Curriculum Vitae
Education
2011-2016
PHD in Social and Political Sciences, University of Liège
Title: "Saisir l’Etat" Les conflits d'héritage, la justice et la place du droit à Cotonou.
Areas of expertise: Anthropology of law, Public services and public policies, Ethnography of the State, Alternative Dispute Resolution, African studies.
2010-2011
Master of Arts International Politics and Human Rights, City University London
Dissertation: Civil society, environment and Human Rights in developing countries. A case study of two western NGOs and their interventions in the Congo Basin Rainforest
Courses include: International human rights law, Global politics of human rights, Human wrongs, Culture, communication and society, Global civil society.
2008-2010
Master in Anthropology, University of Liège
Dissertation: Les conflits d’héritage au Bénin. Ethnographie des dynamiques familiales et des institutions judiciaires
Courses include: Anthropology of development, Economic anthropology, Fieldwork methods, The politics of interventions in developing countries.
2005-2008
Bachelor in Sociology and Anthropology, University of Liège
Dissertation: Witchcraft, State and Politics in Contemporary Africa
Professional Activities
2015-2017
Maître de conférences – Teaching/scientific assistant
Pôle-Sud – Changement Social et Développement
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Liège
2011-2015
FRS-FNRS Doctoral Research Fellow
Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale et Culturelle
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Liège
Associate researcher
Laboratoire des Dynamiques Sociales et des Etudes du Développement (LADYD)
University of Abomey-Calavi
Spring 2014
Visiting researcher
Center of African Studies
School of Political and Social Sciences
University of Edinburgh
2010-2011
Intern
Rights and Justice Department Friends of the Earth London (FoE)
The Rainforest Foundation UK (London)
2008-2009
Student assistant
School of Social Sciences
University of Liège
Teaching
2016-2017
Introduction to Research, University of Liège
Professional Practice Seminar, University of Liège
Tutorials – Introduction to Sociology, University of Liège
2015-2016
Family Structures, Cultural Dynamics and Globalisation, University of Liège
L'anthropologie du développement (with C. Eteka) – Certificat Universitaire en Développement et Coopération Internationale, University of Liège
Tutorials – Introduction to Sociology, University of Liège
2014-2015
Anthropology of Development (with B. Rubbers & C. Rosillon), University of Liège
L'anthropologie du développement (with C. Rosillon) – Certificat Universitaire en Développement et Coopération Internationale, University of Liège
2012-2013
Le propos sociologique – Introduction to Sociology, University of Liège
L'anthropologie du développement (with C. Rosillon) – Certificat Universitaire en Développement et Coopération Internationale, University of Liège
2008-2009
Tutorials – Social and Cultural Anthropology I, University of Liège
Invited Lectures
2017
"Inheritance disputes, the law and the justice system in Cotonou"
Institut für Ethnologie und Afrikastudien, Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz
"'Saisir l'État'. Les conflits d’héritage, la justice et les usages du droit à Cotonou"
Université Pédagogique Nationale de Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
"Le 'code des femmes'? Les conflits d'héritage, la justice et le nouveau droit de la famille à Cotonou"
École d'été Genre et Droit en Afrique, CERIUM, University of Montreal
Organization of Conferences and Workshops
2015
Research seminar "Vivre et dire le conflit en sciences sociales"
School of Social Sciences, University of Liège, Belgium (with F. Theunissen, C. Rosillon & M. Campigotto)
Panel "Mobilizing the Law: Bargaining, Belonging and Legal Consciousness in Africa"
6th European Conference of African Studies, Paris, France (with S. Verheul)
2013
Panel reporter: "The functioning of public services in semi-urban areas"
International Conference on "Semi-urban Territories: Development, Issues and Perspectives in the South", Gembloux, Belgium
Conference and Workshop Papers (selection)
2018
15th EASA Biennial Conference, Stockholm, Sweden
Communication: "Defining human dignity: welfare judges, law and fairness in Belgian courts"
ASAUK 2018 Conference, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Communication: "Performing state authority in court: judges and litigants in family law hearings in Cotonou"
2015
6th European Conference of African Studies, Paris, France
Communication: "'On se débrouille', or how to be a good judge when the state lets you down?" [with A. Kolloch]
2014
Workshop "African Courts: Actors, Institutional Developments and Governance, Niamey", Niger
Communication: "Negotiating the law: judges, families and court hearings in inheritance cases in Cotonou"
Rencontres annuelles de l'ethnographie de l'EHESS, Paris, France
Communication: "La médiation, une justice de seconde zone? Les modes alternatifs de résolution des conflits, le droit et l'héritage à Cotonou"
Journées des Jeunes Chercheurs en Etudes Africaines (JCEA), Paris, France
Communication: "Quand l'Etat échoue à ramener l'ordre. Conflits d'héritage et conscience du droit à Cotonou"
Seminar "Law and Social Order in Africa", Oxford, United Kingdom
Communication: "Restoring order: Inheritance disputes and legal consciousness in Cotonou"
82ème Congrès annuel de l’Association Francophone pour le Savoir (ACFAS), Montreal, Canada
Communication: "Quand les femmes veulent leur part. Le droit, la justice et les conflits d'héritage à Cotonou"
2013
Séminaire Doctoral Européen en Anthropologie des Dynamiques Sociales et du Développement, Bordeaux, France
Communication: "'Saisir l’Etat' pour un conflit d’héritage au Sud-Bénin : la justice pour les justiciables"
5th European Conference of African Studies, Lisbon, Portugal
Communication: "'Poor people are never right': legal consciousness and the families’ accounts of Beninese justice"
17th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Manchester, United Kingdom
Communication: "Inheriting at any cost: property, inheritance and family dynamics in South-Benin"
Fieldwork & Grants
06/2017
Kinshasa, DRC
Crédit classique, ULg
03/2015 – 05/2015
Cotonou, Benin
Crédit bref séjour, FNRS
10/2013 – 12/2013
Porto-Novo/Cotonou, Benin
Fondation du patrimoine, ULg
02/2013 – 05/2013
Abomey/Cotonou/Parakou, Benin
Crédit bref séjour, FNRS
10/2012 – 12/2012
Abomey-Calavi/Cotonou, Benin
Fondation du patrimoine, ULg
01/2012 – 04/2012
Cotonou, Benin
Crédit bref séjour, FNRS
02/2010 – 05/2010
Cotonou, Benin
CUD travel grant
Awards
2014
Fondation Van Beneden, University of Liège
Languages
French (mother tongue)
English (fluent)
Fongbé (basics)