Canal-U

He holds a master’s degree in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. His master’s thesis focused on the Chinese presence in West Africa. He is currently working as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

His PhD research interests are related to the arrival of Chinese goods in Africa, with special attention to West African transnational traders and state–business relationships in Africa. He has published a number of papers, such as “ The Chinese Presence in Burkina Faso : A Sino-African Cooperation from Below ” in The Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, or “ The Revolution of Chinese Goods in Africa: Mass Consumption and New Material Culture ” (with Prof. A. Kernen) in Politique Africaine.

His research interests are oriented towards material culture, consumption and the impact of globalization on non-western societies. He edited a book on “Consumption in Africa” (Lit, 2008), focussing on understandings of household economies in Africa. He participated in a research programme on globalization in Africa (2000-2007), investigating the many roles of “global goods “ in West Africa.

He is speaker of the research training group “Value and Equivalency” at Goethe-University. His recent publications include an edited volume on “Mobility of Things” (Oxbow 2013) and also on the “Obstinacy of Things” (Neofelis 2015). He currently edited a volume containing Marcel Mauss’ writings on money (Suhrkamp 2015).

Docteur en Science politique de l’Institut d’Etude Politique de Paris. Il a travaillé à l’institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales et du Développement de Genève et actuellement à la faculté des sciences sociales et Politique de l’Université de Lausanne.  Adoptant une perspective de sociologie politique, il analyse dans ses travaux sur la transition chinoise, différents aspects liés au processus de privatisation (émergence du secteur privé, transformation du système social, manifestations ouvrières, émergence d’un secteur associatif).  

En parallèle depuis quelques années, il conduit et dirige des recherches et sur la présence chinoise en Afrique. Après des premiers travaux sur les petits commerçants chinois en Afrique, il porte actuellement son intérêt sur l’impact des produits chinois en Afrique et plus largement le rôle de la Chine dans un possible retour d’un Etat développementaliste en Afrique. Il a publié récemment un numéro spécial de la revuePolitique Africaine intitulé : « China Ltd : Un business Africain » (no 134/2014).

She also serves as the convener/coordinator of the Chinese in Africa/Africans in China (CA/AC) Research Network, an international network of scholars, researchers, graduate students, journalists, filmmakers and practitioners, which she helped to establish in 2007 (http://china-africa.ssrc.org/).

She is the author of A Matter of Honour. Being Chinese in South Africa (Jacana/Lexington Books) as well as dozens of articles and book chapters in scholarly publications. Her research interests include ethnic Chinese in southern Africa and perceptions of Chinese people by local communities; migration; race, ethnicity and identity; race, class and power dynamics; affirmative action and Chinese South Africans; and xenophobia.

She is currently working on her next book on Chinese migrants in Africa (Zed Books, forthcoming).