Sunaina Arya (She/Her)

Fellow, Centre for Justice, Law and Society

Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School

Dr. Sunaina Arya is an Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, India. A trained philosopher, she holds an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Centre for Philosophy at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, with a specialization in Dalit Feminist Philosophy. Her research critically engages with the intersections of caste, gender, and justice. Internationally recognized for her pioneering scholarship, Dr. Arya’s work brings Dalit perspectives into global feminist discourse, reshaping dominant paradigms and expanding the boundaries of philosophical inquiry.

She authored the landmark volume Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader (Routledge, 2020), which centers the voices, concerns, and epistemological contributions of Dalit women. Her essay, Ambedkar as a Feminist Philosopher (Oxford University Press, 2021), offers a bold and widely acclaimed reinterpretation of B.R. Ambedkar’s political thought through a feminist lens.

In 2019, Dr. Arya received an Honorable Mention for the Bluestone Rising Scholar Prize, awarded by the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, USA, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to Critical Caste Studies. She also co-edited the gender special issue of Caste: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion, in collaboration with Prof. Ashok Gurung of The New School, USA.

Dr. Arya has delivered invited lectures at globally leading institutions, including Columbia University, the University of California at San Diego, Northwestern University, the University of Texas, the University of Georgia, The New School, and the University of British Columbia. Her deliberations reflect a deep commitment to decolonizing knowledge systems and advancing intersectional feminist praxis.

Beyond academic responsibilities, she serves on the Advisory Board of Just Futures Pahal, a Ford Foundation–supported initiative in Nepal dedicated to inclusive development, feminist leadership, and transformative justice in South Asia.

She is currently working on a monograph that further develops the epistemological foundations of Dalit Feminist discourse. The book explores the entanglements of caste, gender, and knowledge production, offering a critical framework for rethinking resistance, power, and epistemic justice.