Mohammad Amir Anwar

Mohammad Amir Anwar is a Senior Lecturer in African Studies and International Development at the University of Edinburgh's School of Social and Political Science. He leads the UKRI-funded Planetary AI project and has held senior research roles at the British Institute for Eastern Africa and the University of Johannesburg. His work bridges digital economies, labor studies, and African political economy.

Research Interests: His scholarship focuses on globalization, digital economies, platform labor, and the political economy of AI, with specific attention to inequality, social movements, and the future of work in African contexts. He employs digital ethnography and interdisciplinary frameworks to analyze technology's impact on marginalized communities.

Publications & Projects: He is author of The Digital Continent (Oxford University Press, 2022) and has over 20 peer-reviewed publications. Current projects include studies on AI labor chains, platform economies in African cities, and pandemic impacts on informal workers, funded by UKRI, Royal Society of Edinburgh, and British Academy.

Public Engagement: Anwar regularly contributes to media outlets like The Conversation and African Arguments, translating academic insights into public debates around digital labor, gig economy dynamics, and South-South cooperation.