6135 University Ave, Rm 1128 Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2 | +1 (902) 494-6593
Laura Eramian
BA Hons, MA (University of Western Ontario), PhD (York University)
Email Phone
leramian@dal.ca (902) 494-3538
Location
FASS Building, Room 3131
Profile
Laura Eramian is a social anthropologist whose work focuses on personhood, ethnicity, and political violence in Rwanda. She is interested in what we can learn about violence and post-conflict social formations through the modes by which ethnicity is produced and expressed not only at the level of political projects, but also at the level of everyday face-to-face encounters, common sense knowledge, and cultural idioms of difference. This approach necessitates a focus on broad historical political economy and processes of state formation on the one hand, and everyday social relationships, including patronage, kinship, friendship, and neighbourliness on the other. Two future research projects will build on her current research. One is a study of the political economy of the post-genocide “reconciliation industry” in Rwanda and the social and political effects of the shift from rural agriculture to peace building as the primary target for international development funding. The second will focus on everyday practices of concealment and secrecy among Rwandans to further develop her work on the relationship between ethnically marked social inequality, postcolonial power, and political violence.
Dr. Eramian currently has two journal articles under review, both of which are based on her recently completed doctoral dissertation. She also has a book manuscript in progress, entitled, “Making and Breaking Ethnicity: Personhood, Nationhood, and the Post-Conflict Moment in Rwanda.”
Her areas of research and teaching interest are:
- Political anthropology
- Political violence and genocide
- Ethnicity
- Personhood and relations of exchange
- Development and the politics of post-conflict reconstruction
- Africa, especially Rwanda and the Great Lakes region
Selected Conference Participation
2011 “Political Violence and the Production of Inequality: Secrecy and Concealment in a Small Rwandan Town.” Presented at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, Canada, November 16-20.
2011 “The Production of Ethnic Difference and Patron-Client Bonds in Butare, Rwanda: Rethinking Genocide and Modernity.” Presented at the Canadian Anthropology Society Annual Meeting (CASCA), St. Thomas University, Fredericton, Canada, May 10-13.
2010 “Rethinking Violence, Ethnicity, and Personhood in Rwanda.” Presented at the Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA) Annual Meeting, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, May 31-June 3.
2009 Session Co-Organizer with Dr. Riley Olstead. Critical Approaches to Post-Violence Reconciliation, a panel at the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada, May 26-29.
2009 “‘Post-genocide’ Reintegration or Disintegration? Counterpoints to Reconciliation Paradigms from Rwandan Genocide Survivors.” Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Canada, May 26-29.
2007 “Whose Denial? Persisting Fears Under Rwanda’s Unity and Reconciliation Project”. Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA). Toronto, Ontario, May 8-12.
2007 "Shifting Burdens: Memory and History in Post-Genocide Rwanda's Unity and Reconciliation Project". International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS). Mexico City, Mexico, June 1-5.
2007 "Conflict, Memory and Solidarity: The Campaign for Unity in Post-Genocide Rwanda". Friends and Foes Conference, School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy, Queen's University Belfast. Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 16-17.