Aidana Rakhatbekova is a PhD student in International Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. Her research examines how colonial legacies and state resource policies shape environmental injustice and structural violence in North Asia, with a focus on indigenous communities. She explores how these communities mobilize to claim the control over their lands and knowledge systems, challenging extractive governance and envisioning more inclusive and democratic futures.
Aidana has worked with international and local organizations on human rights and legal cooperation, including the Red Crescent Society of Kyrgyzstan and the Foundation for International Legal Cooperation. She holds a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies from Otto-von-Guericke University in Germany as a DAAD scholar and a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Middle East Technical University in Turkey as a Türkiye Bursları scholar.