Natasha Behl
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Mail code: 3051Campus: West
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Natasha Behl is associate professor in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Arizona State University. Dr. Behl completed her doctorate in political science at University of California, Los Angeles, where her training focused on race, ethnicity, politics and comparative politics.
Dr. Behl explains why the promise of democratic equality remains unrealized, and identifies potential ways to create more egalitarian relations in liberal democracies and the discipline of political science. This intellectual endeavor has demanded that she cross disciplinary boundaries and challenge epistemological and methodological norms in political science to understand the gendered and raced nature of politics as a practice and political science as a discipline. She uses interpretive, feminist, and decolonial methods to examine what are often assumed to be neutral concepts, objective methodologies, and universal institutions, and demonstrate that these very concepts, methodologies, and institutions are gendered and raced such that they determine who enjoys democratic inclusion, who commands academic authority, and who is most vulnerable to violence.
Dr. Behl’s book, Gendered Citizenship: Understanding Gendered Violence in Democratic India, is published with Oxford University Press. The book received the American Political Science Association’s 2021 Lee Ann Fujii Award for Innovation in the Interpretive Study of Political Violence. Her research is published in leading journals like American Political Science Review, PS: Political Science and Politics, Feminist Formations, and Politics, Groups, and Identities. She was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award and Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards at ASU. She was also awarded ASU’s Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award and Social Impact Award.
As a thought leader in social movements and democracy, Dr. Behl has written for The Washington Post and Economic & Political Weekly, commented on the BBC and Public Radio International, and given a TEDx Talk.
Dr. Behl applies her insights as Director of the Anti-Racism Council at ASU's New College, Director of the M.A. in Social Justice & Human Rights, and India Country Conditions Expert for Asylum and Refugee Cases.
- Ph.D. Political Science, University of California-Los Angeles 2010
- M.A. Political Science, University of California-Los Angeles 2006
- B.A. Government, Smith College 2004
Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Gender and Politics
Democracy and Citizenship
Indian Politics
Sikhs and Sikh Diaspora
Social Movements
Book
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Behl, Natasha. 2019. Gendered Citizenship: Understanding Gendered Violence in Democratic India. New York: Oxford University Press.
Book Award: 2021 Lee Ann Fujii Award for Innovation in the Interpretive Study of Political Violence from the American Political Science Association's Interpretive Methodologies and Methods Conference Group
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Behl, Natasha. 2023. "Critical Rereading of Charles Taylor and Reflections on Interpretive Research in Political Science." Qualitative and Multi-Method Research 21 (2): 21-21.
- Behl, Natasha. 2022. "India’s farmers’ protest: an inclusive vision of Indian democracy." American Political Science Review 116 (3): 1141-1146.
- Behl, Natasha. 2022. "Situated Citizenship: A Theoretical and Methodological Intervention." Comparative Political Theory 2 (1): 21-30.
- Behl, Natasha. 2021. "Grounded Normative Theory and Intersectional Differences." Comparative Political Theory 1 (2): 268-272.
- Behl, Natasha. 2020. “Violence and Mentoring: Race, Gender, and Sexual Harassment.” PS: Political Science & Politics 53 (4): 780-783.
- Behl, Natasha. 2019. “Mapping Movements and Motivations: An Autoethnographic Analysis of Racial, Gendered, and Epistemic Violence.” Feminist Formations 31 (1): 85-102.
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Behl, Natasha, Michelle Tellez, Michael Stancliff, and Montye Fuse. 2018. “Writing the Intersection: Feminist Autoethnography as Narrative Collaboration.” Journal of Narrative Politics 5 (1): 30-44.
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Behl, Natasha. 2017. “Gendered Discipline, Gendered Space: An Ethnographic Approach to Gendered Violence in India.” Space & Polity 21 (1): 43-58.
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Behl, Natasha. 2017. “Diasporic Researcher: An Autoethnographic Analysis of Gender and Race in Political Science.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 5 (4): 580-598.
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Behl, Natasha. 2014. “An Embodied Political Analysis of Violence Against Women: Understanding Female Feticide in Punjab.” Journal of Punjab Studies 22 (1).
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Behl, Natasha. 2014. “Situated Citizenship: Understanding Sikh Citizenship through Women’s Exclusion.” Politics, Groups, and Identities 2 (3): 386-401.
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Behl, Natasha. 2009. “Uniformities and Differences of a Sikh Nationalist Identity: Opinions and Practices of Ordinary Sikhs.” Journal of Punjab Studies 16 (2): 199-217.
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters
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Behl, Natasha. 2017. “Gendered Discipline, Gendered Space: An Ethnographic Approach to Gendered Violence in India.” In Digesting the Public Sphere, edited by Sarah Marusek. New York: Routledge. (Space & Polity Article Republished with Routledge Special Issue as Book)
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Behl, Natasha. 2012. “Sikh Minority Identity Formation: Nation and Politics in Postcolonial India.” In Minority Studies, edited by Rowena Robinson, 249-269. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Book Reviews
- Behl, Natasha. 2021. Just Responsibility: A Human Rights Theory of Global Justice. By Brooke Ackerly. New York: Oxford University Press. International Feminist Journal of Politics.
- Behl, Natasha. 2020. Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation. By Imani Perry. Durham: Duke University Press, 2018. Politics & Gender 16 (1): 1-3.
Public Scholarship
- Behl, Natasha. 2024. "India Police block road as farmers threaten to march on capital.” BBC TV News, The Context, February 12, 2024.
- Behl, Natasha. 2021. "How India’s farmers took on its most powerful political party.” The Washington Post, November 21, 2021.
- Behl, Natasha. 2021. "Liberal Democracies and Farmers' Protest." Economic & Political Weekly, April 10, 2021.
- Behl, Natasha. 2020. "Can India’s Protesting Farmers Restore Its Democracy.” The Washington Post, December 7, 2020.
- Behl, Natasha. 2020. "What's Behind the Protests of Indian Farmers." PRI, The World, December 8, 2020.
- Behl, Natasha. 2020. "Protest as a Means of Political Change: An Indian Case Study." Public Seminar, July 3, 2020.
- Behl, Natasha. In Preparation. Politics of Belonging: An Autoethnographic Analysis of Racial, Gendered, and Epistemic Violence in Academia.
Courses
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 593 | Applied Project |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| JHR 590 | Reading and Conference |
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
2024 Summer
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 595 | Continuing Registration |
| JHR 595 | Continuing Registration |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
| JHR 595 | Continuing Registration |
| JHR 595 | Continuing Registration |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 593 | Applied Project |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| JHR 590 | Reading and Conference |
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 593 | Applied Project |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| JHR 590 | Reading and Conference |
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 549 | Capstone Social Just Human Rt |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 591 | Seminar |
| JHR 591 | Seminar |
| JHR 494 | Special Topics |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 525 | Action Research |
| JHR 593 | Applied Project |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| JHR 590 | Reading and Conference |
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 580 | Practicum |
| POS 150 | Comparative Government |
2020 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 590 | Reading and Conference |
| JHR 593 | Applied Project |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| JHR 591 | Seminar |
| JHR 494 | Special Topics |
| JHR 598 | Special Topics |
| POS 494 | Special Topics |
| JHR 580 | Practicum |
2020 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| POS 150 | Comparative Government |
| JHR 525 | Action Research |
| JHR 593 | Applied Project |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| JHR 590 | Reading and Conference |
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 580 | Practicum |
2019 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| JHR 592 | Research |
| JHR 590 | Reading and Conference |
| JHR 593 | Applied Project |
| JHR 599 | Thesis |
| POS 357 | South Asia Politics |
| JHR 591 | Seminar |
| POS 493 | Honors Thesis |
- Politics, Groups, and Identities, Editorial Review Board (2014 - 2019)
American Political Science Association
Western Political Science Association
Women’s Caucus for Political Science
ECPR Standing Group on Gender & Politics
Women Also Know Stuff
People of Color Also Know Stuff
Professional Service
- Section Chair, Interpretive Methodologies and Methods, American Political Science Association (APSA) (2020-2021)
- Section Chair, Gender, Race and Intersectionality, Western Political Science Association (WPSA) Meeting (2020-2021)
- Secretary, Women’s Caucus for Political Science, American Political Science Association (APSA) (2018-2020)
- Section Chair, Interpretation and Method, Western Political Science Association (WPSA) Meeting (2018-2020)
- Leader and Participant, #MeToo PoliSci Workshop, APSA Meeting (2018)
- Outreach Officer, Women’s Caucus for Political Science, APSA (2017-2018)
- Presenter, Mentoring and Marginalization Roundtable, APSA Meeting (2017)
- Participant, Women of Color in Political Science Workshop, APSA Meeting (2017)
- Co-Organizer, Interpretive Methodologies Workshop, WPSA Meeting (2015)
University Service
- Council Member, Honors Faculty Council, Barrett Honors College (2021 - Present)
- Council Member, Anti-Racism Council, NewARC (2020 - Present)
- Committee Member, COVID-19 Advocacy Committee (2020 - Present)
- Faculty Participant, Gendered Violence Research Network, PLuS Alliance (2020 - Present)
- Faculty Lead, Political Science (2019 - Present)
- Co-Chair, Graduate Student Research Talk Series (2018 - Present)
- Faculty Mentor, Mentorship Program for Junior Faculty (2018 - Present)
- Undergraduate Studies Colloquium Series, Faculty Participant (2017)
- Curriculum Committee, B.A. Social Justice and Human Rights, Committee Member (2016 - Present)
- Council for South Asian Studies, Council Member (2015 - Present)
- Graduate Studies Colloquium Series, Faculty Participant (2014)
- Office of Interdisciplinary Global Learning & Engagement, Advisory Board Member (2014 - Present)
- Faculty Ambassador, New College, Faculty Ambassador (2013 - 2018)
- Student Success Committee, M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights, Committee Member (2013 - 2018)
- Young Democrats, Faculty Sponsor (2013 - 2014)