Vasudha Chhotray

Vasudha Chhotray is a Professor of Politics and Development at the School of Global Development, University of East Anglia (UEA). She is a member of the Global Environmental Justice research group, the Water Security Research Centre, and the State, Governance and Conflict research cluster. Her interdisciplinary research bridges development studies, comparative politics, and political ecology, with a strong regional focus on India and South Asia.

• PhD in Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
• Professor, School of Global Development, University of East Anglia
• School Post-Graduate Research Director (Spring Semester)

Her research focuses on the politics of natural resource use, extractive regimes, disaster recovery, citizenship, and environmental justice. She employs critical, interdisciplinary approaches to examine how development policies emerge in subnational contexts and how they affect marginalised populations. Key themes include extractive industries, coal transitions, citizenship documentation, and the governance of climate and disaster recovery.

Her recent publications and research projects reveal a strong trend toward climate justice, just energy transitions, and long-term disaster recovery. She investigates how coal mine closures can support sustainable livelihoods and how dignity and social differentiation shape recovery processes in India. Her work emphasizes participatory methodologies and interdisciplinary insights.

• FORMAS-funded: 'The end of coal and the future of land' (2023–2025)
• British Academy-funded: 'Recovery with Dignity' (2018–2020)
• DFID, IDRC, NWO, ESPA, and UNDP-funded projects on governance, adaptation, and ecosystem services
• Felix Scholarship, ESRC and British Academy fellowships

Vasudha Chhotray supervises PhD students on topics including agrarian change, wind power, transboundary hydropolitics, and Adivasi livelihoods. She has led research teams across India, South Africa, and Mexico. Her lab and collaborative work involve interdisciplinary teams focusing on global environmental justice, water security, and political governance in development contexts.