Utsa Patnaik is Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University and has authored several books over the last four decades. Her recent books  (co-authored with P. Patnaik) are A Theory of Imperialism and  Capital and Imperialism.             
                       
Her main areas of research interest are the problems of transition from agriculture and peasant-predominant societies to an industrial society, both in a historical context and at present in relation to India; and questions relating to food security and poverty.

She has authored several books, including Peasant Class Differentiation – A Study in Method (1987), The Long Transition (1999), and The Republic of Hunger and Other Essays (2007).