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 Former Director [REF].
Over the years, he has remained Faculty Fellow in Ethics at Harvard University, Leverhulme Fellow at University of Bristol, Senior Fellow at Institute of Advanced Studies, Jerusalem, Visiting Fellow of the British Academy, and held the Asia Chair at Sciences Po Paris in 2006[REF] .