Professor Daanish Mustafa
Professor in Critical Geography
Research interests
- Geography
Biography
Professor Daanish Mustafa obtained his BA in Geography from Middlebury College, USA, his MA from University of Hawai'i Manoa, and his PhD in Geography from University of Colorado.
He has taught at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA and then at the University of South Florida, St Petersburg, before finding his intellectual home in the Department of Geography. While at King's, he has received the School of Social Science and Public Policy excellence in teaching award.
His research has been funded by the Belmont Forum, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Department for International Development (DfID), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), National Geographic Society, Royal Geographical Society, and the British Academy.
Daanish was the co-author of the first climate change response strategies for Pakistan, in addition to being the lead author for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Pakistan five-year flood response strategy. In addition, he has also undertaken policy-related work with the DfID, International Organization for Migration (IOM), Stimson Centre, and United States Institute for Peace (USIP).
Research
- Critical water resources geographies
- Environmental hazards and climate risk
- Critical geographies of violence and terror
- Problematising environment and development
Daanish's research interests have been in water resources geography, environmental hazards, development and critical geographies of violence and terror.
Conceptually he was closer to structuralism at the beginning of his career, but more recently he found himself more attracted to post-structuralism and insights by Hannah Arendt on performative politics. In that vein, his most recent projects have been concerned with gender performativity and violence in Pakistan, cultural politics of urban horticulture in Pakistan, and hydro-social territorialisation in Jordan.
Teaching
Undergraduate
- 6SSG3056 Political Economy of Hazardscapes
Postgraduate
- 7SSG5153 Critical Geographies of Terrorism
- 7SSG5106 Development and Environmentalism in the 'South'
PhD supervision
Daanish welcomes PhD studentship applications relating to:
- Property rights, equity and community in irrigation management
- Disaster risk reduction: from theory to practice
- The spatiality and geography of violence and terror
- Subnational scale hydropolitics
- Post-structuralist reinterpretation of environmental hazards
- Hazardscapes of modernity, development and underdevelopment
- Critical reappraisal of participatory development.
- Social power in water resources management and development
- Space, emancipation and performative politics
Further details
Research
Contested Development research group
Exploring environmental, political and social questions in relation to contested and uneven processes of development.
Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.
King's Water Centre
Researching water, environment and development. Our centre spans the humanities, social, and physical sciences to explore the challenges of water governance from global to local scales.
Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services
The Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) group provides a collaborative focus for work on the social (re)production of nature, environmental conservation and resource management.
King's Climate Research Hub
Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.
Elemental Adaptation: Water and energy security from artificial ice reservoirs
This project explores the potential of Artificial Ice Reservoirs (AIRs) as alternative water sources, and the implications in mountainous regions.
Project status: Ongoing
Centre for Integrated Research in Risk & Resilience
Bringing together research disciplines to shape a critical perspective on resilience and its application as a concept.
News
New installation on the Strand will imagine a climate-positive mythical world
Acclaimed design studio Superflux and King’s Culture present 'The Quiet Enchanting', an installation inspired by King’s climate and sustainability research
Experts and students highlight the need for decisive climate action at COP27 debate hosted by King's
Students from four London universities come together to debate the key challenges around COP27.
News tracker: COP27 expert commentary and updates
All the latest from across King's relating to COP27, climate, sustainability and more.
Geography launches its new MA in Geopolitics, Resources and Territory
The King’s Geography Department is proud to launch the new Geopolitics, Resources and Territory masters programme.
Events
Except Palestine: Conflict, Development and De-Development
The third instalment in the "Except Palestine" series, hosted across London universities
Please note: this event has passed.
Features
Pakistan must get rid of colonial mindset on water
People will continue to suffer as long as policymakers see rivers as resources rather than as living entities, writes Professor Daanish Mustafa.
Research
Contested Development research group
Exploring environmental, political and social questions in relation to contested and uneven processes of development.
Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.
King's Water Centre
Researching water, environment and development. Our centre spans the humanities, social, and physical sciences to explore the challenges of water governance from global to local scales.
Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services
The Political Ecology, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Services (PEBES) group provides a collaborative focus for work on the social (re)production of nature, environmental conservation and resource management.
King's Climate Research Hub
Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.
Elemental Adaptation: Water and energy security from artificial ice reservoirs
This project explores the potential of Artificial Ice Reservoirs (AIRs) as alternative water sources, and the implications in mountainous regions.
Project status: Ongoing
Centre for Integrated Research in Risk & Resilience
Bringing together research disciplines to shape a critical perspective on resilience and its application as a concept.
News
New installation on the Strand will imagine a climate-positive mythical world
Acclaimed design studio Superflux and King’s Culture present 'The Quiet Enchanting', an installation inspired by King’s climate and sustainability research
Experts and students highlight the need for decisive climate action at COP27 debate hosted by King's
Students from four London universities come together to debate the key challenges around COP27.
News tracker: COP27 expert commentary and updates
All the latest from across King's relating to COP27, climate, sustainability and more.
Geography launches its new MA in Geopolitics, Resources and Territory
The King’s Geography Department is proud to launch the new Geopolitics, Resources and Territory masters programme.
Events
Except Palestine: Conflict, Development and De-Development
The third instalment in the "Except Palestine" series, hosted across London universities
Please note: this event has passed.
Features
Pakistan must get rid of colonial mindset on water
People will continue to suffer as long as policymakers see rivers as resources rather than as living entities, writes Professor Daanish Mustafa.