Biography

Zainab Alam is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Howard University whose research sits at the intersection of comparative politics, human rights, and digital media and technology, with a regional specialization in South Asia. She is currently interested in how democratic institutions erode and who bears the cost of that erosion. Her work examines digital censorship, gendered political exclusion, and the ways illiberal norms are reproduced through media, populist movements, and state power in Pakistan. Her forthcoming book develops a new typology of censorship to explain how Pakistan’s democratic institutions have been hollowed out over time, and how nationalism is weaponized to foster illiberalism. Dr. Alam brings her research on democratic erosion and human rights directly into the classroom, emphasizing a global-to-local connection through courses ranging from South Asian politics to international law. She is also a Subject Matter Expert for the ASCEND-AI Faculty Learning Community.