Join the Oxford University International Relations Society in discussing Prof. Sabaratnam’s work on complex indebtedness, and more broadly postcolonial IR.

Prof. Meera Sabaratnam’s research explores the colonial and postcolonial dimensions of world politics in their various manifestations. In particular, the ways in which imperial historical structures, institutions, social relations and forms of knowledge shape the present, as well as the ways in which they are evolving. Prof. Sabaratnam’s writing has looked at these issues in relation to international state building, peacebuilding and development assistance, the understanding of war in the international system, International Relations theory and its research methods. She is currently writing a book entitled Complex Indebtedness, which elaborates a postcolonial analysis of the international system with relations of indebtedness – both material and moral – at its centre.

Prior to joining DPIR in 2023, Prof. Sabaratnam worked at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics (LSE). She has served as Chair of the Academic Freedom Committee of the International Studies Association (ISA), as well as on committees for its Global Development Section, International Political Sociology Section and Theory Section. With Robbie Shilliam and Mustapha Kamal Pasha, Prof. Sabaratnam co-founded the Colonial / Postcolonial / Decolonial Working Group of the British International Studies Association, and they co-edit the Postcolonial International Studies book series at Manchester University Press. She also serves on the editorial/advisory boards of International Studies Quarterly, Security Dialogue and the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, and am a former editor of Millennium: Journal of International Studies.