Mahmood Mamdani is the Director of the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Uganda, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and the Professor of Anthropology, Political Science and African Studies at Columbia University. He specializes in the study of African history and politics, and his works explore the intersection between politics and culture, a comparative study of colonialism since 1452, the history of civil war and genocide in Africa, the Cold War and the War on Terror, and the history and theory of human rights.

He has taught at the University of Dar-es-Salaam (1973–79), Makerere University (1980–93), and University of Cape Town (1996–99) and was the founding director of Centre for Basic Research in Kampala, Uganda (1987–96). He has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being listed as one of the 'Top 20 Public Intellectuals' by Foreign Policy (US) and Prospect (UK) magazine in 2008.

His books include Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror (2009); Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the Roots of Terror (2004); When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism and Genocide in Rwanda (2001); Citizen and Subject: Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism (1996), and ten other books.

Mamdani was the Rajni Kothari Chair Professor at CSDS from December 2017 to March 2018. He delivered the annual Rajni Kothari Chair lecture on ‘Thinking of Justice through Africa’s Experience in the 20th Century’ at CSDS on 4 April 2018.