John Comaroff
Affiliated Research Professor
Joint appointment
Professor of African and African American Studies and of Anthropology, Oppenheimer Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University; Honorary Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Cape Town
Education
Ph.D., Anthropology, University of London
Curriculum vitae
Bio
John Comaroff is an ABF Affiliated Research Professor and Professor of African and African-American Studies and Anthropology at Harvard University. Before joining the Department of African and African American Studies, John Comaroff was the Harold H. Swift Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, Honorary Professor of Anthropology at the University of Cape Town, and…
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Research focus
Crime, policing, and the workings of the state in Africa, democracy and difference in post-revolutionary societies, and postcolonial political economy in the global south
Projects
- Popular Justice, Communal Violence, and Alternative Policing in the New South Africa (2004-2008)
- South Africa is currently beset by so-called “vigilantism,” a term that covers a range of different kinds of “alternative” policing, retributive violence, and popular justice,…
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Publications
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Writing Theory from the South: The Global Order from an African Perspective
- The World Financial Review
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“Foreword, in W. Garriott, ed., Policing and Contemporary Governance: The Anthropology of Police in Practice"
- Palgrave Macmillian
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"Teoría desde el sur: O cómo los países centrales evolucion hacia África" (with J. Comaroff)
- Paradigm Publishers
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Commentary
Apr 30, 2010
Listen to the podcast from BBC 4's "Thinking Allowed" program, broadcast Februay 8, 2010.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qcjwn (Comaroff segment begins at 12.40)
Ethno-theme parks, Native…
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Presentations
- The Return of Khulekani Khumalo, Zombie Captive: Imposture, Personhood, and the Law in South Africa
- Apr 2013
- Reflections on Theory from the South
- Feb 2013
- Divine Detection: Crime and the Metaphysics of Disorder
- Feb 2013
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Professional Service & Recognition
- Mellon Learning Associate, Bates College
- Awarded the Anders Retzius Gold Medal from the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography, presented by the King of Sweden, April 2007
- Member, Standing Committee on African Studies and Standing Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights, Harvard University
- Member, Editorial Group, Journal of Anthropological Research
- Member, Editorial Group, Annual Review of Law and Social Science
- Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Hagar:International Social Science Review
- Member, Editorial Board, Afrika Spectrum
- Member, International Review Committee, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany
- Member, International Advisory Board, Social Dynamics
- Member, International External Panel of Reviewers, Kuwait University
- Member, College of Reviewers, Canada Research Chairs Program, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Awarded Harry J. Kalven, Jr. Prize, Law and Society Association
- Associated Scholar, Center on Law and Globalization, American Bar Foundation and the University of Illinois College of Law
- Patron, Organisation of Intra-Cultural Development
- Phi Beta Kappa Scholar, 2013-14
- Member, Board of Directors, Human Rights Program, University of Chicago
- Honorary Professor, University of Cape Town, 2010-2015
Links
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