Komal Dhillon

Komal K. Dhillon is an interdisciplinary scholar with a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech’s Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, Cultural, and Social Thought and a Master of Business Administration from Averett University. Dhillon is an advanced instructor of Sociology, with affiliations in Peace Studies and Violence Prevention and Women’s and Gender Studies and teaches courses relating to Race, Class, Gender, and Sexualities; and Global Society, Violence and Peace.  Dhillon’s research primarily focuses on pigmentocracy and colorism in India and the United States, with a focus on critical race, postcolonial studies, African American studies, and feminist theory.  Published works include: Marketing Marriage and Colorism in India; Key Concepts in Advertising: Colorism; European-Americans Favoring People of Color: White Colorism and Social Inequality; and Can the Global Transmit the Local for Diaspora?.

Academic Articles

Rebranding Pigmentocracy: Analyzing Marketing Strategies of Unilever’s Skin Lightening Products in India.” In Oxford Intersections:  Racism by Context. Ed. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

2022:  “Key Concepts in Advertising: Colorism." Advertising & Society Quarterly Volume 23, Issue 1. 

2018:  “Euro-Americans Favoring People of Color: Covert Racism and Economies of White Colorism.” American Behavioral Scientist. Volume 62, Issue 14. pp 2087-2100.

2019: “Marketing Marriage and Colorism in India.”  Chapter for Race in the Marketplace—Crossing Critical Boundaries. Edited by G. D. Johnson, S. A. Grier, K. Thomas, A. K. Harrison. Palgrave MacMillan. May. *Distinguished Winner of 2022 AMA-EBSCO-RRRB Annual Award for Responsible Research in Marketing.

2013:  “Can the Global Transmit the Local for Diaspora” – a review of Arjun Appadurai’s Modernity at Large:  Cultural Dimensions of Globalization; SPECTRA: the ASPECT Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2, November.