Lidewyde Berckmoes

As associate professor and senior researcher at the African Studies Centre Leiden, Lidewyde Berckmoes investigates long-term and cyclical dynamics of conflict and peace in the Great Lakes Region, particularly Burundi and Rwanda.

 

Trained as a cultural anthropologist, Lidewyde uses anthropological lenses in combination with insights from peace and conflict studies, migration studies, psychology and psychiatry to come to new insights about the long-term and intergenerational effects of conflict on children, young people and families. She recently published a photo-ethnography entitled TRACES with photographer Marieke Maagdenberg, a book that points to conflict-affected cultural repertoires as reflecting how the history of war in Burundi affects second-generation migrants in Europe. She is the principal investigator of two ongoing projects; in Rwanda concerning intergenerational resilience and anticipatory practices in conflict and natural disaster, and in Burundi exploring entanglements of cyclical conflict and mental health problems and care. Lidewyde is also the convenor of the ASCL Collaborative Research Group (CRG) Conflict continuities.