Sociology & Anthropology Team

Researchers and Professors

MARTINUS Claire

Lecturer and Educational Coordinator

Research Areas
Sociology and anthropology of gender and the body.

Research Activities
Research in the socio-anthropology of gender and the body, focusing on social, religious, and political transformations. Several research areas are developed, including:

  • the analysis of the effects of globalization and secularization on social practices (marriage, rituals, institutions) and gender relations;
  • the study of social dynamics in Nepal, considered a privileged field of observation;
  • the analysis of body norms, healthcare practices, sexualities, and rights;
  • a comparative approach (Belgium, Nepal, global scale), drawing on feminist, postcolonial and intersectional studies.

Scientific Supervision
Co-supervisor of several doctoral theses.

Teaching Activities

TANASESCU Mihnea

FNRS Research Associate and Professor

Research Areas

Research in political ecology and human-environment relations. Several research areas are developed, including:

  • the TERRA project (Terrestrial Politics in the Anthropocene), which studies the political and social dimensions of bacteria affecting olive groves in Southern Europe (Apulia, Mallorca);
  • the comparative analysis of the granting of rights to nature;
  • ecological restoration policies and forms of political representation of the non-human.

PhD Candidates and Teaching/Research Assistants

BORAUZIMA FEZA Esther

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Negotiating with Death: Female Agency, War Economies and Environmental Power in Eastern DR Congo.

Research Project
Trajectories and forms of action developed by women in contexts of armed conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The study highlights the links between militarization, natural resource exploitation and local social dynamics in order to better understand the forms of agency and power women develop in these environments.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka

CARLIER Célia

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
A political ecology of uranium mining in Shinkolobwe (DR Congo).

Research Project
Power relations linked to uranium mining in Shinkolobwe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, approached from a political ecology perspective. The research examines the historical legacy of this activity, the surveillance mechanisms still in place, and the social and environmental consequences of this “mining ruin” for local communities.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka

D’HAUSSY Julie

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Making weight a social issue: a pragmatist socio-anthropology of the experience of fatphobia and obesity.

Research Project
The construction of weight as a social issue through processes of medicalization and debates around obesity and fatness in various contexts. Based on ethnographic research, the study highlights the lived experiences of the people concerned as well as the mobilizations that challenge dominant medical approaches.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Katrin Solhdju

DELHAYE Florence

PhD Candidate – FNRS Research Fellow

Research Topic
Reorganizing and reinventing after a “forced” return: an ethnography of collectives in Senegal.

Research Project
Forced return migration to Senegal approached through three collectives: a state structure, an activist association and an artistic group. The research highlights how these organizations reorganize themselves and redefine their actions and claims in a context marked by institutional, political and social issues.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka

FONE KAMDEM Raoul

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Testing the theory of systemic racism through the work experiences of Sub-Saharan Africans in French-speaking Belgium.

Research Project
This research questions the relevance of the concept of systemic racism through the professional trajectories of Sub-Saharan Africans in French-speaking Belgium. It highlights institutional and organizational mechanisms that may produce discrimination, even in the absence of explicit racist intentions, across several sectors, including nursing homes, hospitality and construction.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: David Jamar

GALLEGOS CANTINCUS Marianela

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Circulations of decolonial thought between Abya Yala/Latin America and Belgium.

Research Project
Using an ethnographic approach, this research studies the circulation of decolonial thought originating in Abya Yala/Latin America and its reappropriations in Belgium. The aim is to understand under what conditions this knowledge retains its potential to break with coloniality, and under what conditions it becomes more acceptable at the cost of losing its political memory.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: David Jamar
Co-supervisor: Claire Martinus

KANINGU BUSHENYULA Parfait

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Living with extraction: ecological reconfigurations and micropolitics of life in Muanda, DR Congo.

Research Project
Ecological and social transformations linked to oil exploitation in Muanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The study highlights the evolution of mangroves, fish populations and the living conditions of fishermen along the coastline. It shows that this exploitation goes beyond environmental issues alone and is embedded in political choices and complex relations between human societies and environments.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka

LEJEUNE Tanya

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Student mobilizations and recognition at school in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

Research Project
Mobilizations of secondary school students seeking recognition of their rights and their place within the school institution. The study highlights forms of collective action as well as their effects on teaching practices and school democracy.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: David Jamar

LESZKOWSKI Jan

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Integrating traditional medicines in Madagascar: issues of evidence and legitimation.

Research Project
Tensions between evidence-based medicine and traditional therapeutic knowledge in Madagascar. Based on ethnographic research, the study highlights processes of recognition, marginalization and legitimation of local medical practices in contemporary health systems.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Katrin Solhdju

Associated Project
Pragmatics of Healing: Which “Evidence Base” for Which “Integration” of Traditional Medicines.

LIENAERT Jérémy

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Knowledge, struggles and exclusions around Walloon coal spoil tips.

Research Project
Social and political uses of coal spoil tips in Wallonia. The study highlights the relationships between residents, activists, institutions and the environment in order to understand how these former industrial sites become spaces of conflict, memory and ecological experimentation.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Damien Darcis
Co-supervisor: David Jamar

MALTESE Livia

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
TERRA Project (Terrestrial Politics in the Anthropocene).

Research Project
Ecological and political transformations linked to plantation diseases in the Mediterranean basin. The case of Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterium affecting olive groves in Southern Europe, makes it possible to examine political, scientific and social responses to environmental crises in the context of the Anthropocene.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Mihnea Tănăsescu

Associated Research Project
TERRA – Terrestrial Politics in the Anthropocene
Participants: Mihnea Tănăsescu, Fabio Gatti

MARBAIX Charline

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Strong objectivity and evidence-based medicine.

Research Project
The production of medical knowledge approached through feminist science studies. The research proposes the concept of “strong evidence” in order to examine the values, social contexts and positions of scientists that influence the evidence used in medicine.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Katrin Solhdju
Co-supervisor: Stéphanie Pache (UQAM)

UKECI UWODHA Rose

PhD Candidate

Research Topic
Discourse, power and resistance: reconfiguring the mining Anthropocene in Kilo-Moto.

Research Project
Dynamics of interaction between actors in the mining regions of Kilo-Moto, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The analysis focuses on the discourses mobilized by miners, local authorities, religious groups and former combatants to defend their interests around gold exploitation, and highlights their role in power relations, conflicts and alliances. Mining activity thus appears as a space of struggle over the meanings of territory, wealth and justice, beyond purely economic issues.

Scientific Supervision
Supervisor: Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka