Junaid Rana

Junaid Rana is an Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, holding appointments in Asian American Studies, Anthropology, and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory. His research interrogates global capitalism, racism, diaspora formations, and social justice movements with a focus on South Asian and Muslim communities.

• Primary Affiliations: Department of Anthropology, Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
• Secondary Affiliations: Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory

Education: PhD in Social Anthropology from University of Texas (no specific year listed). His work critically examines racial formations in global contexts, particularly through studies of anti-Muslim racism, U.S. empire, and labor migration. Key publications include Terrifying Muslims: Race and Labor in the South Asian Diaspora (2011) and edited volumes on racialized state violence.

Awards include the 2013 AAASS Book Award and multiple fellowships from institutions like the American Institute of Pakistan Studies and the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. His research bridges academia and activism, emphasizing multiracial solidarity and decolonial methodologies.

Recent work focuses on white supremacy's structural embeddedness within academic disciplines and state apparatuses. He has contributed to critical debates about Palestine solidarity in Asian American studies and pioneered pedagogical frameworks addressing anti-Muslim racism in higher education.