PhD Scholar Information

Usha Natarajan is a PhD candidate researching the war in Iraq and what it reveals about the nature of international law, with particular focus on relations of power and knowledge between Western states and their former colonies. She holds Arts and Law degrees from Monash University and a Masters in International Law from the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. She is interested in exploring the relationship between culture and law, with a particular focus on how the international legal system engages with cultural diversity.

Previously she has worked with the United Nations and its agencies in Indonesia and Timor Leste on governance, law reform, conflict prevention and dispute resolution issues. Most recently, she worked with the UN Special Ambassador for the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific on responding to current and future challenges to international development in the Asian context.