Professor Chakravorty’s research has focused on two broad themes—empirical work on India and theoretical work on distribution and (now) epistemology. His most recent published book is The Price of Land (2013), which is an analysis of land acquisition and conflicts in the framework of state policies and land markets in India. It was shortlisted for the 2013 Crossword Award for Non-Fiction. Other relevant books include Fragments of Inequality (2007), which analyzes structure and change in income distributions, and Made in India (2006), which is a study of the economic geography of Indian industry. His shorter pieces include over fifty journal papers, book chapters, and reports. The papers are scattered through journals in geography, development economics, planning, and urban studies. He also writes occasional pieces for newspapers in India in English and Bangla. His research has been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. National Institute of Justice, the American Institute of Indian Studies, and the World Bank.
Right now, Professor Chakravorty has three projects at different stages of progress. One is his first work of fiction, “The Promoter”, a satire set in contemporary Calcutta. It should be in print in 2015 summer. The second is a book on epistemology and the archaeology of knowledge, provisionally titled “The Truth About Us: India Invented, India Unknown,” and is forthcoming from Hachette in 2016. The third is a collaborative book (with Devesh Kapur and Nirvikar Singh) titled “The Other One Percent: Indians in America.” It is complete and under review. He is also working with colleagues at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania (where he is Visiting Fellow), focusing on a survey-based project in Delhi and Mumbai.
Professor Chakravorty was department chair from 2005-10, a period during which the department got its doctoral program and a new major in Environmental Studies.