Dr Asma Abdi (She / Her)

I am a lecturer in Middle East Politics and International Relations at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. My research and teaching sit at the intersection of international political economy, feminist theory, and post/decolonial approaches. Broadly, my work explores themes of social reproduction, intimacy, informal economies, transnational feminist solidarity, and the political economy of war and sanctions, with a focus so far on Iran. Specifically, my doctoral research examines the shifting gendered regimes of labour, social reproduction, and survival in Iran following the intensification of the international sanctions regime since the early 2010s. Through this work, my research also advances a feminist International Political Economy understanding of sanctions as an underexplored dimension of the global political economy.

My research has received several awards, including the 2025 Political Studies Association (PSA) Elizabeth Wiskemann Prize for the best PhD dissertation in the study of (In)Equality and Social Justice, as well as the 2025 Leigh Douglas Memorial Prize for the best PhD dissertation on a Middle Eastern topic. My paper, "Towards a Feminist Geopolitics of Sanctions and Gendered Insecurity," won an Honourable Mention from the British International Studies Association (BISA), for their Colonial/Postcolonial/Decolonial Working Group's Early Career Researcher Paper Prize.

I joined the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies in October 2024. Before that, I held an Early Career Fellowship at the Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick (2023–2024). I completed my PhD in Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick in 2023, funded by the International Chancellor's Scholarship. I have been educated in various countries, including Iran (University of Tehran), Poland (University of Lodz), and the UK (Universities of Hull and Warwick).

At Exeter, I teach International Relations and Middle East Politics and convene two final-year undergraduate modules: Politics of Authoritarian Rule and Armed Islamist Movements.