Mateusz Laszczkowski

Dr

  • Arthur Lewis Building, 2.056

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Personal profile

Overview

I am a social anthropologist with a sustained interest in the mutually constitutive relations between human politics, infrastructure, and more-than-human material environments. I have studied this theme through a range of ethnographic foci across diverse locations.

My doctoral project (2007-2012) focused on the experience of social and architectural change among the residents of Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, a city that was undergoing rapid transformation. This research led to the publication of my first book, 'City of the Future': Built Space, Modernity, and Urban Change in Astana (Berghahn Books, 2016).

Subsequently, my work since 2013 has focused on the No TAV movement, resisting the construction of a high-speed railway through Valsusa, a valley in the Italian Alps. In this work I explore the complex relationships between territory and progressive political struggle. I am currently (late 2024) finishing a book manuscript based on this research.

In the meantime, I also coordinated a project in which a group of undergraduate students from the University of Warsaw studied the experience of residents of a rural area in central Poland, slated for eviction to make room for a projected mega-airport.

In theoretical terms, my work has been influenced by my engagement with so-called 'affect theory' and its applications for anthropological studies of the political. One fruit of this engagement is the volume I co-edited with Madeleine Reeves, Affective States: Entanglements, Suspensions, Suspicions (Berghahn Books, 2017).

Most recently, my interests have evolved towards multi-species ethnography, allowing me to combine my work as an anthropologist with my many years' commitment as an environmetal activist. I am currently working on a pilot research project on human-beaver collaboration in creating 'natural infrastructure' to combat the onslaught of the anthropogenic climate catastrophe. This work is being done within the framework of a team research grant on more-than-human resistance in the Anthropocene, funded by Charles University, Prague.

Research interests

political anthropology, infrastructure, resistance, social movements, anarchist anthropology, multi-species ethnography, affect

Biography

I completed my BA and subsequently MA in anthropology at the University of Warsaw, in 2004 and 2006, respectively. In 2007-2012, I was a doctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. I received my doctorate from Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, in 2012, summa cum laude. After a brief postdoc fellowship at Stanford University (2013), I received a three year postdoctoral research grant from the National Science Centre in Poland (2013-2016) and was appointed as lecturer in anthropology at the University of Warsaw.  Following the completion of that grant, the lecturership became permanent. In 2018, I additionally spent one year as a visiting professor of political anthropology at the University of Konstanz, Germany. I started my current job at the University of Manchester in September 2024.

Qualifications

Phd in Social Anthropology, Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, 2012

MA in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw, 2006

BA in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw, 2004

Teaching

SOAN20841 Ethnographer's Craft (Semester 1)

SOAN70652 Issues in Ethnographic Research II (Semester 2)

 

Office hours

Semester 1:
Monday 2-3 pm
Thursday 2-3 pm

Office: Arthur Lewis Building 2.056

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 5 - Gender Equality
  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • SDG 13 - Climate Action
  • SDG 15 - Life on Land
  • SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
  • SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals

Education/Academic qualification

Doctor of Philosophy, City of the Future’: Built Space and Social Change in Astana, Kazakhstan, Martin-Luther University Halle Wittenberg

Award Date: 22 Oct 2012

Master of Arts, University of Warsaw

Award Date: 24 Oct 2006

Bachelor of Arts, University of Warsaw

Award Date: 7 Jul 2004

External positions

Visiting Professor in Social and Political Anthropology, Universitat Konstanz

1 Apr 201828 Feb 2019

Assistant Professor in Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, University of Warsaw

Oct 2013Sept 2024

Visiting Research Fellow, Stanford University, Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies

1 Apr 201330 Jun 2013

Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

1 Dec 201228 Feb 2013

EU Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

1 Jul 201230 Sept 2012

Visiting Lecturer, National Eurasian University

1 Apr 201230 Jun 2012

Doctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

1 Jul 201130 Sept 2011

Doctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

1 Sept 200730 Jun 2010

Areas of expertise

  • H Social Sciences (General)
  • GN Anthropology
  • Social Anthropology
  • Political Anthropology

Keywords

  • Political Anthropology
  • Anthropology of infrastructure
  • Resistance
  • social movements
  • More-than-human relations

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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