Peter Pels

Prof. Peter Pels graduated in 1993 on a study of the colonial contacts between Dutch Catholic missionaries and a mountain people in Tanzania. Since then he has studied the introduction of modern political institutions in African countries, the history and anthropology of colonialism, the representation of Africa in modern European history, the history of anthropology and African studies, social science ethics and methodology, and the globalization of religious repertoires (especially in terms of Christianity, “animism” and New Age discourse). His most recent interests focus on the religious and secular aspects of conceptions of nature and technology, of the modern culture of materiality and object categories, and of science fiction.

Peter Pels currently supervises research in African politics and conflict-management, the landscapes of African water development, the heritage of African slavery, US American cyberculture, consumerism in Greece, the representation of East African refugees, and nomadism and conservation policies in Mongolia.