Ladan Affi
Associate Professor
- Email: ladan.affi@zu.ac.ae
- Telephone: 971 2 599 3938
- Address: Abu Dhabi - Khalifa City, MF1.2.061
Introduction
Ladan Affi is an Associate Professor in the department of International Affairs at Zayed University, UAE. Her research areas include women, peacebuilding and politics; Diasporas and their impact on development, conflict and governance; and maritime security in the Horn of Africa. She is a co-editor of Women and Peacebuilding in Africa (2021 James Currey), a comparative study of women and politics in five post-conflict African countries. She has also published in different academic journals such as Third World Quarterly, Journal of Somali Studies, African Security and Global Affairs. Currently, she is working on research examining the impact of diasporas on governance and political participation in the Horn of Africa.
Qualifications
PhD University of Wisconsin-Madison;
MA University of Wisconsin-Madison;
MA Northeastern Illinois University
Previous Positions
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar,
Visiting Professor, Université de Djibouti, Djibouti,
Visiting Professor, Vassar College Poughkeepsie, New York,
Memberships
Midwest Political Science Association
Somali Studies International Association
African Studies Association
Research and Professional Activities
Research interests:
Peacebuilding and conflict; gender and politics; diaspora and political engagement.
Current Projects:
This project examines the political participation of the diaspora in the Horn of Africa. This project is two-pronged, focusing on the opportunities and challenges that comes with diaspora’s political engagement at home. Diaspora’s contribute to knowledge and skills transfer, which are beneficial to their home countries. But they can also contribute to conflict.
Teaching Areas
POL 227 – Introduction to Political Science
POL 325 – Comparative Political Systems
POL 331 – Principles of International Relations
POL 333 – Foreign Relations of the United States
HSS 366 – Research Methods
HSS 397 – Special Topics
HSS 497 – Senior Seminar
Affi, Ladan and Zainab Hassan (2024) “Establishing Safe Workplaces for Women in Somalia” Heritage Institute for Policy Studies
Affi, Ladan (2024) “Women Do Everything Except Politics: Gender Quota in a Postconflict Society“ in State, Ethnicity and Gender; Aili Mari Tripp and Scott Straus Eds. University of Wisconsin Press
Affi, Ladan & Zainab Hassan (July 2022) “Women and Politics: Overcoming Barriers of Representation” Heritage Institute for Policy Studies
Affi, Ladan, Liv Tonnessen and Aili Mari Tripp (Eds.) (2021) Women and Peacebuilding in Africa. Suffolk: James Currey
Affi, Ladan (2020) “The Old Men Who Hold Us Back: Clan Elders, Elite Bargaining and Exclusionary Politics” Journal of Somali Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 25 – 45
Affi, L. (2020) “Excluding Women: The Clanization of Somali Political Institutions” Oslo: Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI) Brief, No. 9