agarwala. 2006. "Introduction: Restoring Agency to Class: Puzzles from the Subcontinent." Critical Asian Studies. Vol. 38, No. 4, December. (pp. 323-357)

\| Home \| About the Department \| Undergraduate Program \|Graduate Program \| News & Events \| People Directory \| \| Research \| Resources \| Contact Information \| QuickLinks \| © 2004 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.