Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
I joined PoLIS as Senior Lecturer in September 2017. Prior to working at the University of Bath, I held a Departmental Lectureship in African Politics at the University of Oxford (2013-2017) and a Junior Research Fellowship at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford (2015-2017). My first academic appointment was as Senior Teaching Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies (2012-2013).
I hold a DPhil in International Development from the University of Oxford where my dissertation explored the Rwandan government’s attempts to build unity after the 1994 genocide. More broadly, my research explores the political dynamics of states emerging from mass violence, specifically the politics of reconciliation and nation building, the politics of memory, and the politics of displacement, settlement and camps. My regional focus is the Great Lakes Region of Africa and I have conducted most of my research in Rwanda and Burundi.
I am the author of Making Ubumwe: Power, State and Camps in Rwanda’s Unity-Building Project (Berghahn, 2015), which was shortlisted for the 2016 Bethwell A. Ogot Book Prize awarded annually by the African Studies Association. My work has appeared in a wide range of peer reviewed journals including The Journal of Modern African Studies, African Studies Review, Development and Change, International Journal of Transitional Justice, Journal of Refugee Studies, Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, as well as edited collections published by Oxford University Press and Palgrave Macmillan.
Research interests
- Conflict
- Security
- Violence & memory
- Displacement
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
Projects
- 1 Not started
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Paths to Forgetting: Regimes of Memory in East Africa
Purdekova, A. (PI)
1/07/25 → 31/12/25
Project: UK charity
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Does Memory Make Safe in the Wake of Atrocity? Pacification of Violent Pasts, Memory Labor, and Everyday Security: Pacification of Violent Pasts, Memory Labour and Everyday Security
Purdekova, A., 30 Jun 2025, In: International Studies Quarterly . 69, 2, sqaf011.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Forgetting Atrocity in East Africa
Purdeková, A., 1 May 2024, In: Current History. 123, 853, p. 169-174 6 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Open AccessFile63 Downloads (Pure) -
Global crisis and research production: COVID-19 as shaper and shaker or micro-interruption?
Mwambari, D., Purdekova, A. & Nyenyezi Bisoka, A., 31 Dec 2024, In: Qualitative Research. 24, 6, p. 1315-1330 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile2 Citations (SciVal)102 Downloads (Pure) -
Qualitative Research in Conflict-Affected Settings in the Wake Covid-19: Transformations, Disruptions, Re-engagement
Mwambari, D. (Editor), Purdekova, A. (Editor) & Nyenyezi Bisoka, A. (Editor), 8 Aug 2024, In: Qualitative Research.Research output: Contribution to journal › Special issue › peer-review
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Re-education Camp as a Spatial Governance Form: Separation, structure, and staging in Rwanda’s ingando camps
Purdekova, A., 26 Sept 2024, In: International Journal of Comparative Sociology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access