Skip to main content
MIT Corporate Relations
MIT Corporate Relations
Search
×
Read
Watch
Attend
About
Connect
MIT Startup Exchange
Search
Sign-In
Register
Search
×
MIT ILP Home
Read
Faculty Features
Research
News
Watch
Attend
Conferences
Webinars
Learning Opportunities
About
Membership
Staff
For Faculty
Connect
Faculty/Researchers
Program Directors
MIT Startup Exchange
User Menu and Search
Search
Sign-In
Register
MIT ILP Home
Toggle menu
Search
Sign-in
Register
Read
Faculty Features
Research
News
Watch
Attend
Conferences
Webinars
Learning Opportunities
About
Membership
Staff
For Faculty
Connect
Faculty/Researchers
Program Directors
MIT Startup Exchange
Back to Faculty/Researchers
Prof. Balakrishnan Rajagopal
Associate Professor of Law and Development
Director, Program on Human Rights and Justice (PHRJ)
Primary DLC
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
MIT Room:
9-518
(617) 258-7721
braj@mit.edu
Areas of Interest and Expertise
International Legal Process
International Human Rights Law and Development
Property
International Development and Regional Planning (IDRP)
National and International Security
Globalization
Research Summary
rofessor Rajagopal's current research is in five areas: a) development-induced displacement including through large projects; b) human rights and globalization, especially relating to corporate social responsibility; c) economic, social and cultural rights particularly relating to environment, land and housing, in comparative public and private law; 4) social movements and multi-level governance including new ways of organizing political power and authority; and 5) the relationship between critical social and legal theory and progressive practice in planning and economic development. In the past, he assisted the World Commission on Dams to develop a legal and policy framework on the human rights implications of large dams and has consulted with UNDP on the articulation of a human rights approach to development planning and policy. He has lectured on economic and social rights at the Institute for International Judges and on housing rights in Porto Alegre, Brazil. His research is focused primarily on South and Southeast Asia and also on the legal systems of Brazil and South Africa. He is currently working on his next book, which is a comparative study of the judicialization/legalization of socio-economic rights in Brazil, India and South Africa. He is also directing a major research project on manual scavenging and sustainable sanitation in India.
Recent Work
Projects
July 12, 2016
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Property in Land, Takings and Fair Compensation: A Comparative Analysis
Principal Investigator
Balakrishnan Rajagopal
September 3, 2014
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Displacement Research and Action Network (DRAN)
Principal Investigator
Balakrishnan Rajagopal
November 11, 2001
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Program on Human Rights and Justice (PHRJ)
Principal Investigator
Balakrishnan Rajagopal
November 3, 2001
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
History of Development, Law and Coloniality
Principal Investigator
Balakrishnan Rajagopal
November 1, 2001
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Development, Human Rights and the Search for Justice
Principal Investigator
Balakrishnan Rajagopal
November 1, 2001
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Globalization and Local Governance
Principal Investigator
Balakrishnan Rajagopal
Related Faculty
Prof. Sarah E Williams
Associate Professor of Architecture and Planning
Ovadia R Simha
Research Affiliate
Bhuvan Atluri
Program Manager, MIT Mobility Initiative (MMI)