Karen Büscher
Karen Büscher's research approaches violent conflict from a spatial material perspective, investigating the transformative power of violent conflict in terms of spatial dynamics. From a dominant political anthropological perspective, her approach sits at the intersection of conflict studies, urban studies and political geography. Her main area of specialisation is Central Africa and more specifically the violent conflict in Easter DRC.
Karen Büscher's areas of interest evolve around war and rural-urban mobility, violent landscapes, humanitarian urbanism, urban governance, militarized urbanity, social geographies of violent conflict, settlement in displacement.
New Publication: Contested ‘commune rurales’: Decentralisation and the (violent) struggle for public authority in the Democratic Republic of Congo
This article explores how decentralisation policy and specifically the establishment of communes rurales in DR Congo turned into a profoundly destabilising juncture, shaking existing governance arrangements
Book Launch: Facilitating researchers in insecure zones with Mats Utas
Drawing upon his extensive research experience Mats Utas, in conversation with Karen Büscher, will elucidate how fragile relations with research brokers risk creating a single narrative of war.
New Panel Presentation by Karen Büscher: Peripheral urbanisation and central political stakes
This presentation on 27 November during the conference on Politics and Policies of Africa’s Intermediate Cities organized by IFRI will discuss politics of boomtown urbanisation in Eastern Congo.
Mining ecology, early urbanism and environmental knowledge in Katanga: a deep-time interdisciplinary approach
Through an interdisciplinary approach involving political anthropology, oral history, environmental archaeology and historical linguistics, this project aspires to transform our understanding of the deep-time interactions between artisanal mining ecology, early urbanism, and indigenous ecological knowledge in the southeastern DRC.
The politics of Hidden Urbanisation in the D.R. Congo
This project sets out to investigate ‘hidden’ forms of urbanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in order to achieve a better understanding of the profoundly political character of rapid urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Social resilience after sexual violence in Eastern DR Congo: from decay over reparations to accountable governance
Eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) has known over three decades of war and violence in which the population in general and women in particular became victimized in a situation of state and societal decay.
Changing urban residency: Migration, temporary settlement and new urbanisms in Africa
This research project is focused on temporary migration and settlement in Angola, DRC and Zimbabwe and how, in specific cases, they both extend in time and become permanent, creating unforeseen new urbanisms.
New Publication: Rebellious riots: entangled geographies of contention in Africa
Is violent conflict in Africa urbanizing? How do urban protests and civil war intersect? How do narratives, mechanisms and identities of contention move between urban and rural arenas?
Current research projects:
Mining ecology, early urbanism and environmental knowledge in Katanga: a deep-time interdisciplinary approach
Through an interdisciplinary approach involving political anthropology, oral history, environmental archaeology and historical linguistics, this project aspires to transform our understanding of the deep-time interactions between artisanal mining ecology, early urbanism, and indigenous ecological knowledge in the southeastern DRC.
The politics of Hidden Urbanisation in the D.R. Congo
This project sets out to investigate ‘hidden’ forms of urbanity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in order to achieve a better understanding of the profoundly political character of rapid urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Social resilience after sexual violence in Eastern DR Congo: from decay over reparations to accountable governance
Eastern DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) has known over three decades of war and violence in which the population in general and women in particular became victimized in a situation of state and societal decay.
Changing urban residency: Migration, temporary settlement and new urbanisms in Africa
This research project is focused on temporary migration and settlement in Angola, DRC and Zimbabwe and how, in specific cases, they both extend in time and become permanent, creating unforeseen new urbanisms.
Research Projects under Supervision:
Understanding urban protest in a context of war: an ethnographic analysis of ‘urban political terrains’ in eastern DRC
Border as “Opportunity”: Informal Cattle Trade across the Bangladesh-India Borders
The Dynamics of Urbanisation and Ethnic Contestations in Peri-urban Areas of Ethiopia: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa cities in Focus