[2] Desai studied Economics at the University of Michigan[2] and received her PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied comparative and historical sociology and completed a dissertation under the direction of Maurice Zeitlin and Robert Brenner.

[3][4] Desai's research interests include post-colonial studies, social movements, state formation, political parties, development, and ethnic violence.

[1][8] In 2007, Desai wrote a book entitled State Formation and Radical Democracy in India, 1860-1990.

[8] She has also co-edited two booked entitled States of Trauma: Gender and Violence in South Asia and Building Blocs: How Parties Organize Society in 2009 and 2015, respectively.

[9] Desai has been accused by the organization Alumni for Free Speech (www.affs.com) of discrimination against people with a protected characteristic contrary to the UK Equality Act 2010.AFFS Cambridge University Council Letter