Cynthia Kwakyewah

Dr. Cynthia Kwakyewah is a global sociologist and SSHRC Postdoctoral Scholar with research interests in human rights and social justice, sustainable development, environmental justice, spatial inequality, social movements, grassroots activism, and equity in education. Her scholarly work has been published in leading peer-reviewed academic journals such as Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management and Business Strategy and the Environment.

Her postdoctoral research asks how corporate abuses in Africa’s critical minerals sector are sustained, challenged, or remedied, and what factors influence accountability outcomes. As part of this research, she is developing Extractive Industries and Human Rights-Africa (EXTRACT-HR Africa) database. This is an original dataset capturing documented cases of corporate human rights violations linked to extractive activities across Africa from 2000 to the present, as well as corresponding responses from community and civil society organizations.

Cynthia is also the Principal Investigator of a project titled Reclaiming Human Dignity: Big Tech, Anti-AI Movements, and Human Rights. This project examines how transnational anti-AI movements adopt a human rights framework to articulate ethical, social, economic, and environmental critiques of AI, and how they challenge the power of Big Tech companies.

In addition to her research experience, Cynthia has several years of international teaching experience in higher education. She previously worked as an Adjunct Lecturer at EM Normandie Business School’s Oxford campus in the United Kingdom, teaching organizational sociology. She is currently a Course Director in the Social Science Department at York University.

Cynthia earned a PhD in Sociology from the University of Oxford (UK) as a recipient of both the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship and the Klaus Murmann Doctoral Fellowship. Her academic excellence has been recognized with numerous accolades, including the prestigious Governor General’s Gold Medal in 2019, awarded to York University’s top-performing graduate student.

Cynthia is the Chair of the 2026 Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS) Conference where she is providing academic leadership and coordinating the program and organizing committees across institutions and disciplines. The conference brings together nearly a thousand researchers, graduate students, industry professionals, public officials, and practitioners from Africa, Australia, Europe, and North America.

• University of Oxford, PhD in Sociology
• York University, MA in Interdisciplinary Studies
• York University, BA in International Development Studies