Members
Chair
Professor Harry West
Deputy Chair
Advisory Committee Members
Professor Johan Pottier, Professor William Gervase Clarence-Smith, Dr Deborah Johnston, Dr Carlos Oya, Dr Nigel Poole, Ms Hannah Roberson, Professor Peter Jackson (external, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield), Dr Polly Russell (external, Food Collections Curator, British Library)
Members
For a list of members, see Academic Staff below.
Associate Members
Associate members of the Centre include more than 600 SOAS students and alumni, academics and students at other institutions, policymakers, independent scholars and journalists, and food producers.
Invitation to Join
Members of SOAS staff are eligible for full membership in the Centre. Applications for associate membership are accepted at the discretion of the Centre Chair from those with an academic interest in food. Requests to join should be addressed to: soasfoodstudies@soas.ac.uk
Nadje Al-Ali
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Women & gender in the Middle East; women’s movements and feminism in Middle East; secularism and Islamism; transnational migration, diaspora mobilization; gendering violence, war and peace; history of Iraqi women; impact of sanctions, war and occupation on Iraqi women, Iraq.
- Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4547
- Email: n.s.al-ali@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 452A
- Office Hours: Tuesday 10am-12pm
Tony Allan
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Analysis of water resources in semi-arid regions and the role of global systems in ameliorating local and regional water deficits. Established the concept of Virtual Water. Was awarded the Stockholm Water Prize in 2008 in recognition of his contribution to water science.
- Email: ta1@soas.ac.uk
Doris Behrens-Abouseif
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Architecture of Cairo, the art and archaeology of Turkey, Iran and the Near East
- Tel: 020 7898 4455
- Email: da30@soas.ac.uk
- Room: B303
- Office Hours: Wednesdays 5-6pm
Chris Bramall
Economic growth, income inequality, famine and agricultural development in modern China, the political economy of Maoism, The development of the contemporary Chinese empire
- Tel: 0207 898 4616
- Email: cb81@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 275
- Office Hours: Tuesdays 10am-12pm
William Gervase Clarence-Smith
Advisory Committee Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
History of Islam, sexuality, diasporas, slavery, stimulants, rubber, livestock and textiles, with special reference to Maritime South East Asia - Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4608
- Email: wc2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 313
- Office Hours: Term 2 - Thursdays 3-5pm
Christopher Cramer
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Africa: economics of Africa, political economy of development, political economy of war and peace in southern Africa, and the economics of cashew production, processing and trade - Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4492
- Email: cc10@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 288
- Office Hours: Thursday 11-1
Philippe Cullet
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Law and environment, law and natural resources, intellectual property, water, human rights, international law, India. - Tel: 020 7898 4651
- Email: pcullet@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 226
- Office Hours: Wednesday 3:00 to 5:00pm
Andrew Dorward
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Agricultural and rural development processes and policies, building from strong interdisciplinary, livelihood and institutional understandings. Links between these, environmental challenges and wider development processes. - Tel: 020 3073 8330
- Email: andrew.dorward@soas.ac.uk
- Room: LIDC202
Ben Fine
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Southern Africa: the mineral-energy complex in South Africa; the political economy of consumption, particularly food;privatisation and industrial policy; political economy, history of economic thought and economic theory; economics
imperialism especially social capital.
- Tel: 020 7898 4527
- Email: bf@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 278
- Office Hours: Thursdays 4pm - 5pm
Peter Flügel
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Jaina Studies; South Asian History & Culture; Anthropology & Sociology of Religion
- Tel: +44 (0)20 7898 4776
- Email: pf8@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 593
- Office Hours: All Year - Fridays 3-5pm (during term time)
Bernhard Fuehrer
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Classical Chinese philology, rhetoric, philosophy and literature; the history of Sinology in Europe; reception of the canon with specific reference to the Analects - Tel: 020 7898 4218
- Email: bf3@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 398
- Office Hours: Please e-mail to make an appointment
- On Sabbatical:2012-13
Christopher Gerteis
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Modern and Contemporary Japanese history. Social and cultural history of the 20th century, especially the intersection of consumer capitalism and historical memory.
- Tel: 020 7898 4093
- Email: cg24@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 304
- On Sabbatical:AY 2012-13
Laura Hammond
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Africa; Horn of Africa; refugees and forced migration; post-conflict social integration; violence and conflict analysis; humanitarianism and humanitarian assistance; globalisation, transnationalism, diasporas and remittances; famine and food security; livelihoods in emergency contexts.
- Tel: 020 7898 4654
- Email: lh4@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 371
- Office Hours: Wednesday 10am-12pm
Jane Harrigan
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
International finance for development and the economic reform programmes associated with IMF and World Bank finance to developing countries; the links between macro-economic policy and agricultural performance in sub-Saharan Africa; the gender dimensions of economic liberalisation and globalisation; and the political economy of economic reform in the Middle East and North Africa. Cross-cutting these subject areas are two geographical areas of specialisation, namely sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on Ghana and Eastern and Southern Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa. - Tel: 020 7898 4537
- Email: jh66@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 281
- Office Hours: By appointment only
Catherine Hezser
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
- Tel: 020 7898 4633
- Email: ch12@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 335
- Office Hours: Thursdays 10-11am
Elizabeth Hull
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
South Africa; economic anthropology; anthropology of the state & institutions, bureaucracy, agriculture; livelihoods; health; nutrition; politics of food systems, food acquisition and consumption practices.
- Tel: 020 7898 4766
- Email: eh17@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 4416
- Office Hours: Mondays - 10:30am-12:30pm in 569
- On Sabbatical:On Research Leave 2012-2015
Deborah Johnston
Advisory Committee Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Analysis and measurement of poverty; the working of rural labour markets; agrarian change and rural development; the socio-economic impact of HIV/AIDS
- Tel: 020 7898 4494
- Email: dj3@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 270
- Office Hours: Mondays 12pm - 2pm
Tania Kaiser
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
East Africa, particularly Uganda and Sudan, West Africa, Sri Lanka; conflict and development; forced migration; refugees; humanitarian interventions
- Tel: 020 7898 4484
- Email: tk51@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 290
- Office Hours: Monday 2-4pm
Deniz Kandiyoti
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Middle East and Central Asia: gender and development; the state and social policy; feminist theory - Email: dk1@soas.ac.uk
Jakob Klein
Deputy Chair, SOAS Food Studies Centre
China (South); anthropology of food and eating, urban social relations - Tel: 020 7898 4428
- Email: jk2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 564
- Office Hours: Wednesdays 11:30-13:00
Jens Lerche
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
India; labour, social movements and globalisation; labour and the ILO; labour and caste in India; agrarian political economy. - Tel: 020 7898 4505
- Email: jl2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 295
- Office Hours: Monday 10-12
- On Sabbatical:Term 3 2012-13
Helen Macnaughtan
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Employment, human resource management, gender and economic development in Japan.
- Tel: 020 7898 4530
- Email: hm39@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 546
- Office Hours: Tuesday 2-4pm
Peter P Mollinga
Member
South Asia, Central Asia; comparative political sociology of water resources and development; technology and agrarian change; boundary work in natural resources management; interdisciplinary social theory. - Tel: 020 7898 4631
- Email: pm35@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 517
- Office Hours: By appointment only
Elizabeth Moore
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Arts of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia cultural landscape; pre- and proto-historic Myanmar, Pyu and Mon culture; visual culture, social memory and sacred landscape - Tel: 020 7898 4452
- Email: em4@soas.ac.uk
- Room: B408
- Office Hours: Term 1 - Mondays 4-5pm
David Mosse
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
India, especially Tamil Nadu and adivasi western India; caste and religion, dalit politics, vernacular Christianity, environmental history, common property resources, indigenous irrigation, participatory rural development, aid agencies, anthropology of development - Tel: 020 7898 4426
- Email: dm21@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 573
- Office Hours: Fridays 11am-1pm
Carlos Oya
Advisory Committee Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
West Africa, Southern Africa, agrarian political economy; poverty; rural labour; development aid; research methods - Tel: 020 7898 4566
- Email: co2@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 292a
- Office Hours: Tuesday 11-1
Nigel Poole
Advisory Committee Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Agrifood marketing, market coordination and information issues in agribusiness and poverty reduction, sustainable use of natural resource products, food safety and quality, urban and rural development.
- Tel: 020 7898 4375
- Email: n.poole@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 531
- Office Hours: Monday 12-1pm
Johan P J Pottier
Advisory Committee Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo: rural development, food security, ethnic conflict, post-conflict rehabilitation - Tel: 020 7898 4417
- Email: jp4@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 562
- Office Hours: Term 2 - Mondays 2-3pm
Colin Poulton
Member, SOAS Centre for Food Studies
Rural development and poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tel: 020 3073 8327
- Email: cp31@soas.ac.uk
- Room: LIDC 203
Parvathi Raman
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
The Indian Community in South Africa; Politics and identity in South Africa; African and Asian Communities in Britain; Political and cultural issues in Diaspora Studies; Historical anthropology; Philosophical issues in anthropology. - Tel: 020 7898 4434
- Email: pr1@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 571
- Office Hours: Wednesdays 11am-1pm or by Appointment
Kostas Retsikas
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
South East Asian Anthropology, notably Indonesia, Java, migration, ethnicity and the body - Tel: 020 7898 4432
- Email: kr1@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 595
- On Sabbatical:Research Leave 2012-13
Pasquale Scaramozzino
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Macroeconomics; fiscal policy; applied econometrics - Tel: 020 7898 4055
- Email: ps6@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 528
- Office Hours: By appointment
Timon Screech
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
History of Japanese art; Edo painting; contacts between Japan and Europe in the 18th century; history of science in Japan; the theory of art history - Tel: 020 7898 4453
- Email: ts8@soas.ac.uk
- Room: B301
- Office Hours: All Year - Tuesdays 3-4pm (during term time)
Colin Shindler
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
History and politics of Israel; Zionism - Tel: 020 7898 4358
- Email: cs52@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 418
Subir Sinha
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
South Asia: institutions of development, NGOs, social movements; the environment, common property institutions and resource use - Tel: 020 7898 4495
- Email: ss61@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 287
- Office Hours: Wednesday 11-1
- On Sabbatical:Terms 2 and 3 2012/2013
Laurence Smith
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Natural resource management, water resources, rural development and poverty reduction.Catchment management for protection of water resources.
- Tel: +44 (0)20 3073 8328
- Email: ls34@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 204
Julia C Strauss
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
State and society in China and Taiwan; Comparative Political Sociology
- Tel: 020 7898 4746
- Email: js11@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 207
- On Sabbatical:Term 1, 2012-13
Leandro Vergara-Camus
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Political economy of Latin America, social and peasant movements, alter-globalisation movements and social change, alternative development, agrarian issues, and bio-fuels and energy politics.
- Tel: 020 7898 4228
- Email: l.vergara-camus@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 260
- Office Hours: Tuesday 3-5pm
Jeff Waage, OBE
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Food Policy. Farmer participatory research, biological alternatives to pesticides, biosecurity and management of invasive species affecting agriculture and the environment
Harry West
Chair, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Anthropology of Food: agriculture, food, and state policy; food safety and regulation; food and international trade; food and cultural heritage. Southern Africa, especially Mozambique; political anthropology; violence and the state; revolutionary socialism and post-socialist societies; traditional authority; sorcery; healing. - Tel: 020 7898 4414
- Email: hw16@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 569
- Office Hours: All Year - by email appointment (during term time)
Cosimo Zene
Member, SOAS Food Studies Centre
Anthropology of religion, theory in the study of religions, continental philosophy, Gramsci and religion, intercultural and inter-religious dialogue, minorities (Dalits), mysticism and heresy, non-Western Christianities, Mediterranean anthropology; South-Asia (India, Bangladesh), Sardinia.
- Tel: 020 7898 4783
- Email: zc@soas.ac.uk
- Room: 340
- Office Hours: Term 1 - Tuesdays 2:30-4pm / Thursdays 15:30-5pm
Professorial Research Associates
Henry Bernstein
Professorial Research Associate
East Africa and South Africa; sociology of development; agrarian political economy; social and political theory; food commodity chains; governance and development. - Email: hb4@soas.ac.uk
Anne Murcott
Professorial Research Associate
UK; anthropology and sociology of food and eating
- Email: am112@soas.ac.uk
Sami Zubaida
Professorial Research Associate
Emeritus Professor of Politics and Sociology at Birkbeck
Mediterranean, Ottoman, culinary cultures, boundaries, nationalism, religion
Emeritus Professor of Politics and Sociology (Birkbeck College)
- Email: s.zubaida@bbk.ac.uk
Research Associates
Emma-Jayne Abbots
Research Associate
Eating, food & consumption; migration and mobilities; class subjectivities; time politics and cultural heritage; the body, bio-politics and governance; discourses and policies of obesity and nutrition; work, labour and livelihoods; rural development, landscape and the environment; economic anthropology, remittances and material culture; gender, generations & relatedness; Latin America, esp. Ecuador & the Andes
- Tel: 07970 324 774
- Email: ea1@soas.ac.uk
Eona Bell
Research Associate
Chinese in Britain, China, diaspora, food and ethnicity, ethnic catering industry, childhood, socialisation, learning and cognition, emotion, gender and cultural transmission
- Email: eb38@soas.ac.uk
Nuno Domingos
Research Associate
Portuguese colonialism; Mozambique; Portuguese Estado Novo; Leisure and sports’ practices; football; popular culture; Anthropology of Food; social history and political economy of artisan cheese making; Portuguese wine production and consumption.
- Email: nd16@soas.ac.uk
Monica Janowski
Research Associate
SE Asia, in particular Borneo; environmental anthropology; food, particularly rice, and the use of food as an ‘ethnic marker’ in the context of migration; kinship and ‘relatedness’ through food.
- Tel: 020 7898 4691
- Email: mj11@soas.ac.uk
Post-Doctoral Research Fellows
Nicola Frost
Post doctoral Research Fellow
Indonesia, especially Maluku; urban Australia; migration and multiculturalism: Indonesians in Sydney, Bengalis in East London; migrants’ organisations; migrant festivals and the cultural politics of food; state-civil society relations; nationalism. - Email: nf19@soas.ac.uk
Post-Doctoral Research Associates
Julie Botticello
Post Doctoral Research Associate
I have recently completed my doctorate in Anthropology at UCL, under the supervision of Professors Mike Rowlands and Danny Miller, on the materialization of wellbeing among Yoruba-Nigerians in London, in which the practices of using healing foods (ingestible materials with both material and immaterial qualities) became a significant feature of wellbeing attainment in migration.
- Email: jb81@soas.ac.uk
