About Us

The Oxford Dharma Centre for Research and Policy (Oxford Dharma Centre) is an independent institute dedicated to advancing public policy, research, jurisprudence, leadership, and institutional practice through the lens of Dharma. Curated and operated by scholars and professors of the University of Oxford, the Centre places the enduring values of sustainability, universality, and pluralism at the heart of its work.

What is Dharma?

Dharma, etymologically derived from the root verb dhṛ, literally means the one “that sustains”. It is the Universal principle of sustainability recognised, practiced, and interwoven in their worldview by several civilisations, particularly in the Indo-sphere. At its core, Dharma represents the essential function of upholding order, balance, and integrity within existence and the web of relationships that constitute it. This sustaining role operates at multiple, inter-connected levels: It preserves each being in accordance with its intrinsic nature and positionality (swadharma). Maintains harmony and interconnected well-being among all beings. Upholds the coherence and dynamism of the cosmic order (ṛta). Dharma, thus, is not a static doctrine but a living, responsive principle that ensures the ongoing vitality and balance of both the individual and the collective, the human and the ecological, the temporal and the transcendent. Dharma operates as a context-sensitive universal principle of sustainability. It manifests variously as ethics, law, justice, ritual, custom, and social norms, depending on the specific locus and relational context of its application. It appears multivalent and elativist in the context of its application, while its impartial and universal character is also intelligibly pronounced. As a policy framework, Dharma mandates a systems-thinking approach, requiring that decisions — whether political, legal, economic, or social — be evaluated in terms of their sustainability and holistic impact on the entire web of existence, instead of adopting compartmentalised and atomistic approaches. Crucially, the principleof Dharma is inherently dynamic and pragmatic. It prescribes contextually responsive strategies, grounded in local sensibilities and the particularities of time, place, and circumstance. It embraces plurality and cultural specificity while maintaining fidelity to the overarching principle of sustaining harmony and well-being. In doing so, the Dharma offers both a robust ethical foundation and a practical framework for creating resilient, just, and sustainable societies.