The preceding two decades have been characterized by the emergence of considerable protest and contention around issues of energy access. Riots, protests, sit-ins, and other forms of mobilization are frequent occurrences in response to energy pricing, access, and availability in both the Global North and South. This panel brings together academics who study energy from a social scientific perspective, reflecting on the centrality of energy in political and social life and what that tells us about state-society relations in the 21st century.

Naomi Hossain is a Research Professor at the Accountability Research Center at the School of International Service in American University, DC. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), and a former employee of BRAC in Bangladesh. Her work focuses on accountability for disasters and crises, such as food and energy price shocks. One of her recent books is ‘The Politics of Education in Developing Countries (2019; Oxford University Press)’. Naomi Hossain received her BA (Hons) from the University of Oxford, MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and DPhil from the University of Sussex.

Erum Haider is an Assistant Professor in Political Science and Environmental Studies at the College of Wooster. She is a recipient of the USIP Jennings Randolph Peace Scholar pre-doctoral fellowship for 2019-20. She is also a Research Fellow at MHRC. She studies the privatization of public goods and her doctoral research and book project examine the ability of citizens to use political representatives to lobby for better provision. Her research primarily takes place in Karachi, Pakistan. Erum Haider received her BA from LUMS, MA from University of Chicago, and PhD from Georgetown University.

Ijlal Naqvi is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean (Curriculum and Teaching) at Singapore Management University.  He is a sociologist of development with interests in political sociology and urban studies. His research interests include political sociology, international development, Muslim-majority countries, and electrical power. His book ‘Access to Power: Electricity and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan’ uses the electrical power infrastructure in Pakistan as a lens on questions of uneven state capacity in the Global South. He is a PhD (Sociology) from University of North Carolina.

Umair Javed is an Assistant Professor of Politics and Sociology at LUMS. His research interests span various aspects of political participation, socio-economic development, and urban public life in South Asia. His academic work has been published in Economic and Political Weekly, Current History, and Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy. His research and political analysis has been featured by a number of international print and electronic media outlets, including BBC, Sky News, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Economist, and the Washington Post. He completed his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2018, where he was a recipient of the LSE Centennial PhD Studentship.