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Professor of Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä

Current research deals with issues surrounding urban poverty, sexuality and early marriage in Eastern Africa, with a special focus on slums and mobile phones for development. I have led several research projects, including 'Mobile technology, gender and develoment in Africa and India' (funded by the Academy of Finland 2010–2013), and the project 'Urban Renewal and Income-Generating Spaces for Youth and Women in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia' (funded by Academy of Finland 2013–2017). I was the coordinator for the North-South-South teaching network “Living with Informal Settlements, Tackling Urban Poverty (LIFT UP)” funded by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs/CIMO for the period 2011–2013, in which partner countries included Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Mali.

Experience

  • –present
    Professor of Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä

Education

  • 1998 
    University of Helsinki, PhD/Folklore Studies