Founder-member of Indian environmental group Kalpavriksh, Ashish taught at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, coordinated India’s National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan process, served on Greenpeace International and India Boards, helped initiate the global ICCA Consortium.

Ashish has been part of several movements including Narmada Bachao Andolan, and helps coordinate the Vikalp Sangam and Global Tapestry of Alternatives processes and Radical Ecological Democracy network.

He has (co)authored or (co)edited over 35 books, including Churning the Earth: Making of Global India (with Aseem Shrivastava), Alternative Futures: India Unshackled (ed., with KJ Joy), and Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary (ed., with Ariel Salleh, Arturo Escobar, Federico Demaria, Alberto Acosta).