Professor Droz and Professor Gez from the Graduate Institute are two of the Principle Investigators in a new research project which exams the social evolution of contemporary populations in East Africa. The project is a collaboration between several universities spanning several nations.
Funding Organisations: Agence nationale de la recherche; Fonds National Suisse
Project SALMEA examines how men and women in contemporary East Africa seek—whether successfully or not—to access and transmit wealth, power, respectability, and authority. These goals may pose a formidable challenge as fast-changing social realities informed by structural change are fundamentally affecting local practices and representations of a well-led life and the practical paths for its achievement.
The project explores the dialectic relations between forms of self- accomplishment and repertoires of morality by focusing on four central themes: wealth, violence, religion, and kinship. They are examined from their economic, political, social, and symbolic dimensions by our interdisciplinary research team and partners.Our approach uses ethnographic field data, historical records and the relevant academic literature on questions of authority, ownership, inheritance, and kinship in East Africa.
This project is in partnership with the following institutions:
Further information on the project can be found here and on the flyer below.
