Robel Mulat Asmammaw

Robel Mulat Asmammaw is an Assistant Professor at Dilla University, Ethiopia and holds a PhD from the University of Gondar. As an urban anthropologist, his research examines on the intersection of urbanisation, industrialisation, and migration. His recent work focuses on the Hawassa Special Economic Zone (HSEZ) in Ethiopia, the largest in Africa, critically analysing how infrastructural development shapes urban ecology through the experiences of migrant workers. His scholarship has been published in journals including Eastern African Studies, Work in the Global Economy, Social Sciences & Humanities Open, and London School of Economics blog.  He regularly writes his academic work into public dialogue through blogs and opinion pieces in both Amharic and English.
During his fellowship at ASCL, Robel will develop and complete a research project that interrogates Africa’s evolving global connections through the lens of infrastructure and labor. Using HSEZ as a case study, it explores how multipolar power dynamics, particularly between China, the US, and local actors are experienced and negotiated in the everyday lives of migrant workers.