C.V. | Publications | Project


Research Interests

asylum regimes, migration control, externalization, bureaucracy, migration trajectory, infrastructure

Research Areas

Niger, European Union

Profile

Trained as a sociologist and political scientist, Laura Lambert has turned to social anthropology to ethnographically explore the reconfigurations of the asylum regime in the wake of the EU-led introduction of migration control in Niger. In 2018‒2019 she conducted 13 months of field research in Niamey and Agadez, two of Niger’s largest cities, and was affiliated with LASDEL (Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherches sur les Dynamiques Sociales et Developpement Local), a research centre in Niamey. Her general research interests include refugee protection, bureaucracy, migration control, infrastructure, and freedom of movement. Her PhD project is part of the research group “Technicisation of Exclusionary Practices in the Context of Migration”, co-funded by the International Max Planck Research School “Retaliation Mediation Punishment” (REMEP; see https://www.remep.mpg.de/) and the Law and Anthropology Department.

Why Law & Anthropology?

Refugee law is negotiated and put into practice by state agents, refugees, and citizens, all of whom bring their moral concerns, political interests, strategies, and constraints to the negotiation table. The practical reality of on-the-ground implementation often differs from international refugee protection norms. Ethnography provides an important toolset to analyse and explain these differences.

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