Fiona Anciano is a Professor in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Western Cape and a Visiting Scholar at University West, Sweden. She leads the Politics and Urban Governance Research Group at UWC and holds a SARChI Chair in Democracy and Urban Governance. A qualitative researcher specialising in Participatory Action Research, her work focuses on democratic innovations, informal urban governance, and civil society activism, particularly in relation to participation, inequality, and urban justice in the Global South. She has published extensively on democracy, governance, and urban politics, including the co-authored book Democracy Disconnected: Participation and Governance in a City of the South.