[2][3] He is Honorary Fellow and Founder Director, Parekh Institute of Indian Thought, CSDS (Centre for the Study of Developing Societies) Delhi.

[4][5] Bhargava started his academic career at St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1979, in the following year he joined the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi where he worked till 2005, when he joined Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi as a senior fellow and, from 2007 to 2014, was its director.

He formally retired in 2019 but continues to be an Honorary Fellow and Director of its Parekh Institute of Indian Thought.

In 2022, he was Senior Research Fellow at the Multiple Secularities project, University of Leipzig.

[6] Bhargava writes a regular column for the Indian national daily, The Hindu.