Dr Sobia Ahmad Kaker

Biography

I am an interdisciplinary academic, working on the intersection of sociology, criminology and urban studies. My research focuses on the governance of everyday insecurity and uncertainty in societies marked by extreme class inequalities and ethno-political differences. Prior to joining Essex in 2021, I have held academic posts at Goldsmiths, University of London and LSE Cities. I have also had experience of working in research and policy institutions in Islamabad and Karachi (Pakistani). My ongoing research on insecurity and urban life in Pakistan has contributed to critical debates in urban sociology, criminology, and security studies. In the past 7 years, aspects of this research have been published in leading journals (Public Culture, South Asian History and Culture, Security Dialogue, The Geographical Journal), respected design publications (Harvard Design Magazine), impactful working papers and reports (Urban Uncertainty, LSE; Cities in Fragile States, DESTIN), book chapters (Columbia University Press, Routledge, Goldsmiths Press), Podcasts (Urban Political Podcast at Humboldt University, and Between the Lines at IDS Sussex), agenda-setting research seminars (IDS Sussex, Cambridge university) and blogs (Society and Space Forum). I am strongly committed to promoting and enabling social justice through academic research. To this end, I have recently completed a REC-GCRF funded action-research project titled ‘Uncertainty & Insecurity of Tenure: Developing Infrastructures of Care and Resistance in Islamabad, Pakistan’ (£34,172). This action-research project responded to the violent state-led eviction of working-class communities living in katchi abadis (irregular settlements) in Islamabad, the heavily-securitised Pakistani capital. It built and strengthened networks between marginal urban residents, social activists, and wider urban communities, while developing a counter narrative to state-led discourses of irregular settlement dwellers and their places of residence as ‘illegal’ and/or 'criminal'. I am also continuing research on the dynamics of policing (relationship between public police, private security and community policing) across different spaces in Karachi, Pakistan. I welcome Phd Students interested in topics such as pluralised policing, spatialisations of security, urban inequalities and divided cities.

Qualifications

• PhD Newcastle University, (2015)

Appointments

University of Essex

• Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Essex (1/9/2021 - present)