I am an anthropologist working at the intersection of political, urban, and environmental anthropology. My research focuses on how power, uncertainty, and care are lived, interpreted, and contested in urban and humanitarian contexts.
Based on two decades of ethnographic research in Colombia and Eastern DR Congo, I examine the material and affective dimensions of everyday life, including humor, sociality, and infrastructures as part of how people live with urban uncertainties, contributing to broader debates on urban life in the Global South, humanitarianism, and environmental futures.
I am currently a Senior Researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute, working on The Future of Humanitarian Design (Colombia) and Caring on the Frontlines (Eastern DR Congo).
Alongside research, I work across teaching, writing, and collaborative formats in academic and public contexts. I have held research and teaching positions at institutions including the University of Basel, Columbia University, CU Boulder, Universidad de Cartagena as well as the Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa and the Rachel Carson Center at LMU.
I hold a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Bayreuth and a MA in Anthropology and Eastern European History from FU Berlin.
For collaborations, speaking engagements, or other inquiries, please feel free to get in touch at: silke.oldenburg@graduateinstitute.ch