Swethaa Ballakrishnen
Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development
By courtesy, Professor of Sociology, Asian American Studies, and Criminology, Law and Society
Co-Director, Center for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession
Co-Director, Center in Law, Society & Culture, and Steering Committee Member, Law, Society, and Culture Emphasis
Co-Convener, Socio-Legal Studies Workshop
Expertise:
Legal Profession, Gender, Critical Feminist and Queer Theory, Global Souths, India
Background:
Swethaa S. Ballakrishnen (they/them) is a socio-legal scholar whose research examines the intersections between law, globalization and stratification from a critical feminist and global south 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.
Scholarship from Professor Ballakrishnen’s research projects has appeared 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. Their first book, Accidental Feminism (Princeton University Press: 2021), unpacks the case of unintentional gender parity among India’s elite legal professionals; a second book Invisible Institutions (Hart Publishing: 2021, ed. with Sara Dezalay) brings together cross-subjective perspectives on legal globalization; and a third book, Gender Regimes and the Politics of Privacy (Zubaan Books, with Kalpana Kannabiran) investigates the gendered legacies of India’s privacy jurisprudence. These strains of research have received a range of honors and awards, including from the National Science Foundation, the American Sociological Association, and the Law and Society Association; and in 2022, Ballakrishnen was awarded the campus-wide UCI Distinguished Early-Career Award for Research. You can read more about their research praxis and commitments here.
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, New Books Network, and WPR. They have presented research at over 100 conferences worldwide, delivered over 50 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 committed to building and serving socio-legal communities, especially ones that focus on critical questions concerning legal education and the profession. At UCI, they co-run the Center for Empirical Research on the Legal Profession, the Socio-Legal Studies Workshop, and the Law, Society, and Culture Emphasis. In addition, beyond UCI, they are affiliated faculty at the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession, on the board of trustees of the Law and Society Association (LSA) and the ISA Research Committee on Sociology of Law, a co-founder of the LSA Collaborative Research Network on Legal Education, and on the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Empirical Study of Legal Education and the Legal Profession. In 2017-18, they were the AccessLex Visiting Scholar on Legal Education at the American Bar Foundation. In 2020, Professor Ballakrishnen was named a AALS Teacher of the Year.
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.
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Books
- 2021. Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility Among India's New Legal Professionals. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021 Co-Winner of the ASA Sociology of Law Distinguished Book Award, 2022 Honorable Mention, Law and Society Association Herbert Jacob Book Prize
- 2021. Ballakrishnen, Swethaa and Sara Dezaley. Eds. Invisible Institutionalisms: Collective Reflections From the Shadows of Legal Globalization. London: Hart Publishing
- 2021. Kalpana Kannabiran and Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. Gender Regimes and the Politics of Privacy: Constitutional Negotiations of Sociality in India. New Delhi: Zubaan Books (Chicago: University of Chicago)
Book Chapters
- 2022. Silver, Carole and Swethaa Ballakrishnen. “International Student Mobility in Context: Understanding Variations in Sticky Floors, Springboards, Stairways, and Slow Escalators.” | The Globalization of Legal Education: A Critical Perspective. Eds. Bryant Garth, Greg Shaffer, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 476-520
- 2021. Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. “India’s Women Legal Academics: Who They Are and Where You May Find Them.” | Gender and Careers in the Legal Academy, Eds. Ulrike Schultz, Gisela Shaw, Margaret Thornton, Rosemary Auchmuty, London: Hart, pp. 86-95
- 2021. Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. “Intha Gnalamum Poy Thaano - Imagining the Other in Contract.” | The Cabinet of Imaginary Laws, Eds. Peter Goodrich and Thanos Zartaloudis, London: Routledge pp. 78-85
- 2020 Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. "India's Legal Profession: Present and Future, A Revised Sociological Portrait." | Lawyers in 21st Century Society, Eds. Rick Abel, Ole Hammerslev, Hilary Sommerlad, and Ulrike Schultz, Hart Publishing, pp – 713-733
- 2020. Ballakrishnen, Swethaa and Carole Silver. "Language, Culture, and the Culture of Language: International JD Students in US Law Schools." | Power, Legal Education and Law School Cultures, Eds. Elizabeth Mertz, Meera Deo and Mindie Lazarus-Black. Routledge, pp – 191-223
Articles
- 2023. Law School as Straight Space Colloquium: In Memory of Deborah Rhode. Fordham Law Review, vol.
91, no. 4, March 2023, pp. 1113-1138. - 2023. Pluralistic Professionalisms: Religious Identity, Excluded Voice, and a Toolkit for the Periphery. Texas A&M Law Review, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 89-112
- 2023. Swethaa Ballakrishnen. Anti/Aunty as Critical Method: From Gendered Resistance to Soft Grace, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies
- 2022. Swethaa Ballakrishnen, Susanne Karstedt and Martin Ramstedt. Institutional Memory Papers, Vol.12 No S1. Onati Socio-Legal Studies
- 2022. Swethaa Ballakrishnen and Sarah Lawsky*. Law, Legitimacy, and Systemic Inequalities. Reading Meera Deo's Unequal Profession with Debbie Tuerkheimer's Credible | Law and Social Inquiry 47(3) doi:10.1017/lsi.2022.20
- 2022. Carole Silver and Swethaa Ballakrishnen. "Where Do We Go From Here: International Students, Post-Pandemic Law Schools, and the Possibilities of Universal Design" | Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law 2022(8): 313-73
- 2021. Ballakrishnen, Swethaa. Managing Sudden Death, Grief, and Loss in Close Community. Not Your Usual Law Review Essay | 74 Stanford Law Review Online 20-27
- 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
Textbooks and Casebooks
- 2022. Professional Responsibility: A Contemporary Approach. 5th Edition, MN: West Academic (co-edited with Knake Jefferson, Pearce, Green, Joy, Kim, Murphy, Terry, and Brown)
- 2022. Women and the Law, 2021-22 Ed. MN: Thomas Reuters (editorial board with Kraiem, Abrams, Kukura, Rosario, Cantalupo, and Marvel)
- July 17-18, 2024
International Legal Ethics Conference in Amsterdam, International Association of Legal Ethics - July 8, 2024
Presenter, “Law's Filmy Imaginations about the South Asian History of Queerness,” University of Edinburgh Law School - July 5, 2024
Presenter, “Sort Of: Law, Love, and Queer Sociality in Mainstream South Asian Representations,” Dundee Law School - June 27, 2024
Presenter on Blasé discrimination and interactional inequalities and panel moderator, Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) conference at the University of Limerick - June 26, 2024
Presenter, Pride Week Talk based on “Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility Among India’s Professional Elite” (Princeton University Press 2021), Trinity College Dublin School of Law - April 11, 2024:
9th Annual Minority Seminar, Many Gazes of Law: Plurality and Ordering, Keynote Session 4: Law as Legal Profession - February 10, 2024:
ClassCrits XIV, themed “Demanding Justice in the Face of Retrenchment: Finding Common Ground and Building Coalition Across Borders.”Panel titled “Revisiting Race & Class” - Oct. 19-22, 2022:
Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison - Oct. 18-19, 2022:
Fordham Law Review Symposium, New York - Aug. 13-15, 2022:
International Legal Ethics Conference, UCLA - Aug. 5-8, 2022:
American Sociological Association Annual Conference, Los Angeles - July 29, 2022:
Panelist, Trans Law Institute Annual Conference, Los Angeles - July 26-28, 2022:
Panelist, Transnational Contact Zones: African and South Asian Sexualities and Genders, Future Africa Campus, University of Pretoria - July 13-16, 2022:
Law and Society Association Annual Conference, University Institute of Lisbon - July 9-11, 2022:
Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, University of Amsterdam - July 6-8, 2022:
European Conference on Politics and Gender, University of Ljubljana - June 16, 2022:
Association for the Study of Law, Culture, and Humanities Annual Conference - May 30, 2022:
Accidental Feminism Book Talk, Åbo Akademi University, Turku - May 26, 2022:
Accidental Feminism Book Talk, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark - May 25, 2022:
Accidental Feminism Book Talk, Lund University School of Law, Sweden - May 24, 2022:
Sociology Seminar Series, Lund University, Sweden - April 21, 2022:
Gender and Political Economy Roundtable, Georgetown University - April 12, 2022:
Anthropology and Sociology Seminar Series, Graduate Institute Geneva - April 11, 2022:
Centre en Études Genre Seminar Talk, University of Lausanne - April 8, 2022:
Accidental Feminism Book Talk, Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, Zurich - March 17, 2022:
Faculty Workshop, University of California Davis School of Law - March 4, 2022:
Law Review Annual Symposium, Texas A+M School of Law - Feb. 28, 2022:
Faculty Workshop, Cardozo School of Law - Feb. 15, 2022:
Department Colloquia, Brown University Sociology
- Received a Nominated Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities in Edinburgh, Scotland.
- 2022-2023 Distinguished Early-Career Faculty Award for Research, UCI Academic Senate
- 2022 Honorable Mention for Herbert Jacob Book Prize, Law and Society Association
- Faculty Roundup: The Latest Highlights From UCI Law’s Faculty (July 2024)
- Professor Swethaa Ballakrishnen Awarded Law and Society Association Global Collaboration Grant
- Faculty Roundup: The latest highlights from UCI Law’s faculty
- Faculty Roundup: The latest highlights from UCI Law’s faculty
- The Sociological Review: Uncommon Sense
- Law.com: Women in Academic Leadership Still Face Systemic Barriers
- UCI Law Leadership and Presenters at 2024 AALS Annual Meeting: “Defending Democracy”
- New Book, “Big Money Unleashed: The Campaign to Deregulate Election Spending,” by UCI Law Professor Ann Southworth, Available for Pre-Order
- Texas A&M Law Review: Choices: The Many Routes to Justice and Peace with Dispute Resolution, Ethics, and Feminism
- Scroll.in: Prof. Ballakrishnen's book Accidental Feminism featured on shortlist for New India Foundation’s annual Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize for 2022
- Empirical Study of Legal Education and the Legal Profession: Prof. Ballakrishnen featured in Winter 2021 Newsletter
- Law and Society Association: Prof. Ballakrishnen receives honorable mention for Herbert Jacob Book Prize
- New Books Network: Prof. Ballakrishnen interviews with New Books Network on Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility Among India’s Professional Elite
- American Bar Foundation: Prof. Ballakrishnen highlighted by Fellows of the American Bar Foundation for research and scholarship on law and society
- Law.com: Prof. Ballakrishnen highlighted for $500k+ NSF grant to fund research on diversity and networking in law school
- Lekh Podcast: LISTEN: Prof. Ballakrishnen discusses their book “Accidental Feminism”
- Oxford Human Rights Hub: Prof. Ballakrishnen’s book ‘Accidental Feminism’ reviewed by Isha Bhallamudi for analysis of gender parity in India
- UCI News: Prof. Ballakrishnen named a 2021-22 UCI Hellman Fellow
- UCI Law: Two UCI Law Faculty Members Named 2020 AALS Teachers of the Year
- Princeton University Press: Prof. Ballakrishnen’s new book “Accidental Feminism: Gender Parity and Selective Mobility among India’s Professional Elite” publishes on Jan. 12
- Bloomberg: Prof. Ballakrishnen quoted on lack of women lawyers in India and the need for greater gender diversity
- UCI Law: UCI Law Assistant Professor of Law Swethaa Ballakrishnen Recognized with Honorary Mention of 2020 Adam Podgorecki Prize
- Journal of Indian Law and Society Blog: Q&A interview with Prof. Ballakrishnen on legal education, teaching, identity and equity
- 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#