Dr. S.J.T.M. Evers
- Telephone:+31 20 59 86702
- Room nr:z-137
- E-mail:s.j.t.m.evers@vu.nl
- Unit:faculteit der sociale wetenschappen (afd. sociale en culturele antropologie)
- Position:Associate Professor
Monday - Friday (changing)
Research Specialization
Sandra J.T.M. Evers, Ph.D. (Amsterdam 2001), is associate professor and senior researcher at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, VU University Amsterdam. She specialises in Africa and South West Indian Ocean studies, with a particular focus on Madagascar, the Seychelles and Mauritius. Dr Evers’ principal areas of research cover the anthropology of children, (forced) migration, slavery, memory and cognition, frontier societies within the context of globalisation, natural resource management, poverty and sustainable development. She is the director of a joint research programme on natural resource management and poverty of the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology (VU University Amsterdam) and the Institut de Civilisations/Musée d’Art et Archéologie(Université d’Antananarivo).She also acts as convener of an international working group on the anthropology of children.
Teaching courses 2011/2012
- Introduction Anthropology (PMC SCA)
- Theoretical Orientation on Human Security (part 2) DST profile (MSc SCA)
- Inequality and Poverty (Amsterdam University College, for 2nd year Bachelor in Social Sciences)
Board membership:
Sandra Evers is presiding the Educational Programme Committee of BSc CAO and the
Educational Programme Committee of MSc SCA.
Editorial Boards:
- Madagascar Conservation & Development
- AnthropoChildren, Perspectives Ethnographiques sure les enfants et l’enfance/Ethnographical studies of children and childhood
- Kabaro, Indian Ocean Social Science Review
Current Research Projects
Current Research Projects
1) Anthropology of Children;
2) The Ancestral Looking-Glass: Perceptions of Family History held by Migrant Children in Mauritius;
3) Ideas of Self, Family and Homeland among deported Chagossian Children in Mauritius
4) Development as a Trojan Horse? Foreign Large-scale Land Acquisitions in Ethiopia, Madagascar and Uganda;
5) The Malagasy State and Parallel Systems of Justice and Administration in Natural Resource Management;
6) Research Programme on Natural Resource Management and Poverty in Madagascar;
7) Human Security in Relation to Official and Popular Histories since the 1977 Coup d’État in the Seychelles.
1) Anthropology of Children
The Anthropology of Children Working Group brings together academics and practitioners engaged in research and work with children. The impetus to form this Working Group is the neglect of children’s voices, perceptions and realities in research and practice. It is our epistemological stance that children are simultaneously socialised in their local social and cultural settings, and act as constructors of social environments and interpreters of culture. The concept of children is defined within its relational, cultural and local contexts in which age ranges and characteristics of who are considered to be children vary. Aims:
· The Working Group is meant to promote child-oriented approaches to children studies and to develop theory useful to e.g. cognitive and social sciences, with an accent on anthropology;
· The Working Group is committed to discussing and developing child-oriented methodologies;
· Ethical issues concerning research and work with children are at the core of our attention;
· The Working Group wishes to inspire (interdisciplinary) academic research and enhance dialogue with practitioners through joint research projects, publications and conferences with national (Dutch) and international partners.
For more information: http://www.anthropologyofchildren.net
2) The Ancestral Looking-Glass: Perceptions of Family History held by Migrant Children in Mauritius
This research project concerns a cognitive anthropological study combining methodologies from the cognitive sciences and anthropology. Fieldwork for this research was conducted by Sandra Evers and Marry Kooy (cum laude graduate at the Department in 2008) from August 2007 until April 2008 in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. Everybody in Mauritius is of migrant origin, as Mauritius once was an uninhabited island. Mauritian children can trace their ancestries to Europe, Africa, Madagascar and Asia (particularly India and China). The children of this study live in the poorer quarters of Port Louis and frequent public primary schools where less than 40 percent of the children manages to pass the primary school final exam. Our query centres around two theoretical issues that have been neglected in cognitive and anthropological theory: 1) Particularly in the cognitive sciences, research on children’s imagination looks at how children imagine a fantasy world, exemplified by studies on pretend play. Another category of studies analyses children’s memory of the actual past that they have experienced. This study combines these approaches by looking at children’s ability to imagine an actual past, event (or location), which they have not personally experienced. 2) The second angle of the study is how children root themselves in their family history and create senses of belonging to “imagined communities” anchored in contemporary Mauritius and/or other places and times. Children are crucial to such processes as they are socialized in these communities and themselves are active agents in the intergenerational transmission of what is deemed to be the socio-cultural essence of these groups.
Representative publication in 2011:
Sandra J.T.M. Evers, spring 2011, “Kinning in the Imagination: Perceptions of Kinship
and Family History among Chagossian Children in Mauritius” in Not just a victim:
The child as catalyst and witness of contemporary Africa, Sandra J.T.M. Evers, Catrien Notermans, Erik van Ommering (eds.) pages 79-105. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=44529
3) Ideas of Self, Family and Homeland among deported Chagossian Children in Mauritius
The research focuses on how Chagossian children attending primary school integrate their current living conditions in Port Louis (Mauritius) with their perceptions of their ancestral homeland. Since their forced expulsion from the Chagos archipelago, Chagossians have been engaged in a campaign advocating their right of return, largely driven by high profile litigation before the British Courts. However, due to the length of their exile, the displaced generation may never see the day of the longed-for homecoming as on October 22, 2008, a House of Lords judgment struck down the principle of right of return.
The memory of the past and the dream to return has now been transmitted through two generations to the grandchildren of those forced to relocate. This research discusses perceptions and representations of these children by using reflexive drawing techniques and other methodologies. The study examines these findings within the practical framework of day-to-day survival and hopes for the future entertained by the children.
Representative publication in 2011:
Sandra J.T.M. Evers, spring 2011, “Longing and Belonging in Real Time: How Chagossian Children in Mauritius Imagine the Chagos Islands” in Eviction from the Chagos Islands: Displacement and Struggle for Identity Against Two World Powers, Sandra J.T.M. Evers, Marry Kooy (eds.), pages 305-333. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=210&pid=45086
4) Development as a Trojan Horse? Foreign Large-scale Land Acquisitions in Ethiopia, Madagascar and Uganda
WOTRO Integrated Programme: http://www.wotro.nl/nwohome.nsf/pages/NWOP_8CJG5H_Eng
This project examines the role of foreign large scale land acquisitions in shaping development, conservation and sustainability practices in Madagascar, Ethiopia and Uganda. The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa’s arable land, sparking new international debates about land grabbing. While proponents argue that land deals lead to economic growth, poverty alleviation, and environmental protection, detractors point to livelihood losses, cultural changes, land dispossession, and environmental degradation. However, an empirical basis upon which to prove or disprove such assertions is lacking. This project aims to fill this gap by generating an analytical and theoretical framework to analyse the global drivers and local impacts of large-scale mining in Madagascar, foreign food production in Ethiopia, REDD initiatives in Madagascar, and Chinese investments in Uganda's Lake Victoria Free Trade Zone.
5) The Malagasy State and Parallel Systems of Justice and Administration in Natural Resource Management
Land registration is one of the cornerstones underlying the Malagasy government plan to decentralize and accelerate the economic development of Madagascar. Acting under strong pressure exerted by the IMF, the Malagasy government launched the PNF (Programme National Foncier) in 2004 to implement a national land registration system. From the outset, land registration has proven to be complex and problematic, due in no small part to the difficulties in reconciling the dictates of positive law (lex fori) and customary law (lex loci). Land registration is a key area where Malagasy customs collide with vazaha (foreign) economic and cultural references.
Representative Publications:
- Sandra J.T.M. Evers, 2009, “Vestiges coloniaux dans la législation nationale? Un regard sur le nouveau Plan National Foncier face au droit coutumier en Madagascar” in Idées et représentations coloniales dans l'océan Indien du XVIIIe au XXe siècles, N. Dodille (ed.), pages 467-489. Paris : Presses Universitaires de Paris Sorbonne (PUPS).
- Sandra J.T.M. Evers, 2006, “The Fate of the Landless in the Southern Highlands of Madagascar”, Journal of Peasant Studies, vol. 33, nr. 3, pages 413-444.
- Sandra J.T.M. Evers, “Trumping the Ancestors: The Challenges of Implementing a Land Registration System in Madagascar” in Competing Jurisdictions: Settling Land Claims in Africa, 2005, pp. 223-242, Sandra J.T.M. Evers, Marja J. Spierenburg, Harry Wels (eds.). Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
- Sandra J.T.M. Evers, 2002, Constructing History, Culture and Inequality: The Betsileo in the Extreme Southern Highlands of Madagascar. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.
6) Research Programme on Natural Resource Management and Poverty in Madagascar
This project was initiated in January 2005 as a multi-disciplinary research project jointly carried out by the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology (VU University Amsterdam) and the Institut de Civilisations/Musée d’Art et Archéologie(Université d’Antananarivo). During the project’s five year existence, sixteen Dutch Master students and fifteen Malagasy students jointly carried out fieldwork on PNF (Programme National Foncier), decentralization and poverty.
Aims:
- Natural Resources are central to human security, including the economic, social, political and cultural elements. This research seeks to structure and define human security and develops its applications as an analytic concept;
- At the beginning of the project, no research examined natural resource management in Madagascar from a comparative angle between the various regions of the country. Therefore, this project was initiated. It entails data collection for comparative analysis with a view to publishing comparative studies of the research group.
- Research results are made available to NGO’s and other organisations working on development projects in Madagascar;
- Both Malagasy and Dutch students receive a training programme to prepare them for their fieldwork;
- Capacity building for both the Malagasy students and Dutch students is an integral goal as the two person teams provide an excellent, yet challenging platform to conduct joint research and share knowledge.
Representative publications:
- Project Publications on Natural Resource Management in Madagascar in Taloha, revue scientifique internationale des civilisations, 2007, nr. 18 : http://www.taloha.info/
- Special issue Taloha, revue scientifique internationale des civilisations, 2010, nr. 19: (http://www.taloha.info/) based on project conference: “Contemporary Madagascar and the Millennium Development Goals”, Antsirabe, 20-22 September 2007. See also: Symposium at the occasion of the five year anniversary of the project held on 28 June 2010: http://standplaatswereld.nl/2010/07/20/whose-development-a-critical-lens-on-development-in-africa-and-madagascar/
Master’s research in context of Madagascar Project, more information
7) Human Security in Relation to Official and Popular Histories since the 1977 Coup d’État in the Seychelles
From April to September 2004, I conducted fieldwork in the Seychelles. Prior to my arrival, no comprehensive anthropological research had been carried out in the islands for three decades. Despite the archipelago’s success in marketing the Seychelles as paradise to the outside world, life for the ordinary Seychellois corresponds less to the myth of paradise since the 1977 coup d’état. Under the guise of a security discourse, the Government was omnipresent in virtually every aspect of the lives of the Seychellois. The manipulation of Seychellois history and culture served as cornerstone for the justification of Government policy. This leads to a two-fold query: How do the Seychellois form their sense of security and community in an environment where daily encounters either with police, Government agents or fellow citizens are fuelled with distrust, fear and risk of being unmasked as a non-partisan of the ruling party? Secondly, how do people construct their own stories of the past in the context of the Government’s attempt to tailor Seychellois history and culture to fit its own agenda?
Representative publication:
Sandra J.T.M. Evers, 2010, “Tales from a Captive Audience: Dissident Narratives and the Official History of the Seychelles” in Ellen Bal, Thomas Eriksen, Oscar Salemink (eds.), A World of Insecurity: Anthropological Perspectives on Human Security, pages 208-240. London: Pluto Press.
PhD Supervision
Co-promotor (daily supervisor) of three PhD projects with Professor Jan Abbink (promotor):
- Caroline Seagle (since September 2011): “The mining-conservation nexus: New regimes of ‘sustainable development’ in Madagascar”.
- Mijasoa Miandravola Andriamarovololona (since September 2011): “The power configurations of climate policy: REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) in Madagascar”.
- Theodros Woldegiorgis Atreso (since September 2011): “Foreign large-scale food production and local dislocation in highland Ethiopia”.
Co-promotor (daily supervisor) of PhD project with Professor Pál Nyiri (promotor):
- Josh Maiyo (since September 2011): “Chinese “Eco-Cities” in Uganda’s Lake Victoria Free Trade Zone (LVFTZ)”.
Co-promotor (daily supervisor) of PhD projects with Professor Jan Abbink (promotor)
- Tijo Salverda (graduated March 2010): “Maintaining an Elite Position: how Franco-Mauritians sustain their Leading Role in Post-Colonial Mauritius”.
- Margot Leegwater (since January 2007):“Ethnic Antagonism as Development Constraint: the Heritage of Conflict in the Socio-Economic Policies of Rwanda and Burundi”. Located at both African Studies Centre and VU University Amsterdam.
- Mienke van der Brug (since December 2008): “Losing Parents to Aids: Grief, Bereavement and Psychological Well-Being among Orphans in Namibia”.
Co-promotor of Erik van Ommering together with Professor Birgit Meyer (promotor):
- Erik van Ommering (since September 2009): “The Dual Nature of Education in Contexts of Violent Conflict: a Classroom-Based Analysis of the Violence Inducing and –Averting Capacities of Primary Schools in Lebanon”.
Co-promotor in project together with Professor Siebren Miedema (Faculty of Psychology and Education, Department Theory and Research in Education, VU) en Professor Hijme Stoffels (Faculty of Theology, Department of Praxis, VU):
- Sjoukje Wartena (since April 2009): “Enhancing Sense of Belonging. Action Research into Networks of Transnational Families, Community Schools and Faith-Based Organizations”. Affiliation with Faculty of Psychology and Education.
Also co-promotor of:
- Karin Berkhoudt (since December 2008), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. "Challenges to Coercive Conservation? The Decentralization of Nature Conservation Practices around Kibale National Park, Uganda". Main supervisor: Andrew Orta.
Awards since 2007
2011: NWO-Wotro funded Integrated Programme (September 2011- September 2015) “Development as a Trojan Horse? Foreign Large-scale Land Acquisitions in Ethiopia, Madagascar and Uganda”
2010: Nomination for best teacher Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam;
2009: Nomination for best teacher Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam;
2008: Mini-Beatty Grant (Beatty Memorial Lectures Committee) “Lex Loci meets Lex Fori: Merging Customary Law and National Land Legislation in Madagascar” (10 October 2008, McGill, Montreal, Canada;
2007: Best teacher Department Social and Cultural Anthropology, VU University Amsterdam;
2007: Best teacher Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam;
2007: Faculty fellowship for research project: Memory and Retrieval: Construction of Self and Homeland among deported Chagossians in Mauritius.
Publicaties S.J.T.M. Evers - iFrame
Publications
Publications (Source: METIS VU)
Ancillary activities
