Dr. Azadeh Akbari is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Azadeh Akbari is Assistant Professor in Public Administration and digital Transformation at the University of Twente, in the Netherlands. Her research focuses on authoritarian surveillance and critical studies of ICTs in development. She is a member of the board of directors at the International Surveillance Studies Network and has also founded Surveillance in the Global South Research Network to expand the scope of surveillance studies to include non-Western discourses and practices and create a place for exchange, collaboration, and activism against the undemocratic use of surveillance technologies.
Dr. Azadeh Akbari was a journalist for many years and worked as a communication manager and community outreach specialist at the UNHCR, UNICEF, and the British Council. She is a contributor to many leading media outlets, including The Guardian and CNN, commenting on Internet governance and surveillance technologies in authoritarian regimes.
She is the co-editor of two upcoming books on Critical ICT4D (Information & Communication Technology for Development) by Routledge with Silvia Masiero, and the International Handbook of Critical Surveillance Studies by Edward Elgar with Murakami Wood, van Brakel, & Bruno. Azadeh Akbari is also the digital editor for the journals Surveillance & Society and Territory, Politics, Governance.
Dr. Azadeh Akbari studied sociology (BA) and journalism in Iran and gender research (MSc) at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences. She obtained her PhD in human geography from the University of Heidelberg, studying surveillance as spatial injustice. Her postdoctoral work at the University of Münster’s political geography group focused on scrutinising the link between political systems and digital governance in authoritarian contexts.