Raghavi Viswanath

Raghavi Viswanath is a postdoctoral researcher at the SOAS School of Law and a teaching fellow for the 'Law and Society in South Asia' module. She leads research on authoritarianism's impact on nomadic communities' land claims under the Leverhulme-funded project 'The Social Life of Law in Authoritarian Contexts'. Her academic work integrates international law, cultural rights, and ethnographic methodologies.

• Education: Leiden Law School (International Law/Public Policy), University of Oxford, National Law Institute University (Bhopal, India)
• Doctoral Focus: Multimedia ethnography of cultural rights in international law, fieldwork with Irular semi-nomadic communities in India

Raghavi specializes in international criminal law, cultural heritage governance, and epistemic justice. Her research bridges legal frameworks with anthropological insights, challenging colonial legacies in heritage policies. She co-founded the Law and Humanities Hub at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

Policy Work: Legislative consultant for cultural rights collectives in India, Kenya, and Italy; member of ICOMOS Rights-Based Approaches Working Group. Teaching: Taught at 6 universities including University of Torino, National Law School of India University, and European University Institute.

Publications: Contributions to International Criminal Law Review, Asian Journal of International Law, and Journal of International Criminal Justice. Edited special issues on epistemic divides in heritage policy and anti-colonial legal discourses.