Curriculum Vitae September 2016
Iselin Åsedotter Strønen
Current position:
Associated Researcher
Anthropologist
E-mail:
[email protected]
Born:
1980
Phone:
+47 47938022
Citizenship:
Norwegian
Address:
CMI - Chr. Michelsen Institute
P.O.Box 6033
N-5892 Bergen, Norway
Key Qualifications
Social anthropologist focusing on poverty and inequality, the social politics of natural resource management, grass roots democracy, social movements,
state transformation, political conflicts, violence and gender. Strønen's additional research interests include food security, land management and the
environment, and civil-military relations.
Strønen is an affilated researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute, and an associate professor at the Department for Social Anthropology, University of
Bergen.
Strønen obtained her PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Bergen in 2014, with the dissertation A Revolutionary Petro-State. Change,
Continuity and Popular Power in Venezuela . In addition, Strønen holds a MA degree in Anthropology of Development from the University of Bergen, and
a MA degree in International Journalism from City University, London.
Strønen's PhD dissertation analyses social and political transformation under the late Hugo Chavez's presidental tenure in Venezuela. Through an
ethnograpic study of governmental social policies and popular activism in the urban shantytowns in Caracas, Strønen analyses the cultural politics of
popular movement, processes of state transformation, and how the country's vast oil revenues have shaped political culture and social relations.
Strønen is currently a project member of the the CEIC-CMI Angola Programme (2015-2018) and the project coordinator for the sub-project Gender
Relations and Human Rights in Angola.
She has previously served as the project coordinator and editor for the CMI-based project Everyday Manoeuvres: Military-Civilian Relations in
Latin-America and the Middle East, throught which she also conducted case studies from Venezuela and Brazil.
Strønen is fluent in Spanish in addition to English and her mother tongue Norwegian, and intermediary in Portugese. She has lived abroad for longer
periods of time in Venezuela, the UK, Chile, India and Spain.
Education
PhD in Social Anthropology University of Bergen, Norway. 10/2008-10/2014
Title of Dissertation: The Revolutionary Petro-State. Change, Continuity and Popular Power in Venezuela. Examination Commitee: Emeritus Professor
John Gledhill (University of Manchester), Associate Professor Nancy Postero (UC San Diego), Associate Professor Cecilie Ødegaard (University of Bergen)
Master in International Journalism Institute for Journalism and Publishing, City University London, UK. 09/2007-09/2008
Title of thesis: Class, Poverty and Social Inequality. Where is Britain today? (journalistic project) and Who does the Media Represent? 'The Poor' and
Poverty in British Media (academic dissertation)
Master of Philosophy in Anthropology of Development Department for Social Anthropology, Bergen, Norway. 08/2004-06/2006
Title of thesis: "For Us this is Utopia Coming True". Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution and Popular Movements in a Caracas Barrio
Bachelor in Social Anthropology University of Bergen, Norway. 08/2000-06/2004
Subjects: Social Anthropology, Macroeconomics, Human Geography, Spanish and Latin American Studies, Politics and Human Rights Diploma
(Universidad de Arcis, Santiago de Chile, Chile)
Professional Experience
Department for Social Anthropology, University of Bergen
Associate Professor 08/2015Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI)
Affiliated Researcher 01/2016Postdoctoral Researcher 11/2014Researcher 08/2013Researcher and PhD-candidate 10/2008-09/2013
Center for Investigative Journalism, City University London
Volunteer researcher, fundraising assistant 09/2007-07/2008
New Statesman Magazine
Editorial intern 06/2008-07/2008
Geriljastil Productions
Researcher, co-director/camera-operator/producer, editing assistant 09/2006Filmography: The People and The President. A Portrait of the Bolivarian Revolution (Strønen and Waerness 2007).
Department for Social Anthropology, University of Bergen
Research assistant 08/2006-09/2007
- Research project Poverty Politics: Current Approaches to its Production and Reduction.
Teaching assistant 10/2006-12/2007
- Introduction course in Social Anthropology (web-based module SANT 601)
Teaching assistant 11/2006-12/2006
- Anthropology module of Global Studies (GLOB 101)
Estudio de la Ciencia-Instituto Venezolano para Investigaciónes Cíentificas (IVIC)
Visiting junior researcher 09/2005-02/2006
Affiliated whilst on fieldwork in Caracas, Venezuela
Freelance
Journalist/writer 2000-
Language Skills
Speaking skills:
Reading skills:
Writing skills:
Norwegian
mother tongue
mother tongue
mother tongue
English
excellent
excellent
excellent
Spanish
excellent
excellent
excellent
Portugese
good
good
basic
Other Functions and Engagements
Member, referencegroup for The Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), 09/2011Member of Checkpoint-jury (best documentary, Politics and Human Rights), Bergen International Film Festival (BIFF), Bergen, September 2015
Board member, Forskerforbundet (The Norwegian Association of Researchers), Chr. Michelsen Institute, 11/2009-01/2012
Member, organizing commitee for the annual conference for The Norwegian Latin America Research Network (NorLARNet), Bergen, October
26-27, 2011
Leader, Student Council (Fagutvalg) at the Department for Social Anthropology, University of Bergen. 02/2006-06/2006
Board Member, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen. 09/2005-06/2006 (on leave during fieldwork fall 2005)
Member, Student Council (Fagutvalg) at the Department for Social Anthropology, Bergen. 01/2005-06/2005
Member, Student Council (Studentråd) of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen. 01/2005-06/2005
Journalist, Studvest (Student newspaper, University of Bergen). 2003-2004
Board member, Studvest. 2004
Project Experience
Angola
CEIC/CMI: Gender Relations and Human Rights in Angola
Project coordinator, project member (CMI). 2015 - 2018
Venezuela, Brazil
Everyday Manouvers: Military - Civilian Relations in Latin-America and the Middle East
Project coordinator and editor.Project member(CMi). 2013 - 2016
Venezuela, Bolivia,
Azerbiajan, Nigeria, Angola,
Scotland, Norway
Flammable Societies. The Role of the Oil and Gas Industry in the Promotion of Poverty Reduction and Social
Volatility
Project member (CMI). 2008 - 2010
Norad: REDD - Norad job no 2-2010
Project member (CMI). 2010
Venezuela
Selected Publications
Norwegian energy companies abroad. Expanding the Anthropological Understanding of Corporate Social
Responsibility
Project member (UiB). 2016
Books
Strønen, I (forthcoming, 2017) Grassroots Politics and Oil Culture in Venezuela: The Revolutionary Petro-State. Palgrave McMillan
Strønen, I and Margit Ystanes (eds) (forthcoming, 2017). Decades of Change: The Social Life of Economic Inequalities in Contemporary Latin
America. Palgrave McMillan
Peer reviewed articles
Strønen, I (2016) Everyday Crafting of the Bolivarian State: Lower-level public officials and grass root activism in Venezuela. Latin American
Perspectives (LAP)- Special Issue on the Legacy of Hugo Chavez. Published online before print August 22, 2016, doi: 10.1177/0094582X16666024
Strønen, I (2013) En Feministisk Revolusjon? Kvinner, kvinnekamp og aktivisme i Chávez' Venezuela (A Feminist Revolution? Women, Women's
Struggle and Activism in Chávez's Venezuela), i Norsk Antropologisk Tidsskrift (NAT) 1/2013
Book chapters
Strønen, I, and Canino, M.V (2015). Oil and Environmental Injustice in Venezuela: An Ethnograpic Study of Punta Cardón, in McNeish, J.A,
Borchgrevnik, A, and Logan, O, (eds.)Contested Powers:the politics of energy and development in Latin America, Zed Books
Strønen, I. (2011). Development from Below and Oil Money from Above. Popular Organization in Contemporary Venezuela, in McNeish, J.A &
Logan, O (eds.) Flammable Societies: Studies on the Socio Economics of Oil and Gas, Pluto Press, London
PhD dissertation
Strønen, I (2014) A Revolutionary Petro-State. Change, Continuity and Popular Power in Venezuela. PhD-dissertation, University of Bergen
Reports
Strønen, I (2016) «Nowadays there are shoot-outs all the time». Women, children, and Police Pacification Units (UPPs) in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro.
CMI Working Paper 2016:7. Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute
Strønen, I (2016) CMI Working Paper.“A Civil-Military Alliance”: The Venezuelan Armed Forces before and during the Chávez era. Bergen: CMI
Working Paper 2016:4
Strønen, I (2015) CMI Insight. "Servants of the nation, defenders of la patria": The Bolivarian Militia in Venezuela. Bergen: CMI Insight 2016:13
Real-time evaluation of Norway's international climate and forest initiative. Contributions to a global REDD+ regime 2007-2010. Richard Tipper,
Johan Helland, Iselin Åsedotter Strønen et al (2011) Oslo: Norad (Evaluation report no. 12/2010) 82 p.
Selected other publications
After the Bolivarian Revolution: What’s in store for Margarita? FOCAAL blog, April 1, 2016.
Available at:
http://www.focaalblog.com/2016/04/01/iselin-asedotter-stronen-after-the-bolivarian-revolution-whats-in-store-for-margarita/#sthash.KHib00I3.dpuf
Forakt i forkledning (Contempt in disguise). Book review, Klassekampen, January 26, 2013
Encyclopedias
Entry editor for "Venezuela" in Store Norske Leksikon (the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia), May 2015Selected popular disseminations and open-eds
Promotional video for doctoral education at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen (March 2015), can be watched at
http://www.uib.no/svf/86749/fra-feltarbeid-til-doktorpromosjon
Hva skjer egentlig i Venezuela? Bergens Tidende, January 23, 2015
Regjeringen er trengt opp i hjørnet. NRK Ytring, February 22, 2014
Interview: Venezuela: Revolusjon og Olje (Venezuela: Revolution and Oil). Tidsskriftet Rødt 3/2014
Civil-military relations in Venezuela....by the pool. Blog post for CMI website, January 2015
Simón Bolívar- a man of war and a symbol of freedom. - with Nefissa Naguib. Blog post for CMI website, April 2014
Venezuela sett fra Norge, Aftenposten, March 15, 2013
Arven etter Chavez, Bergens Tidende, March 13, 2013
Venezuelas fattige gråter, March 7, 2013
Strønen, I. (2010) Landartikkel- den Bolivarianske Republikken Venezuela i Latin-Amerikaboka 2010: "Gull og Grønne Skoger - Norske Interesser i
Latin-Amerika". Oslo: Latin-Amerikagruppene i Norge
Strønen, I. (2008) Landartikkel- den Bolivarianske Republikken Venezuela i Latin-Amerikaboka 2008: "Oljetønner og kaffebønner - kampen om
naturressursene". Oslo: Latin-Amerikagruppene i Norge
Strønen, I (2007) "De visste aldri noe om hvordan vi hadde det"- Om fellesidentiteter blant Chávez-tilhengere i Caracas i LatinAmerika No. 1/2007
Conference and workshop participation
"Here we kill eachother over a pair of shoes". Consumption, identity and oil culture in Veneuzela. Paper delivered at the 2016 Congress of the Latin
American Studies Association, New York, May 26-31, 2016
Envisioning a post-petro state? Critical discourses on oil-led development in Bolivarian Venezuela. Paper delivered at the 8th Nordic Latin
American Research Network Conference, Helsinki, June 1, 2015
Searching for Che’s New Man. Rentier Capitalism, Money and Moralities in Bolivarian Venezuela. Paper delivered at the 2015 Congress of the
Latin American Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 27 - 30, 2015.
Co-organizer and co-host, international workshop "Rethinking Inequalities in Latin America", Bergen, Norway, March 5-6, 2015. Also presenting
the paper "Chavistas, go eat shit." Political polarization, race and class in Bolivarian Venezuela, as well as acting as chair and discussant.
Panel organizer and co-chair, panel entitled Children of Cain? Exploring State and Civil Violence in Latin America, Norwegian Latin America
Research Network Conference, Oslo, Norway, November 27-29, 2013
Violent crime in Venezuela- a View from Below. Presented at Norwegian Latin America Research Network Conference, Oslo, Norway, November
27-29, 2013
The Oil that Didnt't Trickle Down: Reflections on the Politics of (broken) Promises in Venezuela. Presented at Norwegian Latin America Research
Network Conference, Bergen, Norway, October 26-27, 2011
Chair, panel entitled "The Grassroot and the State", Norwegian Latin America Research Network Conference, Bergen, Norway, October 26-27, 2011
Revolutionary identity and cultural and artistic expressions amongst Venezuela's Popular Sectors. Presented at Latin American Studies Association
(LASA) Conference 2010, Toronto,Canada, October 6-9, 2010
Money and power to the people (?) Development from below in a Caracas barrio- some preliminary observations. Presented at Flammable Societies
Conference, La Paz/Yungas, Bolivia, July 1-5, 2009
"Here we organize like this". Constructing and Conceptualizing Local Development Projects in a Caracas barrio. Presented at The Norwegian
Association for Development Research (NFU) Conference, Chr. Michelsens Institute (CMI), Bergen 5-7 November 2007
Selected popular presentations and media apperances
Parlamentsvalget i Venezuela: mot slutten på Den bolivarianske revolusjonen? (Elections to the National Assembly in Venezuela: towards the end of
the Bolivarian Revolution?) Panel debate organized by Norlarnet, Litteraturhuset, Oslo. December 14, 2015
Chavismo after Chavez. Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution in the Electoral Year 2015. Invited open lecture at the Workers' Educational Association,
Stockholm, in collaboration with the University of Stockholm. October 12, 2015
Likestilling og kvinnekamp i Venezuela (Gender equality and women's struggle in Venezuela). Public meeting organized by SAIH and LAG, Bergen,
April 8, 2014
Lecture on Latin-American history and politics, Social Science Class at Norheimsund Comprehensive School, March 5, 2009
Commentator on Venezuela, TV2 Evening News, Norway, March 16, 2009
Presentation about Venezuela. Student "lunch lecture", Department for Comparative Politics, University of Bergen, March 7, 2007
Commentator on Venezuela, TV2 News Channel Norway, May 31 and June 1, 2007
Teaching experiences
Courses taught:
2016: Academic writing, methods and theory: Anthropological approaches (SANT 150). Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen
(fall semester)
2016: Anthropology, Intervention and Development (SANT220), Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen (spring semester)
2015: Invitation to Social Anthropology (SANT100), Department for Social Anthropology, University of Bergen (fall semester)
Guest lecturer:
2014: Methodology course for visiting PhD scholar at CMI
2010: Anthropology, Development and Intervention (SANT220). Lecture series entitled Anthropology and Poverty (three lectures) University of
Bergen (spring semester)
2006 (November 11) Guest lecturer, Anthropology and the Problem with "Development" Global Studies (GLOB 101), University of Bergen,
November 11, 2006
Seminar leader:
Fall 2010: SANT 304 Anthropology and its Subjects: History, Poverty and Social Transformation. Seminar leader- six sessions
Teaching assistant:
Fall 2006: Anthropology module of Global Studies (GLOB 101)
2006/2007: Introduction course in Social Anthropology (web-based module SANT 601)
Scholarly assessment work:
Currently the main supervisor for three master's thesis in Social Anthropology, University of Bergen.
Member of evaluation commitees for master thesis commitees at University of Bergen and Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
Member of assessments- and hiring commitees, University of Bergen.
Peer-reviewer for scholarly journals (Critique of Anthropology, Globalizations, Journal of Latin American Studies)
Fieldwork experience:
Fieldwork in Angola in November 2015 (one week), February 2016 (one week) and August 2016 (approx. 3 weeks).
June 2015: two weeks of field research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
December 2014-January 2015: six weeks of field research in Caracas, Venezuela.
August 2014: two weeks of language course and field research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2009-2014: a total of one year of field research, divided between four periods, in Caracas, Venezuela, for PhD thesis.
2005-2006: six months of field research in Caracas, Venezuela, for master thesis.
Professional Scholarships
2009. Inger Haldorsens Legat.
2009. Lauritz Meltzer Fund, University of Bergen.
2008-2014. PhD-grant, Norwegian Research Council (NFR)
2005. Lauritz Meltzer Fund, University of Bergen.