EDUCATION

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• Diploma in Creative Writing: Advanced Non-Fiction, University of Cambridge, 2025-26.

• PhD in Sociology, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, November 2021.

• MSc in Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (Chevening Scholar), September 2016.

• B.Com (Honours), Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi, India, July 2012.          

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FULL-TIME ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

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​​Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, University of Bath (Sept 2025 - April 2026) and King's College London (May 2026 onwards)

Read more about the project here.

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Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Management, University of Bath (2021-25)

United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded project to research exploitation at work and interventions to address it in India and the UK’s garment and software global value chains.

 

PUBLICATIONS

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Book

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Agarwal, P. Fictions of Freedom: Migration, Modern Slavery and Bureaucracy in India. Cambridge University Press. (forthcoming)

 

Peer-reviewed journal articles (open-access)

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1. Agarwal, P. (2025). From an event to a process: Reimagining "modern slavery" rescue. Sociology, 0(0). Available here. 

2. Agarwal, P. (2024). What happens after ‘modern slavery’ rescues? A case of rescued bonded labourers in ‘waiting’ in India. The Sociological Review. Available here.

3. Soundararajan, V., Miriam, M.W., Crane, A., Agarwal, P. & Shetty, H. (2024). Towards a systematic approach for improving working conditions in global supply chains: an integrative review and research agenda. Academy of Management Annals. Available here. (EMAIL FOR PDF)

4. Derakhshan, R., Soundararajan, V., Agarwal, P. & Crane, A. (2024). Coping with personhood limbo: Personhood anchoring work among undocumented workers in Italy. Human Relations, 78(2): 123-155. Available here.

5. Agarwal, P. (2022). State-Migrant Relations in India: Internal Migrants, Welfare Rights, and COVID 19. Social Change, 52(2): 239-256. Available here.

6. Niezna, M. & Agarwal, P. (2021). Big questions, self-education and collective learning: studying critical ‘modern slavery’ together. Anti-Trafficking Review, 17: 133-139. Available here.

 

Co-edited journal special issue (open-access)

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Martins Junior, A., Okyere, S., Agarwal, P. & O’Connell Davidson, J. (2026). Slavery and Freedom in the Contemporary World: A Sociological Lens. Sociology. CfP available here. 

 

Co-edited book (open-access)

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Critical Methodologies Collective. (eds). (2021). The Politics and Ethics of Representation in Qualitative Research: Addressing Moments of Discomfort. UK: Routledge. Free to download here.​

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Book chapter (open-access)

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Agarwal, P. (2021). Waiting: the shrouded backbone of ethnography. In The Politics and Ethics of Representation in Qualitative Research: Addressing Moments of Discomfort, edited by the Critical Methodologies Collective, pp. 60-76. UK: Routledge. Available here.

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Selected media/online publications

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1. Agarwal, P. (2024). What it’s really like to be ‘rescued’ from modern slavery. The Conversation. (Link).

2. Agarwal, P., Dutta, N. & Soundararajan, V. (2024). Did crying modern slavery in Leicester benefit the workers? Beyond Trafficking and Slavery. OpenDemocracy. (Link).

3. Agarwal, P. (2021). Does India really need the new Trafficking in Persons Bill? Beyond Trafficking and Slavery, OpenDemocracy. (Link).

4. Agarwal, P. (2021). Social oppression, emotional labour and collective care. The Sociological Review. (Link).

5. Agarwal, P. (2020). Stuck in the middle: Perpetual denial of rights to Indian migrant informal workers. Futures of Work. (Link).

6. Agarwal, P. (2020). Waiting as resistance, Waiting as domination. The Sociological Review. (Link).

7. Agarwal, P. (2019). “Stop talking, listen to me first!” Fieldwork in India. Migration Mobilities Bristol. (Link).

8. Agarwal, P. (2019). Can we really spot slavery from space? Beyond Trafficking and Slavery, OpenDemocracy. (Link).

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Selected reports​

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1. Tyagi, D., Agarwal, P. & Soundararajan, V. What is respect for workers in global supply chains? Voices of workers in garment exports. Embed Dignity. Available here.

2. Dutta, N., Agarwal, P. & Soundararajan, V. (2024). What happened after the Boohoo scandal? A multi-stakeholder perspective from the garment industry in Leicester. Embed Dignity. Available in four languages here.

3. Soundararajan, V., Agarwal, P. and  Rogerson, M. (2023). The relationship between sourcing practices and working conditions in lower-tier apparel supply chains. Embed Dignity. Available here.

4. Agarwal, P. (2020). Experience of international students with the UK’s immigration system. Migration Mobilities Bristol. 

 

 

GRANTS AND AWARDS

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External grants

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1. Principal Investigator, Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, Bringing caste into debates on modern slavery and workplace exploitation, 2025-28.

2. Principal Investigator, British Academy Early Career Network Seed Fund award, Digital Dilemmas: The Promise and Pitfalls of Tackling Modern Slavery Through Tech, 2025.

3. British Sociological Association support fund for continuing temporal field research on access to justice for victims of trafficking in India, 2021.

4. Funds for Women Graduates Grant for the writing-up year of the PhD, 2021.

5. Sociological Review Conference funding to attend the Law and Society Association Conference in the USA, 2020.

6. Socio-Legal Studies Association fieldwork grant to conduct PhD fieldwork in India, 2019.

 

Internal grants

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1. Bristol Collegiate Research Society Scholarship and SPAIS Conference funding to participate in Socio-Legal Studies Annual Conference, 2021.

2. Migration Mobilities Bristol Networking Funds Award and the Bristol Doctoral College PGR Development Fund grant to organise seminars for PhD students on fieldwork experience and mental wellbeing, 2019.

 

Awards

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1. Finalist, Peter Troughton Postdoctoral Research Prize, University of Bath, 2024.

2. Awarded a fully funded place at the Sociological Review Foundation’s writing retreat, ‘Strictly Come Writing: The Sociological Review's Early Career Researchers 2022’ at the Gladstone Library in Wales, 2022.

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Scholarships

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1. For PhD, 2017 - International Office Scholarship, University of Bristol and Tata Scholarship, India.

2. For Masters', 2015 - British Chevening Scholarship; Felix Scholarship, Felix Trust; J.N. Tata Endowment Scholarship for the Higher Education of Indians; Aga Khan Foundation International Scholarship.

 

 

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION

 

Associate Fellow, UK Higher Education Academy, 2024-present

 

 

TEACHING AND SUPERVISION

 

Doctoral supervision

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Joint second supervisor for one PhD student working on the relationship of home and employment relations for circular migrant workers in the construction industry in India, School of Management, University of Bath, 2022-25.

 

Postgraduate teaching and supervision

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Lecturer, Managing People in Global Organizations, MSc International Management, University of Bath (111 students), 2023-25

•   Designing and delivering lectures (2 per term) on managing workers in global value chains and modern workplaces.

•   Leading case study sessions, guiding students to apply theoretical concepts to real-world scenarios and enhance practical learning.

 

Supervisor, Master’s dissertation, MSc International Management, University of Bath, 2022-25.

•   I supervise one master's student on their dissertation.

•   I supervise seven master's students on a practice-track project, designing a collaborative consulting project with NGOs and MNCs.

   

Associate Teacher and Course Co-Convenor, Qualitative Research Methods, MSc Migration and Mobility Studies, University of Bristol (45 students), 2019-20.

•   Co-designed and co-convened an interdisciplinary qualitative research methods module for students from various disciplines, including law, sociology, management, anthropology, etc.

•   Delivered lectures around key themes such as research ethics and methods.

•   Mentored students on their assignments, graded submissions, and managed administrative aspects of the course.

 

Undergraduate teaching

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• Lecturer, Contemporary Issues in International Business, BSc International Management, University of Bath (58 students; 2 lectures per term), 2023-25.

• Teaching Assistant, Doing Social Research, BSc Sociology, University of Bristol, 2019-20.               

• Teaching Assistant, Introduction to the Sociology of Culture, BSc Sociology, University of Bristol, 2018-19.   

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Foundation year supervision

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Independent Project Supervisor for International Foundation programme, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Bristol, 2019-21.

 

 Widening participation and outreach

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• Lecturer, Studying Slavery and Sociology, Access to Bristol Sociology Pathway, University of Bristol, 2018-19.  

• Tutor, Law and Ethics, Sutton Trust Summer School, University of Bristol, 2018-19.  

• Teacher and project lead in curriculum design and training 400 teachers and 1000 school children, Make a Difference Foundation, India, 2018-19.

 

 

TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

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Training

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1. Policy Engagement and Impact, Institute of Policy Research, University of Bath, October 2024.

2. Writing a REF Impact Study, School of Management, University of Bath, October 2024.

3. Engaging with Media, University of Bath Public Relations, September 2023.

4. NVivo Training, QSR International, May 2022.

5. Writing a Book Proposal, Manuscript Works, January 2022.Development

 

Development

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1. Organization and Management Theory Junior Faculty Consortium, Copenhagen Business School, July 2025.

2. Virtual PDW on Essay Writing, Online, June 2025.

 

 

ACADEMIC SERVICE

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Leadership

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Co-Convenor (with Samuel Okyere and Angelo Martins Junior), Slavery and Modern Slavery group, British Sociological Association, 2022-present

I lead and convene the Slavery and Modern Slavery group, which aims to foster exchange and critically interrogate the concept of 'modern slavery.' The goal is to better understand how the legacies of colonialism, slavery, and imperialism continue to shape the lives of marginalised workers, who are often portrayed in dominant discourse as being 'at risk' of modern slavery.

 

Co-Convenor (with Mark Pinol Rovira and Karina Garcia Reyes), Unpacking Fieldwork Network, University of Bristol, 2020-22

I found the network and conducted workshops on different aspects of doctoral fieldwork, bringing together 30 doctoral students working in sensitive settings across various faculties such as sociology, business studies, law, and political science. The aim was to support them in navigating post-fieldwork dilemmas, particularly when institutional support for doctoral researchers is limited.

 

Co-Convenor (with Maayan Niezna), Critical Modern Slavery Studies, 2020-21

I convened an online group, bringing together 25 academics from across the globe to discuss and workshop their ideas during the pandemic. It included 56 weekly sessions, which culminated in a paper on for successfully leading academic groups during crisis moments.

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Committees and selection panels

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• Member, ESRC Peer Review College, 2025-present.

• Member, Selection Panel, Global Early-Career Accelerator for Representation, University of Bath, 2024-25.

• Management Committee Member & Early Career Representative, Migration Mobilities Bristol, Specialist Research Institute, University of Bristol, 2018-21

 

Mentorship and DEI activities

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• Mentor, Action to Improve Representation, 2024-present.

• Member, ED&I Committee, British Academy Early Career Research Network, 2021-24.

 

Research ethics board

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Member, Research Ethics Advisory Board, European Research Council project, ‘Modern Marronage: the practice and pursuit of freedom in the contemporary world’, University of Bristol, 2021-24

 

Membership

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• Centre for Business, Organisations and Society, University of Bath, 2021-present.

• Academy of Management, 2021-present.

• British Sociological Association, 2021-present.

• Critical Methodologies Collective, 2019-present

 

 

INVITED TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS

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Universities

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1. Chair/Respondent, ‘International Conference on The Law of Global Value Chains: Theory and Practice at Work’, Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Spain, July 2025.

2. Panelist, 'Employability Event - Interdisciplinary research and the business school', Bristol Business School, University of Bristol, May 2025.

3. Presenter and discussant, ‘Political Rhetoric of Modern Slavery: 2020 Boohoo Scandal in Context’, Leicester Migration Network, University of Leicester, July 2024.

4. Discussant, ‘Grand Challenges – Live Case, Modern Slavery at Fine Cut Stems’, School of Management, University of Bath, May 2024.

5. Speaker, ‘End of ERC-Award Event’, Fluminense Federal University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, April 2024.

6. Discussant, ‘Interdisciplinary Research in Business,’ Centre for Business, Organization and Society, University of Bath, April 2023.

7. Speaker, ‘Internal migration workshop’, Lau China Institute, King’s College, London, June 2022.

8. Speaker, ‘Symposium on researching sensitive topics’, University of Bristol, May 2022.

9. Presenter, ‘Time, Law and Forced Labour’, Centre for Business, Organisations and Society, University of Bath, May 2022.

10. Presenter, ‘Are you still waiting? Time, law and the state in India’, Trafflab, Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law, March 2022 (online).

11. Speaker, ‘The Politics and Ethics of Representation in Qualitative Research: Addressing Moments of Discomfort’, Department of Gender Studies, Lund University, February 2021 (online).

12. Speaker, ‘Legal Journey of Bonded Labourers from Release to Rehabilitation in India, Disrupting Traffick? Assessing the Impact of Anti-Trafficking Initiatives’, University of Chicago, July 2019 (online).

 

Academic conferences

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1. Panellist, 'Alternate publishing formats beyond papers', 3rd Global Conference on Caste, Business and Society, Said Business School, University of Oxford, July 2025.

2. Chair, 'Holding Lead Firms Accountable to Supply Chain Violations: Legal Methods and Challenges', Labour Law Research Network Conference, Thailand, June 2025.

3. Chair, ‘2nd Global Conference on Caste in Business Studies’, University of Bath, June 2024.

4. Facilitator, ‘Paper Development Workshop’, 2nd Global Conference on Caste in Business Studies, University of Bath, June 2024.

5. Presenter, ‘Ethnography’, School Mini Qualitative Research Conference, University of Bath, April 2024.

6. Chair, ‘5th International Conference for Carceral Geography’, University of Melbourne, Australia, December 2022 (online).

7. Panellist, ‘British Sociological Forum Postgraduate Forum Regional Event, Facilitating Holistic Wellbeing in the Research Process’, University of Glasgow, February 2020.

 

Public engagement activities

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1. Podcast, 'How does Big Tobacco treat tobacco farmers?', Deadly Industry: Challenging Big Tobacco. Available here.  ​​

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2. ​​Panellist, ‘Tobacco Slave film screening’, Tobacco Control Research Group, ESRC Festival of Social Science 2024, October 2024.

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SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS

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1. 'Rhetorical Decoupling in Global Supply Chains: a Case of the UK's Garment Industry', Labour Law Research Network Conference, Thailand, June 2025.

2. ‘There is no “modern slavery” in business: Political rhetoric and exploitation in global supply chains’, 18th Organization Studies Workshop, Greece, May 2024.

3. ‘Lock(ed)down Forever: Prolonged Work-from-Home as a Source of (un) Freedom, Global production networks in Polycrisis’, University of Sussex Business School, June 2024.

4. ‘Whose side are you on? Beyond the insider-outsider continuum in ethnography’, 9th annual ethnographic and qualitative research conference, University of Trento, June 2023.

5. ‘Familiar othering at work: Internal Migration in Garment GVCs’, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, August 2023.

6. ‘Familiar othering at work: Internal Migration in Garment GVCs’, Fairness at Work Conference, Work and Equalities Institute, University of Manchester, January 2023.

7. ‘Care in response to violence: Situating care work against raids in GB Road (1990-2019)’, Locating Sex work in conversations on care symposium, London School of Economics and Political Science, June 2022.

8. ‘Waiting, bureaucracy and freedom: post-rescue lives of internal migrants in India’, Socio-Legal Studies Annual Conference 2021, UK, March 2021 (online).

9. ‘Authorised and unauthorised exploitation by anti-trafficking NGOs and informal brokers in India’, British Sociological Association Annual Conference, March 2021 (online).

10. ‘The multi-temporalities of waiting: Legal and everyday life of internal migrants in India’, Material life of time conference, University of Edinburgh, March 2021.

11. ‘Waiting Women: A socio-legal ethnography of the effect of the law in the everyday lives of women sex workers and bonded labourers in Delhi’ , Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, May 2022 (online).

12. ‘Waiting: the shrouded backbone of ethnography’, Osgoode Graduate Law Students Association Conference, Law’s Topologies: The Map, territory, and Space In-Between, York University, Toronto, February 2021 (online).

13. ‘Waiting Women: A socio-legal ethnography of the legal journeys of sex workers and bonded labourers in India’, University of Hull Conference, Critical perspectives on Modern Slavery: Law, Policy and Society, October 2019.

14. ‘Challenges faced by human rights defenders on the Student Human Rights Defenders Panel’, 8th Annual Human Rights in Asia Conference, University of Essex, April 2016.

 

 

CO-ORGANISATION OF IMPACT AND ENGAGEMENT EVENTS

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Conference

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3rd Global Conference on Caste, Business and Society, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, July 2025.

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Professional development workshop

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1. Professional Development Workshop, ‘The “Business” of Caste: Exploring Caste in Management and Organization Studies’, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, July 2025.

2. Professional Development Workshop, ‘Decolonising Field Research in a Neoliberal Economy’, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, August 2024.

 

Talks, workshops and exhibitions

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1. Stakeholder consultation, 'Employment, Welfare, and the Garment Industry in Leicester', which, for the first time, brought together 34 workers, suppliers, council officials, and key civil society stakeholders to discuss their concerns in July 2024

2. Talk and discussion, ‘Freedom without exclusion: Land, labour and liberty for all’, British Sociological Association and ERC Modern Marronage Project, December 2023.

3. Roundtable and launch, ‘Slavery and Modern Slavery Group’, British Sociological Association, July 2023.

4. Talk, film and book launch, ‘Slavery, Criminalisation, Citizenship, and Mobility’ (over 50 academic participants), August 2020.

5. Talk and photo exhibition, ‘Eritrea and Human Rights: Conflict and Mobility’ (over 60 international participants from academic and policy communities), August 2019.

 

Webinars and colloquium

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1. Webinar, ‘Mapping Dignity in the Software Industry Value Chain’, School of Management, University of Bath, May 2022.

2. Online Colloquium, ‘Childhood, Mobility, and Freedom’ where 5 ECRs received mentorship from 6 academics on their ongoing projects in migration studies, November 2020.

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PART-TIME ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

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Lecturer, King's Business School, King's College London, September 2025 onwards.​

 

Administrator, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, 2021                                                                                    

British Academy Writing Workshop, ‘Decolonising Trafficking and Slavery’ held at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana in September 2021.

    

Research Administrator, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, 2019-21   

European Research Council multi-country project, ‘Modern Marronage: The Pursuit and Practice of Freedom in the Contemporary World’ in the UK, Ghana, Brazil and Europe.

 

Research Assistant, School of Management, University of Bath, 2020

Research on working conditions in garment value chains in India.

 

Research Assistant, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College, University of London, 2018-19                           

ESRC-GCRF Strategic Networks Grant Scheme, ‘Beyond Trafficking and Slavery: Towards Decent Work for All’ on a cross-country comparison of forced labour in Latin America, South Asia, and South-East Asia.

 

VOLUNTEER WORK

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1. Research and legal advocacy, National Campaign Committee for the Eradication of Bonded Labour in India, 2019-present.

2. Fundraising campaign for setting up a home for 120 children of women working as sex workers in Delhi’s red-light area, GB Road, with the NGO SPID-SMS, India, 2019-present.

3. CV Clinics for former garment workers looking for work in the food processing industry, Leicester, June 2023.

 

 

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