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In a nutshell
I am interested in two things right now. The first is how private actors, mostly NGOs but recently companies, create the public authority to act. This was the basis of my doctoral research and my monograph: Legitimation as Political Practice: Crafting Everyday Authority in Tanzania (CUP 2022)! It's also central to my new project on legitimation practices of (Chinese) non-state actors in east Africa, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) 2023-2026.
The second is voluntarism and the state. I am interested in what effects voluntary work in context, which is the focus of my Wellcome Trust grant: 'Recruited, Mobilized, Conscripted? Leveraging community health work in Kenya' and RSE grant 'Voluntarism and State-Making in Africa'.
Full disclosure: before academia, I worked for several INGOs in Africa. I do other stuff too, mainly biking and exploring my homeland Scotland with my family.
