Shadrack Wanjala Nasong’o, Ph.D. is Professor of International Studies and former department chair at Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee, where he has taught since 2005. He teaches courses in comparative politics, international relations, and African politics. He has previously taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, University of Nairobi, and Kenyatta University, both in Kenya. Additionally, Prof. Nasong’o has held prestigious summer fellowships at Riara University, Egerton University, and St. Paul’s University, all in Kenya. A political comparativist, Prof. Nasong’o’s research interest lies in the areas of democratization, identity politics, social conflict, governance, and development. He is author, editor, and co-editor of thirteen books, and dozens of peer reviewed book chapters and articles in refereed journals. His latest publication is a monograph titled Kenya and the Politics of a Postcolony (London: Anthem Press, 2024). For his prolific scholarly work, Prof. Nasong’o has been honored with the Rhodes College’s Clarence Day Award for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity, and the Ali Mazrui Award for Research and Scholarly Excellence from the University of Texas at Austin.
Child soldiers, Climate-related issues, Coercive population control, Deportees/criminal deportees, Ethnic discrimination or persecution, Female genital mutilation/circumcision/FGC, Forced marriage, Gang-related violence/non-state actors, Gender-based violence/domestic violence, Healthcare access/health systems capacity, HIV/AIDS, Journalist persecution, Land tenure disputes, LGBTQ, Likelihood of destitution or homelessness, Political persecution, Prison conditions, Religious discrimination or persecution, Government/state actor persecution, Risk of retaliation, Safe internal relocation, Sexual abuse/assault, Sufficiency of protection, Torture, Trafficking, Tribal discrimination or persecution, Violence against children/child abuse
I have served as an expert witness for asylum seekers since 2008. Since then, I have written close to fifteen (15) expert reports for asylum cases in England, Scotland, and the United States of America.
1. Kenya and the Politics of a Postcolony. London: Anthem Press, 2004
2. The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Kenya. New York: Palgrave, 2003
3. The Palgrave Handbook of Kenya's History. New York: Palgrave, 2003
4. African Immigrants and the American Experience. London: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003
5. African Governance, Security, and Development. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2021
6. Contentious Politics in Africa. Durham: Carolina Academic Press, 2016.
7. Gendering African Social Spaces. Durham: Caroline Academic Press, 2016.
8. The Roots of Ethnic Conflict in Africa. New York: Palgrave, 2015
9. Regime Change and Succession Politics in Africa. New York: Routledge, 2013
10. The Human Rights Sector in Kenya. Nairobi: Kenya Human Rights Institute, 2009.
11. The African Search for Stable Forms of Statehood. New York: Edwin Mellen, 2008
12. Kenya: The Struggle for Democracy. London: Zed Books, 2007.
13. Contending Political Paradigms in Africa: Rationality and the Politics of Democratization in Kenya and Zambia. New York: Routledge, 2005.