Alcinda Honwana is a leading scholar on youth, protests and social change in Africa. Her extensive research on youth and conflict, youth socio-economic transitions and youth political protest and social movements earned her a reputation as one of the most influential scholars in these fields. More specifically her widely cited work on youth in waithood has greatly contributed to shaping current youth studies in Africa and the global South.

Professor Honwana is currently Inter-Regional Advisor on social development policy at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. She has been a Centennial Professor and the Strategic Director of the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Chair in International Development as well as Director of the International Development Centre at The Open University, UK. Professor Honwana has also been the Prince Claus Chair for Development and Equity at the Institute for Social Studies in The Netherlands in 2007/8. Her career has straddled both academia and policy which allows her to bring critical policy insights into her academic work and vice-versa.

Honwana has also been a Director at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in New York. Her notable speaking engagements include a 2012 TED Talk; the renowned Lecture of the International African Institute in 2013; the distinguished Africa Lecture at Africa Studies Association USA in 2017; and, the 100th Kapuscinski Development Lecture at the University of Maastricht in 2018. She is the Chair of the International African Institute in the UK and an Editor of the African Arguments Book Series. Her most recent books include Youth and Revolution in Tunisia (2013) and The Time of Youth: Work, Social Change and Politics in Africa (2012).