James Drew
About James Drew
I am a Researcher at the School of Global Studies. I hold a PhD in Human Geography and an MA in Social Research Methods from the University of Sussex, UK, and a BSc in Geography from the University of Southampton, UK.
Research areas
My research draws on several fields, including political ecology, environmental anthropology, and human geography. Focusing on pastoralist areas of northern Kenyan and Uganda, I am interested in the politics of land tenure change, resource extraction, and conflict. Underpinning my research into these issues is the desire to understand and explore how people interact with a changing environment and their multiple constructions of place.
Current research project
‘"We are doing it for the people": the politics, opportunities, and challenges of communal land registration in pastoralist rangelands of Kenya and Uganda’.
2023-2027. Funded by FORMAS: Early-career researcher grant.
This research project critically engages with processes of land registration and its capacity to secure land tenure for pastoralist communities. The drylands of northern Kenya and Karamoja, Uganda are home to pastoralists whose transhumant and nomadic lifestyles take advantage of variable vegetation and water resources. Recent land reforms are triggering the formalisation of customary land rights and communal ownership. For its protagonists, communal land titling promises to secure land tenure. However, many point out that formalisation of customary rights risks reducing tenure security for those dependent on flexible resource access rights. Alongside land reforms, northern Kenya and Karamoja are experiencing a rush in large scale investments, including infrastructure and renewable energy projects. These have triggered scrambles to control resources and to profit from the rising value of land. This research project explores the extent to which the formalisation process promises to secure land tenure for pastoralists, and how it plays into struggles for inclusion in investment projects. Communal land registration in pastoralist areas involves multiple actors, including government, NGOs, elites, and community members, each with their own agendas. Using case studies, the research critically analyses how interactions between these actors determines the opportunities and challenges facing those engaging in communal titling. Non-governmental organisations and community based organisations will be included in the data collection and results dissemination phases of the project.
Previous research projects
‘Drylands Transform: Pathways and challenges towards a transformation of landscapes, livestock and livelihoods’. Project website.
2020-2024. Funded by FORMAS.
As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the School of Global Studies, I worked as part of the Drylands Transform’ research team between 2021 and 2023. The interdisciplinary project, funded by FORMAS, involves researchers from multiple Swedish universities, the University of Nairobi, Makerere University, as well as international organisations. The aim of the project is to investigate the interlinkages between land health, livestock-based livelihoods, human well-being and land governance mechanisms in order to contribute to sustainable development in the region. My research within the project focused on past and contemporary land tenure and governance changes, and the interconnections with changing livelihoods and conflict dynamics.
‘Pastoralism in the shadow of a windfarm: an ethnography of people, places and belonging in northern Kenya’.
2013-2017. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK.
My PhD research investigated the impacts of the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project – Africa’s largest windfarm, on the lives of surrounding pastoralist communities. Drawing on the fields of political ecology and more-than-human geographies, the thesis analyses changing politics of belonging triggered by the large-scale investment project as well as devolved governance structures, and the impacts this had on inter- and intra-community relations, as well as scrambles for inclusion in the project.
Teaching
Within the School of Global Studies, I teach on courses at both undergraduate and masters levels, which cover aspects of international development, human geography, anthropology, and international relations. I also supervise BA and MA students.