University of Sussex

Graduate Student, Anthropology

About

I am funded by The Leverhulme Trust to carry out doctoral research exploring anthropological perspectives on the relationship between economy, violence and emotion for coffee farmers in Colombia. 

My work considers violence not as an abhorent disfunctional mechanism in society but rather as a social activity embedded within other social and cultural networks and meanings.  The fieldwork particpants were predominantly made up of people who did not identify themselves as either victims or perpetrators of any violence. My research shows how, for these people, violence is locally situated in such a way as to negotiate and perform a distance from it whilst simultaneously networking within it.

Violence, that for many analysts and commentators is the predominant concern of everyday life, is not a priority for fieldwork participants just, as they reminded me, the violence of the UK wars abroad was not a priority in my life.  The violent aspects of economy are therefore seen as shaping or marginal depending on the focus of the participants or the researcher.  Meanwhile more moral attitdes to structural violence, that inflect towards and respond to meanings of physical violence, are predominant.

The example of  Fairtrade coffee is used to explain this perspective, from the values and practical issues of ethical trading to the underbelly of an economic sector.


I recently finished working with Dr. John Drury and Prof. Richard Williams on a Psychosocial Tools Project for the NHS and ambulance services


C-SAP (part of the Higher Education Academy)  funded me on a  research project into 'Teaching Anthropology in an Educational Market' an investigation into  the impact of economic constraints on teaching anthropology. Since the end of the project he has maintained his links with C-SAP contributing to meetings of the Disciplinary Interest Group for Anthropology.  Following the announcement of major structural changes within the HEA I initiated and carried out an interview with a pioneer of C-SAP, Sue Wright.

I have recently created and am hosting a radio show on community station Brighton Free Radio where local researchers can talk about their research and play their favourite records.

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