Dr Sreeparna Chattopadhyay
Associate Professor
Dr Sreeparna Chattopadhyay’ s research, teaching, and advocacy in the last 18 years can be broadly divided into three interlinked themes: 1) Gendered violence such as domestic and sexual violence in India. 2) Unmasking intersectional inequities including those emanating from health systems that tend to disproportionately affect religious minorities and indigenous populations. 3)Analyses of reproduction using a political ecology and a biocultural approach that disentangles the contributions of global health initiatives, local-level technocratic interventions, environmental degradation leading to increasing food insecurity, and the social determinants of health. She has received several international grants such as awards from the National Science Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the Population Reference Bureau to support her work. She has published in multiple international peer-reviewed journals. Her book The Gravity of Hope which examines the interlinkages between domestic and structural violence was published in 2024. Her research has also been covered by the national press in India, as well as internationally by the BBC. She has worked for the government, academia, and non-profits in India, the US, and the UK. She is deeply invested in translational research so that research insights can be disseminated to the public and policymakers for greater impact and writes extensively for independent digital platforms and the popular press.
必威体育betway888 Law School (MLS) Bengaluru
Qualification: PhD , Cultural Anthropology, 2007 (Brown University), AM Cultural Anthropology and Demography, 2003 (Brown University), BA (Hons) Economics, 2001 (St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai)
CURRENT ACADEMIC ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
Associate Professor
a) ORCID :?https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1077-2162
b) Google Scholar :?https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=24p4bPAAAAAJ&hl=en
AREAS OF INTEREST, EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH
Area of Interest
Reproductive Justice, Bioethics, Health Systems, Gender-based violence, Climate Change and Health, Interlinkages between legal systems and social inequalities
Area of Expertise
Medical Anthropology, Public Health, Demography, 必威体育betway888 Asian Studies, Family Studies, Sociology of Law
Area of 必威体育betway888
Dr Chattopadhyay’s current research has three interconnected strands that foregrounds reproductive justice: discourses of respectful maternity care in the context of institutional births in India, reasons for non-reproduction in urban India and feminist epistemology in bioethics.
Professional Affiliations & Contributions
Co-editor of Feminist Anthropology, a journal of the American Anthropological Association.
Publication details :
2015-2025
I Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
1. Chattopadhyay, S. (2025) Locating vulnerability among childfree men in urban India Journal of Gender Studies; https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2025.2492202 [Scopus, Q1 for Gender Studies]
2. Rao, A., Srinidhi, V., Karachiwala, B., S. Sanjana, S.R Seshadri, S. Thomas, S. Chattopadhyay, A. Sreevathsa & G. Sen. (2024) How power and knowledge hierarchies affect communication in intrapartum care: findings from public health facilities in two southern Indian districts. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 24, 781. (Scopus, Q1 for Health Studies) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-024-06973-3
3. Chattopadhyay, S and Roy Chowdhury Joyita (2024) Does Religion Affect Women’s Agency? Empirical Evidence from India Journal of Economics, Race and Policy (Scopus, Q2 for Social Sciences)
4. Torres, M. G., Chattopadhyay, S., Petillo, A., & Bloom, A. (2023). Justice, rights and the futures of reproduction. Feminist Anthropology, 4 (2), 136-138. (Scopus, Q1 for Anthropology)
5. Chattopadhyay, Sreeparna and Bregje De Kok (2023) Making research ethics work for global health: Towards a more agile and collaborative approach BMJ Global Health Open Access: https://gh.bmj.com/content/8/7/e011415.info (Scopus Q1, for Health, Anthropology, Medicine)
6. April Petillo, Sreeparna Chattopadhyay, Gabriela Torres and Allison Bloom Markings: Healing, Possibility and Transition (2023) Feminist Anthropology https://doi.org/10.1002/fea2.12117
7. Chattopadhyay, Sreeparna and Juhi Siddharth (2022) Gender Norms, Domestic Violence and the 必威体育betway888ern Indian Puzzle Economic and Political Weekly (EPW Engage) 57(30) https://www.epw.in/engage/article/gender-norms-domestic-violence-and-southern-indian
8. Chattopadhyay, Sreeparna and Suraj Jacob (2022) Oils, Oxytocin, and Obstetrics: Narratives of Changing Birth Practices in India. 必威体育betway888 Asia 必威体育betway888 doi:10.1177/02627280221105126 (Scopus Q2 for Social Sciences & Humanities in 必威体育betway888 Asia)
9. Sen, Gita, Aditi Iyer, Chattopadhyay, Sreeparna and Khosla, Rajat. (2020) "When accountability meets power: Realizing sexual and reproductive health and rights." 必威体育betway888 Journal for Equity in Health 19, no. 1 1-11 (Scopus Q1 for Health)
10. Chattopadhyay, S. (2019) “The Responses of Health Systems to Marital Sexual Violence – A Perspective from 必威体育betway888ern India”. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10926771.2018.1494235 (Scopus Q1 for Health Sciences and Psychology)
11. Jacob, S and Chattopadhyay, S (2019) “Speaking of Abuse: The Pyramid of Reporting Domestic Violence in India”. Economic and Political Weekly. 54(1): 53-63. [ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846].
12. Chattopadhyay, S. (2018). “The Shifting Axes of Marginalities: The Politics of Identities Shaping Women’s Experiences during Childbirth in Northeast India”. Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/09688080.2018.1502022 (Scopus Q1 for Health)
13. Chattopadhyay, S., Mishra, A., Jacob, S. (2017) “Safe Yet Violent: Women’s Experiences with Obstetric Violence during Hospital Births in Rural Northeast India” Culture, Health and Sexuality. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2017.1384572 (Scopus Q1 for Anthropology and Health)
14. Chattopadhyay, S. (2017): “Gendering Legal Discourse: A Critical Feminist Analysis of Domestic Violence Adjudication in India” The Journal of Law, Social Justice and Global Development, University of Warwick [open access indexed by the electronic journal project]
15. Behera, A. K., Mishra, A., & Chattopadhyay, S. (2016). “A Real Man!” Global Health Action, 9(10): 34. http://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v9.34140 (Q1 Scopus for Health)
16. Jacob, S and Chattopadhyay, S (2016) “Marriage Dissolution in India – Evidence from the 2011 Census”. Economic and Political Weekly 51(33): 25-27.
II Book
Chattopadhyay, Sreeparna (2024) The Gravity of Hope: Violence and Vulnerability in Urban India, Crossed Arrows Publications, Calcutta, India.
III Book Chapters
1. Chattopadhyay, S (2022) “Individuals, institutions, and the global political economy: unpacking intentionality in obstetric violence” in Birth controlled- Selective reproduction and neoliberal eugenics in 必威体育betway888 Africa and India. pp 210-242 Edited by Amrita Pande. Manchester University Press. (Scopus Indexed)
2. Chattopadhyay, S (2021) “Witnessing Vulnerability and the Vulnerable Witness – Gendering Emotions in Fieldwork” in Transdisciplinary Ethnography in India. Pp 69-85 Edited by Rosa Maria Perez and Lina Fruzzetti. Routledge, London. (Scopus Indexed)
3. Chattopadhyay, S (2020) “The Art of the Possible: An Exploration of Artistic Interventions to Address Marital Rape in India” in Sexual Violence in Intimacy Implications for 必威体育betway888 and Policy in Global Health. pp139-146 Edited by Gabriela Torres and Krsti Yllo. Routledge, London. (Scopus Indexed)