15.01.2025 Malaiz Daud Research Fellow in the AFPRO Project

We are pleased to welcome Malaiz Daud as a Research Fellow in the AFPRO Project at the Center for Conflict Studies

Malaiz Daud recently joined the Center for Conflict Studies (Zentrum für Konfliktforschung, ZfK) at Philipps-University of Marburg as a Research Fellow. Malaiz’s research journey began in mid-1990s when he was exposed to trainings on studying the causes of violent conflicts and how to resolve them Pakistan. He worked as a practitioner and researcher on peacebuilding and conflict resolution until 2002 when he was recruited by the post-Taliban government in Afghanistan to help draft the country’s new constitution. 

Having worked with and being part of the new political leadership of Afghanistan until 2007, Malaiz turned his attention to researching “politics from above”, culminating in a master’s degree on the role of political leadership in post-war reconstruction from the University of York, UK. 

Malaiz continued researching leadership and elite until 2015 when he got a grant from the Berghof Foundation to study the effectiveness of nonviolent action and the interface between nonviolent and violent actors in Pakistan’s restive, Pashtun-populated tribal areas. This opportunity gave Malaiz a unique perspective on the “politics from below”, pushing him, cumulatively, towards exploring the larger question of the constitution of society – or any collective, for that matter. The latter peeked Malaiz’s interest in structuralism, social action, temporalities and eventfulness. 

While in his new role in ZfK, Malaiz will continue to study collective action in Afghanistan (2016-2026), he will also continue to participate in activities of a number of social movements of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Malaiz has already trained/mentored a number of nonviolent activists and is part of a larger global network of scholar-activists that strive to stimulate change through grassroots nonviolent action.   

Malaiz remains a devoted follower Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as the Frontier Gandhi, a stalwart of nonviolence and is keen to further explore the possibility of ensuring lasting peace in the Pashtun Lands of Afghanistan and Pakistan through academic endeavors.     

More details about the  AFPRO project at the Center for Conflict Studies.