Academic interests
Charline is a PhD candidate and Early Stage Researcher (ESR), part of the multi-disciplinary project in the Anthropology of Human Security in Africa (Anthusia) funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. Her current research interests focus on the anthropology of infrastructure, trade unions and logistics, as well as security, mobility and borders. Her master's project, at the intersection of art, politics and postcolonial theory, dealt with China’s infrastructure politics in Senegal and more specifically with the construction of the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar. Prior to Oslo, Charline completed her MPhil degree in Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford and her undergraduate degree in European Studies at King’s College London, including a year at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
Current Project
Her ESR project examines the almost abandoned Dakar-Bamako railway, ethnographically tracing the material and socio-political lives of trains and their infrastructure across Senegal and Mali as a lens into broader questions around the rhythms and routines of the railway workers’ ‘empty’ work; maintenance and perpetuation as forms of resistance; and transnational labour union solidarities. The research offers entry points into wider debates around how (post)colonial and capitalist relations are inscribed in material infrastructures but also how the latter enable at the same time as constrain translocal potentials of resistance and belonging.
Courses taught
Affiliation
Awards
- Carr and Stahl Fund, St. Antony's College, University of Oxford, 2017
- Godfrey Liehnardt Fieldwork Grant, University of Oxford, 2017
Tags:
Economic anthropology,
Political Anthropology,
Postcolonial studies,
Infrastructure,
Mali,
Senegal,
France,
urban Anthropology,
Medical Anthropology
Publications
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Kopf, Charline
(2020).
« Le TER nous met à terre. » Senegal on the rails of emergence ?
Critique Internationale.
ISSN 1290-7839.
4(89),
p. 115–139.
doi:
10.3917/crii.089.0118.
Show summary
The Express Regional Train (TER) of Senegal has become a site for the debate about the promise of émergence and its limitations, both materially and discursively. By analysing the gap between the visions of emergence promoted by the leaders and the contrasting reality of the TER construction on the ground, the paper examines the effects of émergence on politics, in terms of decision-making and state-citizen relations. First, I argue that the politics of émergence are characterised by a centralisation of state intervention and a continuation of neo-liberal rationale and policies. The multitude of actors involved in the project leads to a lack of coordination that disadvantages the poorest who find themselves physically and metaphorically caught between mega-infrastructures that are supposed to anticipate a bright future. Second, I engage with the ensuing criticism on émergence, which take both nuanced and visible forms. Even if the disapproval directed towards the infrastructure is part of the dynamic constitution of statehood, the criticisms question more generally the notion of public good and inclusive growth as presented in the Plan Sénégal Emergent (PSE).
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Kopf, Charline
(2018).
Dakar’s Museum of Black Civilisations: Towards a New Imaginary of a Post-ethnographic Museum.
Martor. The Museum of the Romanian Peasant Anthropology Review..
ISSN 1224-6271.
p. 37–55.
Full text in Research Archive
Show summary
How are postcolonial identities curated in non-Western art institutions? How do the latter engage with the question of the restitution of colonial looted artefacts during this turning point where Western museums seem increasingly willing to address claims of repatriation? Focusing on the unfolding debates on restitution and heritage around the new Museum of Black Civilisations (MCN) in Senegal, the article investigates how curatorial approaches aimed at challenging Eurocentrism address questions of identity, authenticity and discourses on the Other. It finds that, contrary to decolonial museum exhibitions in the West, the MCN avoids engaging in claims of restitution as this would reproduce Europe’s key role in defining “authentic” and “traditional” African art. At the same time, this paper shows that the underlying logic aimed to subvert exoticising representations and reconfigure Self-Other relations can uphold an internal dichotomy of cultures that risks lapsing into the same essentialism that is criticised. This is furthermore complicated by the tension between an imaginary of pan-African Black Civilisations and the criticism directed towards the management of artefacts in postcolonial states where nation-building is an ongoing process. In teasing out the challenges of formulating a reconfigured postcolonial future without drawing on culturalist discourses and reinforcing a dichotomy between modernity and tradition, this article adds a radically different perspective to the literature on heritage and museums in relation to colonialism and is also of relevance to those looking at curatorial practices, identity politics and international relations.
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Kopf, Charline & Bowling, Ben
(2017).
Transnational policing in Europe and its local effects.
European Police Science and Research Bulletin.
ISSN 1831-1857.
p. 47–57.
doi:
10.2825/13491.
Show summary
The aim of this paper is to develop an agenda for comparative research on the forms, functions and effects of transnational policing in various European countries and its impact on domestic policework. This work seeks to explore the similarities and differences in the extent of communication, cooperation and collaboration among police agencies across the continent. The tasks of investigating crime, enforcing law and maintaining order – which have historically been based almost exclusively within local communities – now stretch far beyond national boundaries. There is evidence from various national contexts that many police officers spend their time working with colleagues abroad. But there have been, as yet, very few comparative studies of the forms and functions of transnational policing in different countries. The limited evidence available suggests that there are wide variations in transnational policing practices across the continent. Transnational policing is driven by political and economic changes, the growth in international travel, information communication technology and migration, and developments in the nature of crime and security threats. The pattern of policework is shaped by the organizational architecture of local, national and global policing systems and specific practices such as posting liaison officers overseas. The key aim is to examine and explain the differences in degree of cooperation with police in other countries and the forms that it takes in specific places.
View all works in Cristin
Published Sep. 10, 2018 1:59 PM
- Last modified Jan. 11, 2022 9:10 AM
