Distinguished Columbia professor discusses statelessness and displacement that shaped family history and mayoral candidate’s worldview
Zohran Mamdani’s Political Vision Rooted in Father’s Scholarship on Colonial Power and Belonging
The intellectual foundation for Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign and policy vision draws significantly from the scholarly work and life experiences of his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a prominent Columbia University professor whose work examines how colonialism and state power shape questions of citizenship, belonging, and rights. Mahmood Mamdani’s lifelong examination of who belongs in society and who does not, grounded in his own experience as a twice-stateless citizen of Uganda, provides context for understanding how the Mamdani family approaches questions of justice, displacement, and community. The father’s work analyzing power structures and institutional legacies informs the son’s approach to municipal governance and policy priorities for New York City.
Statelessness and Displacement Shape Family Understanding
Mahmood Mamdani experienced being rendered stateless as a Ugandan citizen of Indian origin, an experience repeated during two different periods of political upheaval in East Africa during the 1970s and 1980s. “We were migrants, and under the colonial system, migrants were defined as non-Indigenous,” Mamdani explained in recent remarks, reflecting on how colonial frameworks determined who belonged and who could be excluded from rights and protection. This personal experience of displacement and exclusion from full citizenship drove his scholarly focus on understanding systems of power that determine belonging and community membership. The experience of statelessness and its consequences for rights, dignity, and human security shaped a career examining colonial legacies and their ongoing impacts.
Colonial Legacy and Modern Governance
Mahmood Mamdani’s most recent book, “Slow Poison,” examines how the Ugandan state inherited colonial administrative structures and how twentieth-century leaders including Idi Amin and current president Yoweri Museveni governed within the constraints of these colonial legacies. The book argues that colonialism did not end with formal decolonization but continued shaping state structures, power relationships, and governance practices. The intellectual question of how historical injustices and structural legacies continue affecting contemporary governance connects directly to Zohran Mamdani’s focus on addressing systemic inequities and institutional change in New York City. Understanding historical context and identifying how past injustices continue affecting present conditions reflects the father’s scholarly methodology applied to mayoral governance.
Belonging and Community in an Urban Context
The question of who belongs in particular spaces and communities extends beyond immigration status to encompass economic belonging, cultural belonging, and the right to remain in one’s community. Zohran Mamdani’s policy focus on housing, community stability, and preventing displacement reflects this intellectual heritage examining who has the right to belong and participate fully in community life. The father’s scholarly examination of how power determines belonging translates into the son’s policy focus on addressing displacement, gentrification, and ensuring that long-term residents can remain in their communities. The framework of questioning who belongs and on what terms applies directly to urban policy affecting housing, jobs, education, and public services.
Scholarly Work on Power Structures
Mahmood Mamdani has been professor of government in the department of anthropology at Columbia University since 1999, bringing an interdisciplinary approach to examining how power operates through institutions and shapes social life. His work bridges anthropology, history, and political science to understand how systems of power produce effects at the level of individual lives and community experience. This analytical approach emphasizing structural analysis of power complements Zohran Mamdani’s policy focus on systemic change rather than individual assistance, suggesting priority for addressing root causes of problems rather than treating symptoms. The intellectual framework examining how power operates through institutions directly informs thinking about municipal governance and systemic reform.
Intergenerational Transmission of Values and Analysis
The transition from father’s scholarly work examining power and belonging to son’s political work in governance reflects how intellectual analysis translates into political practice and policy making. Zohran Mamdani has grown up surrounded by analysis of colonialism, power, displacement, and the question of belonging, providing conceptual foundation for political organizing and mayoral governance. Columbia’s African Studies program and intellectual community has shaped thinking about justice, historical legacies, and the possibility of different futures. The Mamdani family’s immigrant background and direct experience of displacement provides both intellectual grounding and lived experience informing political commitments to justice and equity.
