Stephen C. Lubkemann
Title — Associate Professor of Anthropology and International Affairs
Associate Editor of Anthropological Quarterly
Co-Founder, Diaspora Research and Policy Program, Elliott School of International Affairs
Technical Advisory Board, GWU-Africa Center for Health and Human Security
Office — 2112 G St., 103
Phone — (202) 994-4191
E-mail — SL02@email.gwu.edu
Areas of Expertise —
Sociocultural Anthropology
Political conflict; violence; gender, migration; transnationalism and diasporas; refugees and displacement; humanitarian action; development; ethnohistory; maritime archaeology and CRM; epistemology and methodology in the social sciences. Regional foci: Lusophone Africa, Liberia, African diasporas.
Current Research
Dr. Lubkemann has conducted fieldwork with migrants and refugees in Mozambique, South Africa, Angola, and Liberia, and among diasporas in Portugal and the U.S. He has also worked on a variety of archaeological and cultural heritage projects in the U.S., Bermuda, and southern Africa.
Ongoing Projects
- Examining the influence of the Liberian diaspora on their war-torn homeland, a project launched in 2003 with grants from the United States Institute of Peace and the H. F. Guggenheim Foundation.
- Researching internal displacement, urbanization, and informal governance in Angola funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation.
- Exploring the role of customary legal systems in post-conflict Liberia, a project supported by the United Institute of Peace.
- The Southern African Slave Wrecks and Heritage Route Project, an internationally collaborative maritime archaeology and cultural heritage project supported by the Ford Foundation.
- Observing enumeration of non-English-speaking households in the 2010 Census. The first-ever analysis of U.S. census data based on ethnographic observation of the census interview process among both English-speakers (a control group) and seven ethno-linguistic minorities.
Education
Ph.D. 2000, Brown University
M.A. 1994, Brown University
B.A. 1990, Duke University
Background
Dr. Lubkemann is a sociocultural anthropologist whose work focuses primarily on social and political change in nations that have experienced protracted conflict and violence; on migrants, refugees, and diasporas; on international development and humanitarian action; and on cultural heritage and maritime archaeology.
To see Dr. Lubkemann's complete CV, click here.
Publications
Books
2010 Isser, D., S. Lubkemann, and S. N'Tow. Looking for Justice: Liberian Experiences with and Perceptions of Local Justice Options. Washington, DC: U.S. Institute of Peace Press.
2010 Grinker, R., S. Lubkemann, and C.B. Steiner, eds. Perspectives on Africa: A Reader in Culture, History and Representation. 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
2008 Lubkemann, S.C. Culture in Chaos: An Anthropology of the Social Condition in War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Selected Articles and Book Chapters
2011 Lubkemann, S., D. Isser, and P. Chapman. “Neither state nor custom — just naked power: The consequences of ideals-oriented rule of law policy making in Liberia," Journal of Legal Pluralism 63: 73-110.
2008 Lubkemann, S.C. "Involuntary immobility: On a theoretical invisibility of forced migration studies," Journal of Refugee Studies 21(4): 454-475.
2008 Lubkemann, S.C. "Liberian remittance relief and not-only-for-profit entrepreneurship — exploring the economic relevance of diasporas in post-conflict transitions." In J. Brinkerhoff, ed. Diasporas and International Development: Exploring the Potential. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Press.
2007 Lubkemann, S.C., guest ed. "Kinship and globalization." Special issue of Anthropological Quarterly Vol. 80, No. 2.
2005 Lubkemann, S.C. "Migratory coping in wartime Mozambique: An anthropology of violence and displacement in ‘fragmented wars," Journal of Peace Research 42(4): 493-508.
2005 Lubkemann, S.C. "The moral economy of non-return among socially-diverted migrants from Portugal and Mozambique." In L. Trager, ed. Migration and Economy: Global and Local Dynamics--Society for Economic Anthropology Monographs No. 22. NY: Altamira Press.
2005 Lubkemann, S.C., and D. Hoffman. "Warscape ethnography in West Africa and the anthropology of 'events'," Anthropological Quarterly 78(2): 315-328.
2005 Lubkemann, S.C. "Unsettling the metropole: Decolonization, migration and national identity in postcolonial Portugal." In C. Elkins and S. Pedersen, eds., Settler Colonialism in the Twentieth Century: Projects, Practices, Legacies. NY: Taylor and Francis.
Classes Taught
Anth 0700 (old 700): Anthropology of Violence and Political Conflict
Anth 2008 (198): Foundations of Anthropological Thought
Anth 3501 (151): Anthropology of Development
Anth 3531 (117): Methods in Sociocultural Anthropology
Anth 3708 (178): Cultures of Africa
Anth 3833 (115): Field Research: Maritime Historical Archaeology
Anth 6302 (222): Post-Conflict Transitions and Societies
Anth 6591 (251): Displacement and Diaspora