Kambaiz Rafi is a political economy researcher and holds a PhD in Development Policy from UCL (University College London). He is the author of "Patriarchal Hierarchy; Market Capitalism and Production in Afghanistan". Kambaiz joined the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University as teaching fellow in comparative politics of development in Septmber, 2023.
He was previously postdoctoral research fellow at SOAS University of London, funded by the UK Research and Innovation ESRC.
His doctorate studied private capitalist investments in manufacturing sector in the context of a market economy affected by conflict (taking Kabul 2002-2018 as a case study), drawing on methods from institutionalist political economy and economic sociology. He received his doctorate in summer 2021 and is now working on upcoming research projects.
His undergraduate is in economics from Pune University (India), and he has a master's in international political economy from King’s College London. He also holds a diploma in national security and international relations from India. Kambaiz is Afghan-American and has lived and worked in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, US, UK and France. He is fluent in Persian, English, French, Pashtu, and understands Urdu and Hindi. He regularly contributes to online outlets as an independent analyst.