Description of research and teaching

Anu Lounela is an anthropologist, University researcher in Global Development Studies and  in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Helsinki.

Recent research has examined environmental change, fire disasters and land-water-human relations in degraded tropical peatlands. This research has also looked at state formation and frontier making and territorialisation on the Indonesian side of Borneo. Her research on water and vulnerability (Academy of Finland) explored historically informed socionatural relations and social forms and transformations of wetlandscapes. This research connected with wildfires, which degrade local forests and gardens and open space for new commodity regimes in Central Kalimantan.

Currently, she is University researcher in the project "repair and Responsibility in ruined environments" (REPAIR), funded by Kone Foundastion (2024-2027). She has been University researcher for the research project “Water and Vulnerability in Fragile Societies” (Academy of Finland, 2018-2022), and Principal Investigator for the research project “New regimes of commodification and state formation on the resource frontier of Southeast Asia” (Kone Foundation, 2018-2023).

Her research interests include environmental anthropology and political ecology, socionatures, wetlands, water and fire, multi-species relations, social values, state formation and frontiers, Kalimantan, Java and Indonesia.

Her recent teaching includes courses and seminars:

Anthropology of value (Antropologian tutkimusala I: talous ja vaihto), University of Helsinki 2014, 2015
Ethnography of performativity (Etnografiaseminaari I/II), University of Helsinki 2014
Research Seminar on Politics of the Environment in the Global South, University of Helsinki, 2014-2017                                  
Introduction to Social Anthropology (Introduktion till socialantropologin), SocKom, 2018                                  
Contemporary Southeast Asia - State Formation and Environmental Change, Asianet, 2018, 2020             
State Formation and Environmental Change in Southeast Asia(Antropologian tutkimusala, Regional focus on society and change), University of Helsinki 2018  
Ympäristö ja Politiikka (Kehitysmaatutkimus) 2019

Introduction to theory (Ethnology), 2024, University of Jyväskylä

Environmental Anthropology 2022, 2023, 2024, University of Helsinki