Professor Mariz Tadros is a professor of politics and development and an IDS Research Fellow specialising in the politics and human development of the Middle East. Thematic areas of work include popular heritage, inclusive development, democratisation, Islamist politics, human security and the politics of gender and development.
Mariz is the Director of the Middle East People’s Culture Conservation Collective, an initiative that works collaboratively with partners in Egypt, Iraq and Syria to safeguard, preserve and celebrate the popular heritage of religious, ethnic and linguistic minorities. The MEPCC has documented, disseminated and revived popular heritage while also working with communities in challenging heritage practices that undermine wellbeing.
Previously, she was Director of the Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID), launched in November 2018 to make development more aware of religious inequalities, and she was also the Principal Investigator of the British Academy initiative on heritage repertoires for sustainable development in Egypt and beyond.
Since joining IDS, she has led several multi-disciplinary, multi-country research programmes in thematic areas relating to civil society and democratisation, gender, politics, human security, religion and development. She was formerly Co-Director of the DFID-supported RPC on Social and Political Action for Empowerment and Accountability.
Mariz has published 12 books, and her latest is: Coptic Heritage Awakening, and latest edited volumes with colleagues include: the Christian Heritage of Syria: Legacy and Impact and alongside colleagues, the Handbook of Iraqi People’s Heritage.
Prior to joining IDS, Mariz Tadros was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo and worked for many years as a journalist for Al-Ahram Weekly English language newspaper in Cairo, where she published over 300 articles on a variety of subjects including civil society, women in Egypt and the Arab region, poverty and social justice. She has extensive experience as a development practitioner and worked as a consultant for many international organisations, including the Ford Foundation. Mariz obtained her doctorate from Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford in 2004.
