Coordinator

Alexander Koensler, Ph.D.

School of Philosophy, Human and Social Sciences, University of Perugia,
Piazza Morlacchi 30, 06126 Perugia (Italy), www.unipg.it

Email: alexander.koensler(at)unipg.it

Alexander (PhD University of Siena 2009) is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at University of Perugia, Italy, hired with a program that aims to reverse “brain drain”. He has served in different faculty positions at Queen’s University Belfast, University of Münster (Germany) and the Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Israel). He is a co-founder of the network “Anthropology and Social Movements” of the European Association of Social Anthropology (EASA) and has been a member of the Center for Documentary Research at Queen’s University Belfast.

His work appeared in American Anthropologist, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Contemporary Ethnography, Mobilization, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Anthropology Today, and many other publications in German, French and English. He also produced three ethnographic documentaries that had been screened in events around the world. He is author of four monographs, including Israeli-Palestinian Activism: Shifting Paradigms (2015).

His work appeared in American Anthropologist, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Contemporary Ethnography, Mobilization, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Anthropology Today, and many other international publications in German, French and English. He also produced three ethnographic documentaries and has published four monographs, including Israeli-Palestinian Activism: Shifting Paradigms (2015).

Areas of Expertise

As a political and visual anthropologist, Alexander’s work focuses on how grassroot activism extends the horizon of what seems possible and thinkable. Over the course of the past decade, he has carried out extensive ethnographic fieldwork across the Arab-Jewish and Israeli-Palestinian divide, as well as more recently with food sovereignty activists in Italy.

His research areas comprise:

  • Interstitial spaces across the Arab-Jewish and Israeli-Palestinian divide
  • The social production of claims in human rights and ethnic minority activism
  • Activism for food sovereignty in Italy and Europe
  • The social productions of claims in conflicts
  • The opaque side of the politics of transparency
  • Visual ethnography and the politics of representation

Selected Publications

Books

Articles

Chapters in Edited Volumes

  • 2016: Emerging Spheres of Resonance: “Clandestinely Genuine” Food Networks and the Challenges of Governing Sustainability in Italy, in: Envisioning Sustainabilities in Times of Disaster (a cura di Fiona Murphy and Pierre McDonagh), Cambridge Scholars Press, Cambridge.
  • 2012 (co-authored with Amalia Rossi): Introduzione: comprendere il dissenso, in: “Comprendere il dissenso. Introduzione all’antropologia dei movimenti sociali” (ed: Alexander Koensler and Amalia Rossi), Morlacchi Editore, Perugia, pp. 13-34.
  • 2012: Per un’antropologia dei movimenti: etnografia e paradigmi dell’analisi dei movimenti, in: “Comprendere il dissenso. Introduzione all’antropologia dei movimenti sociali” (Eds. Alexander Koensler and Amalia Rossi), Morlacchi Editore, Perugia, pp. 47-57 [The anthropology of social movements: Ethnography and shifting paradigms in the study of social movements].
  • 2010: Cambiare il mondo e aprire il cuore? Negoziare modelli di convivenza nel Negev (Israele), in: “Saperi antropologici, media e società civile nell’Italia Contemporanea” (a cura di Luisa Faldini e Eliana Pili), CISU, Roma, pp.67-79.
  • 2010: Coesistenza e conflitto nel deserto del Negev, in: “Miti di guerra, riti di pace” (Ed. C. Masseria e D. Loscalzo), EdiPuglia, Bari. [Coexistence and Conflict in the Negev-desert], pp.23-32.
  • 2009: Turismo sostenibile e sostenibilità militare. Connessioni parziali intorno a un progetto di sviluppo dal basso nel deserto del Sinai, in: “Il turismo come strumento di sviluppo locale sostenibile” (Eds. Luisa Faldini et al.), Cisu, Roma, [Sustainable Tourism and the Sustainability of Frontiers. Partial Connections of a Grassroot Development Project in the Sinai-Desert], pp. 251-265.
  • 2009: Il beduino e la tenda: un’associazione fatale. Dinamiche di protesta e potere intorno alla costruzione di un nuovo insediamento in Israele, in: “Annali della Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università degli Studi di Perugia“ 2007/08, XLV, XXXI, pp. 95-131.
  • 2008: I muri permeabili. Un’etnografia del “sapere di frontiera” in Israele e Palestina, in: “Campo, Spazio, Territorio. Approcci antropologici” (Ed. Pier Giorgio Solinas), Ed.it, Catania [Permeable Walls. An Ethnography of “Frontier Knowledge” in Israel and Palestine], pp. 65-79.

Edited Journal

  • 2013 (with Cristina Papa): After anthropocentrism? Environmental conflicts, social movements, and power, Journal of Political Ecology, special issue vol. 20, pp. 286-294.

Documentaries

  • 2018 (with F. Loce-Mandes): De-commodifying Foodways (Italy/UK. 70 min.)
  • 2016 (with F. Loce-Mandes): An Experimental Path (Italy/UK, 38 min.)
  • 2008: La verità liquida. La storia dell’attivismo per la terra dei beduini in Israele (Documentary, 43,00 min.), Morlacchi Editori, Perugia [Liquid Truth. A Story of Activism for Bedouin Land-Rights in Israel].

Miscellanea

  • 2012: Identità e pluralità nel dialogo interreligioso. Manuale delle buone pratiche in cinque passi. CIDIS, Perugia [Identity and Pluralism in Interreligious Dialogues. A Manual of Good Practices in Five Steps].
  • 2003: Per Anhalter in die Sahara. Und hinter dem Horizont immer noch derselbe Asphalt, in: Deutsche Rundschau, April 2003.
  • 1999: Das Nichts aushalten. Zwischen den Muellmenschen von Kairo, in: Deutsche Rundschau, July 1999.
  • 1997: Anti-Paedagogik: das Ende der Erziehungsideologie?, in: “Hoer auf zu lernen, beginn zu denken – SchuelerInnenreader”, Ludwig-Quidde-Forum, Wuppertal, pp. 17-20.