Pratten David
Position:
University Lecturer in the Social Anthropology of Africa and Director of the African Studies Centre
Title:
Dr
Degrees:
MA (Oxon) MA Econ (Manchester) PhD (London)
College:
St Antony's College
Office Details:
13 Bevington Road
Research Activities and Interests:
Dr Pratten's ethnography is based on a decade of engagement with Annang villagers in south-eastern Nigeria. The themes of his research concern historical memory and relations between state and society. He has been developing this focus in two related projects. First, he has a produced a multi-stranded approach to the study of the multiple impacts and responses called into being by colonial rule in Nigeria. The focus of this work is an historical ethnography of the events surrounding a series of mysterious deaths in south-eastern Nigeria during the late 1940s which is shortly to be published by the International African Institute. Second, his current research builds on this study and examines youth, democracy and disorder in post-colonial Nigeria. In its focus on the practice of vigilantism and the role of a new masquerade cult, it explores the politically ambiguous social mechanisms through which young people articulate claims and rights and engage with the postcolonial state.
Teaching Responsibilities:
Dr Pratten is involved in the teaching and administration of the MSc in African Studies for which he convenes a core course on research methodology and an option course in the Culture and Society of West Africa. He also teaches and supervises in the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology. He was awarded a Teaching Excellence Award in 2009.
Publications:
Dr Pratten is Co-Editor of AFRICA: Journal of the International African Institute.
Full Publications Listing
