I am a political theorist and intellectual historian, currently serving as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan. I earned my PhD in Politics with a minor in the History of Consciousness from the University of California, Santa Cruz. I also hold an MS in Political Science from Illinois State University and an MA in International Relations from South Asian University, New Delhi.

My research explores the history of political thought, particularly how political thinkers and actors outside “the West” draw on ideas from different intellectual traditions to advance their own political imaginaries and practices. My dissertation-based book project brings ideas and approaches from anticolonial political thought, Islamic political thought, and comparative political theory into conversation to recover and theorize the political ideas and actions of anticolonial Muslim thinkers from South Asia. The project examines how anticolonial Muslim thinkers reconstructed Islamic ideas in colonial conditions and juxtaposed them with modern political concepts and categories to articulate alternative imaginaries of social life and political order after the removal of empire. Grounded in religious values, these political imaginaries do not necessarily privilege nationalism or the nation-state as the primary center for organizing society and politics.

My peer-reviewed articles have appeared in major academic journals, including Political Theory, The Review of Politics, Politics and Religion, Critical Research on Religion, and South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. My research has been supported by competitive grants and fellowships, such as the Hayden V. White Fellowship, the Institute for Humane Studies, and a grant from the American Institute of Bangladesh Studies. I was the convener of the “UCSC Political Theory Workshop” and a graduate student co-organizer of “Global Political Thought,” a research cluster supported by the Humanities Institute (THI) at UCSC. I also served as Book Review Editor for the Journal of Governance, Security, and Development, a Dhaka-based peer-reviewed journal.

I periodically contribute public-facing commentary in both Bangla and English and participate in podcasts on contemporary political debates, including the role of religion in public life, various forms of inequality, struggles for social justice, and the challenges of democratization in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh. I also write book reviews and film criticism for general audiences. My essays and opinion pieces have appeared in the Dhaka Tribune, The Nepali Outpost, Banik Barta, and other public outlets.

You can reach me at mrahman9@ucsc.edu.