I joined Russian and East European Studies as a Departmental Lecturer in 2010 after a three-year Junior Research Fellowship at Wolfson College, Oxford (2007-2010). Originally trained in European Ethnology (BA, Copenhagen) and Anthropology (PhD, University College London), I have previously taught on the MA in History of Design at the Royal College of Art, and tutored Anthropology at St. Peter´s College, Oxford. I currently contribute to the teaching of Research Methods for Area Studies, Society and Culture of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as teaching the special option Politics, Ideology, and Popular Culture: Everyday socialism and post-socialism in Russia and Eastern Europe.
Having conducted long-term fieldwork in Slovakia (2004-2009) and Poland (since 2008), I have two main areas of interest. The first is the way socio-economic reforms and EU-integration on historically embedded modes of economic activity in Central Europe, particularly artisanal crafts, pastoralism, and the heritage industry. Paying special attention to the way in which these reforms impact the working practices and conditions of small-scale producers, as well as their struggle for commercial viability has been a fruitful way into investigating how post-socialist liberalization has reconfigured citizenship, enterprise, labour, and gender relations. Working amongst the Górale in the border region of Cieszyn Silesia, Southern Poland, I also have a growing interest in issues of ethnicity and borderland studies. So far, this research has resulted in a number of articles and book chapters, as well as two forthcoming edited volumes: Neoliberalism, Personhood, and Postsocialism: Enterprising citizens in changing economies (Ashgate, 2013/14) and Economies of Favour After Socialism (with David Henig, Oxford University Press, 2014).
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