Swethaa Ballakrishnen
By courtesy, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Asian American Studies, and Criminology, Law and Society
Co-Director, Center for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession
Steering Committee Member and Faculty Affiliate, Center in Law, Society & Culture
Co-Convener, Socio-Legal Studies Workshop
Expertise:
Legal Profession, Gender, Critical Feminist and Queer Theory, Global Souths, India
Background:
Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen is a socio-legal scholar whose research examines the intersections between law, globalization and stratification from a critical feminist perspective. Particularly, across a range of sites and different levels of analysis, their work interrogates how law and legal institutions create, continue, and counter different kinds of socio-economic inequalities. Together, these motivations have resulted in three main areas of empirical inquiry. The first is a set of interrelated projects that analyze gender inequality and representation through the lens of comparative legal institutions. The second concentrates on inclusivity in global legal education and the resultant implications for organizational diversity within the legal profession. A third emerging field of interest focuses on transnational migration and its implications for intergenerational mobility, international human rights, and transnational family law.
Scholarship from these projects has appeared (or is forthcoming) in, among other journals, Law and Society Review, Law and Social Inquiry, Fordham Law Review, International Journal of the Legal Profession, and the Journal of Professions and Organization. Alongside this scholarly output, Professor Ballakrishnen’s research has been featured in a range of professional and popular media including Harvard Business Review, Stanford News Report, Above the Law, Bloomberg Law, Quartz, Law School Transparency Radio, The Practice, and WPR. They have presented research at over 50 conferences worldwide, delivered over 25 invited talks in a range of academic and professional settings, and their legal opinions on family and financial laws have been cited by the Probate and Family Court of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit respectively.
Professor Ballakrishnen is an affiliated faculty at the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession, on the board of trustees of the Law and Society Association (LSA), a co-founder of the LSA Collaborative Research Network on Legal Education, and a board member of the ISA Research Committee on Sociology of Law. In 2017-18, they were the AccessLex Visiting Scholar on Legal Education at the American Bar Foundation. For over a decade before entering academia full-time, Professor Ballakrishnen was a legal intern to Hon’ble Justice Arijit Pasayat of the Supreme Court of India, an international banking associate in Mumbai, and an external consultant for cross-border litigation financing in New York City.
Current Courses:
Legal Profession II, GUILT: Gendered Understandings in Law and Legal Theory
Prior Courses:
Legal Profession, Family Law, International Financial and Business Transactions, Legal Methods, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Social Stratification, Sociolegal Research Methods
- Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. 2019. “Present and Future: A Revised Sociological Portrait of the Indian Legal Profession.” Forthcoming in Lawyers in 21st Century Society. Eds. Rick Abel, Ole Hammerslev, Hilary Sommerlad, and Ulrike Schultz. Hart Publishing
- Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. 2019. “Just Like Global Firms: Unintended Parity and Speculative Isomorphism in India’s Elite Professions.” Law and Society Review 53 (1) (108-140)
- Ballakrishnen, Swethaa and Carole Silver. 2019. “A NEW MINORITY? International JD Students in US Law Schools.” Law & Social Inquiry 44 (3), 647-678
- Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. 2018. Review of Ratna Kapur, Gender, Alterity and Human Rights: Freedom in a Fish Bowl. Feminist Legal Studies 27 (1): 1-6.
- Ballakrishnen, Swethaa, Priya Fielding-Singh, and Devon Magliozzi. 2018. “Intentional Invisibility: Professional Women and the Navigation of Workplace Constraints.” Sociological Perspectives 62 (1): 23-41. (2019 Kanter Award Nominee)
- Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. 2018. “Nevertheless They Persisted: Gendered Frameworks and Socialization Advantages in Indian Professional Service Firms.” Canadian Review of Sociology 55 (3): 343-361. (Canadian Review of Sociology 2019 Best Article Award)
- Silver, Carole and Swethaa Ballakrishnen. 2018. “Sticky Floors, Springboards, Stairways and Slow Escalators: Mobility Pathways and Preferences of International Students in U.S. Law Schools.” University of California Irvine Journal of International, Transnational and Comparative Law 3 (39): 101-132.
Casebook Reproduction: Southworth and Fisk Legal Profession (2019) - Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. 2017. "She Gets The Job Done: Entrenched Gender Meanings and New Returns to Essentialism in India’s Elite Law Firms.” Journal of Professions and Organization 4 (3): 324-42.
2017/18 JPO Best Paper Award - Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. 2017. “Women in India’s "Global" Law Firms: Comparative Gender Frames and the Advantages of New Organizations.” The Indian Legal Profession in the Age of Globalization. Eds. David B. Wilkins, Vikramaditya S. Khanna and David Trubek. Cambridge University Press, pp. 240-63.
- Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. 2016. “India (International) Inc.: Global Work and the (Re-)Organization of Professionalism in Emerging Economies.” The Routledge Companion to the Professions and Professionalism. Eds. Mike Dent, Ivy Bourgeault, Jean-Louis Denis and Ellen Kuhlmann. Routledge, pp. 265-82.
- Pearce, Russell, Eli Wald, and Swethaa Ballakrishnen. 2015. “Difference Blindness v. Bias Awareness: Why Law Firms with the Best of Intentions Have Failed to Create Diverse Partnerships.” 83 Fordham Law Review 2407-55.
Casebook Reproduction: Southworth and Fisk Legal Profession (2019)
Invited Talks
- March 3, 2020
"International JD Students in US Law Schools," Center on the Legal Profession, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA - Dec. 4, 2019
"A Conversation with Marc Galanter: Reflections on a Life in Legal Studies, Asian Studies and the Sudy of Social Inequality," NYU Abu Dhabi Global Asia Initiative, Abu Dhabi, UAE - Dec. 4, 2019
"Bhopal, Thirty Five Years After," NYU Abu Dhabi Global Asia Initiative, Abu Dhabi, UAE - Nov. 8, 2019
“Leading Differently Across Difference: Intersectional Gendered Alterities,” Freedman Institute National Leadership Conference. Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York - Oct. 7 & 17, 2019“Accidental Equality: Rethinking Frameworks of Legal Institutions in the Global South”
- Korea University-UCI Symposium. Korea University Law School, Seoul
- Global and International Studies Forum. University of California, Irvine
- Sept. 7, 2019
“Difference Blindness v. Bias Awareness: Why Law Firms With Good Diversity Intentions Still Fail,” LA County Bar Association Diversity Conference, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles - March 8 & June 8-9, 2019
“It is Not (Unless It Is) Discrimination: Model Rules 8.4(g), 1.16, and The Idea Of Good Counsel”- Legal Ethics Schmooze. University of California Irvine School of Law, Irvine
- Third Annual Legal Ethics Conference. California Western School of Law, San Diego
- Feb. 21, 2019
"Intentional Invisibility: Professional Women and the Navigation of Workplace Constraints,"Invited Speaker, Center for the Legal Profession, Stanford Law School, Stanford - Dec. 6, 2018
Transnational Feminisms: Building Solidarities Across Regions and Disciplinary Perspectives. NYU Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE - March 14, 2018
“Just Like Global Firms: Unintended Gender Parity and Speculative Isomorphism in India’s Legal Profession.” Carlos III-Juan Institute Comparative Sociology Speaker Series. Madrid, Spain - Dec. 16, 2017
“The Corporate Legal Sector’s Impact on India.” HLS GLEE Book Launch Conference. Delhi, India - Dec. 8-9, 2017
“Regulation of Legal and Judicial Services.” Stein Center for Law and Ethics. Fordham Law School, New York City - July 21-22, 2017
“Women Legal Academics in India: Who They Are and Where you Need to Look for Them.” Legal Ethics Schmooze. UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles - March 3-4, 2017
“The Importance of Being International?” Legal Education in Crisis Conference. American Bar Foundation, Chicago - May 4 & Oct. 8, 2016
- ABF Speaker Series. American Bar Foundation, Chicago
- Inequality Speaker Series. Lingnan University, Hong Kong
- March 10, 2016
“The Gendered Ideal Worker: Globalization, Gender and Labor In The Legal Profession.” Department of Law & Cynthia Nelson Institute for Gender Studies, American University in Cairo, Egypt - Dec. 14-15, 2015
“Why Hari And Kumar (Don’t) Come To Australia: The Comparative Case of International Law Students.” Symposium on International Law Students, University of New South Wales Law School, Australia - 2014-5
- Cambridge Judge Business School Research Seminar Series. Cambridge University, UK
- The City Law School’s Critical Corporation Workshop Series. City University, UK
- Stanford Center for South Asia Brown Bag Series. Stanford University, Palo Alto
- Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession Speaker Series. Harvard Law School, Cambridge
Conference Presentations
- September 27, 2019
"Compensation and Diversity: Why Lawyers of Color and Women Continue to Make Less in Law Firms, and What Can Be Done About It?," 2019 LACBA Diversity & Inclusion Conference, Los Angeles, CA - May 30 – June 2, 2019
“Diversity and Networking in Law School: Are Students from Diverse Backgrounds Disadvantaged?” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Washington D.C. - June 19-21, 2019
“Invisible Institutions: Rethinking Categories and Conversations.” Research Committee on Sociology of Law Annual Meeting, International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Oñati - June 8, 2018
“Queer Theory of Law and Global Political Economy.” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada - June 7, 2018
“Sticky Floors, Springboards, Stairways & Slow Escalators: Mobility Pathways and Preferences of International Students in U.S. Law Schools.” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada - Aug. 12-15, 2017
"Gen(der) X: New Cultural Revolutions In The Global South And The Restructuring of Women’s Work.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada - June 20-23, 2017
“Present and Future: A Revised Sociological Portrait of the Indian Legal Profession.” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Mexico City, Mexico - Jan. 22-25, 2017
“Beyond Boom, Doom and Balance: India’s Elite Professional Women and The Selective Transformation of Latent Social Capital.” XV National Conference on Women’s Studies, Chennai, India - Aug. 20-23, 2016
“Nothing Ventured, Something Gained: Families, Firms and the Advantage of Absent Social Movements Among India’s Professional Elites.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Seattle - July 14-16, 2016
“Client Relationality as Privilege: The Case of Stratification in Indian Law.” International Legal Ethics Conference, Fordham Law School, New York - June 2-5, 2016
“Present and Future: A Revised Sociological Portrait of the Indian Legal Profession.” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans - May 5-6, 2016
“Mind Your Language: Ascription Metrics and Assimilation Strategies in International Legal Careers” (with Carole Silver). Metrics, Diversity and Law: 2016 Conference of The Research Group on Legal Diversity, American Bar Foundation, Chicago - Jan. 4-5, 2016
“India’s New Professional Elites.” Centre de Sciences Humaines Conference on Elites, Delhi, India - Aug. 22-25, 2015
“Same Same But Different: Unintended Gender Parity in India’s Elite Professions.” Gender and Work Roundtable, American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago - Aug. 7-11, 2015
“Women in Black.” Diversifying Leadership: Perspectives from Women of Color in the US, India, and South Africa, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada - May 28-31, 2015
“Doing Gender Differently: Transitional Markets and Gender Egalitarianism.” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Seattle
- Harvard Business Review: Prof. Ballakrishnen on why women stay out of the spotlight at work
- Harvard Business Review Women at Work podcast: Prof. Ballakrishnen on Intentional Invisibility as a strategy women use at work
- MIT Center for Entrepreneurship: http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/women-and-work-intentional-invisibility/
- Institute of Leadership Management: https://www.institutelm.com/resourceLibrary/how-should-leaders-tackle-invisible-woman-syndrome.html
- In Her Sight: https://www.inhersight.com/blog/insight-commentary/dear-employers-i-wont-act-like-a-man?_n=33155514#