Soma Chaudhuri is a qualitative sociologist whose research lies at the intersection of gender, development, social movements, witch hunts and violence. She studies how violence at the community and household level is used to legitimize structural and institutional level gender inequalities that specifically disadvantage grassroots women. Relatedly she explores the role of non-state actors in creating effective strategies for encountering such violence through empowerment programs, the impact it has on women’s lives, and reasons for failure of such programs. Methodologically Professor Chaudhuri specializes in building large qualitative datasets and has experience with data collections across regions.
Professor Chaudhuri’s research has appeared in American Journal of Sociology, Mobilization; Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change; Sociology of Development; Contexts; and Sociological Forum among others.
Her research has been funded by several grants including the National Science Foundation and Social Science Research Council. She is on the editorial board of Sociology of Development and International Journal of Sociology.
Professor Chaudhuri is currently an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology at Michigan State University. She is the Co-Director of Global Research for the Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen) which is the university’s hub for gender-based research and curriculum. At the GenCen she leads efforts for research team building and networking for international research.
Selected Publications
- Chacko, E., Sanyal, P., Chaudhuri, S., & Purkayastha, B. (2023). Caregiving and care receiving among Asian Indian immigrants in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Geographical Review, 113(4), 502-518.
- Yakubu, A., & Chaudhuri, S. (2022, September). Potential opportunities and challenging realities: Organizations’ experiences while accessing resources and advocating on behalf of survivors of domestic violence in Ghana. In Women’s Studies International Forum (Vol. 94, p. 102620). Pergamon.
- Cobbina‐Dungy, J., Chaudhuri, S., LaCourse, A., & DeJong, C. (2022). “Defund the police:” Perceptions among protesters in the 2020 March on Washington. Criminology & public policy, 21(1), 147-174.
- Cobbina, J., LaCourse, A., Brooke, E. J., & Chaudhuri, S. (2021). Protesting during a pandemic: Narratives on risk taking and motivation to participating in the 2020 march on Washington. Crime & Delinquency, 67(8), 1195-1220.
