Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre at LUMS

Dr. Azeem is a legal scholar specializing in Pakistani judicial and constitutional history, state theory, labour-based socio-legal research, and international law from a third-world perspective. He places his research in the broader law and development paradigm, looking at structural questions specific to postcolonial societies from marginalized points of view. Dr. Azeem holds an LLB from the University of the Punjab, and an LLM and PhD in Law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. His PhD dissertation, which examined the history and development of the liberal legal project in Pakistan, was published by Springer in 2017 as "Law, State, and Inequality in Pakistan."

Dr. Azeem's latest research projects involve labour codes of Global Value Chains, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and judicial activism in Pakistan. His work has appeared in reputable peer-reviewed journals like Third Word Quarterly, Law and Development Review, Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal, and Oregon Review of International Law. While pursuing his academic work, Azeem continues to be involved in labour and working-class issues. He is also an active member of the Progressive Writers Association, Lahore, and writes poetry and criticism in English, Urdu, and Punjabi.

Selected Publications

Books

1. Azeem, M. (2017). The Law, State, and Inequality in Pakistan: Explaining the Rise of the Judiciary (Springer). (Reviewed by Imran Ahmed in Journal of South Asian Studies, “Designing Democracy: Judges, Judicial Review and Constitutionalism in Pakistan”, Feb 18, 2020. Revised and updated Pakistani edition forthcoming.)
2. Azeem, M. (2002). ملٹی نیشنل کمپنیاں، نیا سامراج، نیا نو ٓابادیاتی نطام؟ (Multi-National Companies, a New Face of Imperialism) (Dar-ul-Shaoor, Urdu), 8 editions.
3. Azeem, M. (2006). تجارتی لوٹمار کی تاریخ اور ٓازاد منڈی کی معیشت  (The Problems of Free Trade: An Historical Analysis) (Dar-ul-Shaoor, Urdu), 2 editions.
4. Azeem M. (2006).  اور گلوبلایزیشنWTO (WTO and Globalization) (Dar-ul-Shaoor, Urdu), 2 editions.
5. Azeem, M. (2017) مارکسی تھیوری کو درپیش چیلینجز اور پاکستان میں انقلاب کے خدوخال (Theoretical challenges to Marxism and contours of a revolutionary theory in Pakistan) (Sanjh, Urdu).

Peer-reviewed Articles

1. Azeem, M. (2020). A Strong Judiciary as a Crisis for Democracy: A Law and Development Study from Pakistan, Law and Development Review, Sep 25, 2020. https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/ldr/ahead-of-print/article-10.1515-ldr-2020-0018/article-10.1515-ldr-2020-0018.xml.  
2. Azeem, M. (2020). State as a political practice: postcolonial Pakistani state beyond liberalism and Islam, Third World Quarterly 2020, Vol 41, Issue 10, 1670-1686. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2020.1780115.  
3. Azeem, M.  (2019). Theoretical Challenges to TWAIL with the Rise of China: Labour Conditions under Chinese Investment in Pakistan, Oregon Review of International Law, Vol 20, Issue 2, 395-436. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/24670.  
4. Azeem, M. and Akbar H. (2020, accepted, forthcoming). Labour Conditions and Resistance under Chinese Investment (CPEC) in Pakistan, Comparative Labor Law and Policy Journal.  
5. Azeem, M. and Ali N. G., (2014). Zarb-e-Azb and the Left: How Pakistani Progressives Lost Their Way and Finding It Again, Tanqeed. https://www.tanqeed.org/2014/08/zarb-e-azb-and-the-left-on-imperialisms-materiality/.  

Book Chapters 

1. Azeem, M. (2021). The KiK case: A critical perspective from the South. In: Saage-Maaß M et. al. (eds.) Transnational Legal Activism in Global Value Chains - The Ali Enterprises Fire and the Struggle for Justice. Berlin, Springer. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-73835-8_14.  
2. Azeem, M. (2021, completed, forthcoming). Judiciary as an ideological state apparatus: a critique of contemporary legalism in Pakistan. In Mishal Saif and Amen Jaffer (eds.) State, Society and Democracy in Pakistan. Karachi, OUP.
3. Azeem, M. (2021, completed, forthcoming) ‘Third World Perspective on International Law and Pakistan’ in Ahmad Ghouri (ed.) Introduction to International Law: Cases, Materials, and Commentary on Pakistan. Karachi, OUP.
4. Azeem, M. (solicited, forthcoming). ‘Legislation for home-based women workers: Imagining a power-oriented approach to labour law’ in Saba Gul Khatak (ed.) Anthology on Home-Based Women Workers (Pakistan Institute of Labor Education & Research-PILER).
5. Azeem, M. (solicited, forthcoming). Constructing ‘Legislative Power’ from the 1973 Constitution and Case Law in Pakistan. In Zubair Abbasi (ed.) Constitutional Law in Pakistan. Karachi, OUP.
6. Azeem, M. (solicited, forthcoming). Constructing ‘Executive Power’ from the 1973 Constitution and Case Law in Pakistan.’ In Zubair Abbasi (ed.) Constitutional Law in Pakistan. Karachi, OUP.