Shaunna’s work examines how political communities justify democratic self-rule, legal authority, political legitimacy, and social transformation after empire. She argues that the primary justification that anticolonialism brings to public discourse around these questions is an expansive concept of self-respect. She develops the concept of self-respect by examining how ethical ideas, actions, and relations shaped by anticolonial thinkers sought to overcome the humiliation and lack of knowledge of the self created by colonialism and modern public through self-mastery, individuality, associative life, and recognition.
Through an interdisciplinary approach that spans political theory, philosophy, history, law, and emerging debates on artificial intelligence, Shaunna investigates how anticolonialism has shaped public discourse on constitutional democracy, majoritarianism, and the use of technology in bringing about social change, in public life in postcolonial democracies, such as India, as well as in the larger discipline of political thought. Her research pays particular attention to minority strands of anticolonial thought, including those informed by anti-caste and Islamic traditions.
Her recent work also considers how colonial modes of classification—once used to regulate populations through race, caste, and religious identity—persist in contemporary AI systems, shaping access to rights, resources, and civic participation. By drawing connections between historical forms of justification and emerging technological challenges to public life, Rodrigues aims to contribute to critical discussions on the ethics of AI, the global governance of technology, and the role of public reason in shaping the future of democracy. She explores how AI-driven governance replicates colonial and postcolonial patterns of categorization and exclusion, raising critical questions about algorithmic justice, data sovereignty, and justification after artificial intelligence.
Her research engages with broader postcolonial and contemporary debates on political legitimacy. She has published on topics such as how Islamic thinkers have justified democracy as a response to the challenges of pluralism, how constitutionalism has historically been shaped by anti-caste movements, and how legal frameworks in postcolonial states have mediated political inclusion and exclusion. By integrating political theory, historical analysis, and contemporary concerns about technology and governance, Rodrigues’ work offers a novel perspective on how past struggles for justice continue to inform the ethical and political challenges of the present.
Her publications can be found here.
