Ravi Rajan’s research addresses two broad themes:

Environmental History and Theory

With emphases on:

• The political economy of environment – development conflicts in the Global South
• The relationship between the environment and human rights
• The environmental basis of poverty, and
• Green and social entrepreneurship as agencies of change.

Policy Relevant Social Science

With emphases on:

• The governance of environmental risks and disasters
• Public health and chronic disease in developing countries
• Science and Technology Policy and the Sociology of Expertise
• Governance Science
• Inverse Infrastructures

Rajan’s goal is to conduct and nurture rigorous research that can anticipate and respond to the next generation of policy challenges. His approach is borne out of the conviction that good public policy can only be made on the foundation of a sound understanding of social and cultural contexts and of history. He therefore draws upon the methodologies of disciplines such as analytical philosophy, environmental and economic history, geography, and sociology.

Please browse the publications pages for a select list of works on these topics.