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Claire Mercer is a human geographer with a focus on the intersection of human geography and African studies. Her early work critiqued the NGO-ization of development, while her subsequent research has developed postcolonial approaches to civil society and diaspora. Currently, she is investigating peripheral urbanization in African cities, particularly in Tanzania and Cameroon. Claire’s research examines the significance of property and middle-class reproduction in suburban Dar es Salaam, exploring self-build housing in urban peripheries as a central means of middle-class aspirations in contemporary Tanzania. Her forthcoming book, 'Suburban Frontier: Middle Class Construction in Dar es Salaam,' is set to be published by the University of California Press in Autumn 2024. She is the Principal Investigator of an ESRC-funded project titled 'Home-Grown Growth in African Cities: Self-Build Housing Drives Urban Economic Growth in Ghana and Tanzania.' Claire is also a member of the Editorial Board for the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and serves on various advisory boards for critical studies in Africa and geography.
London School of Economics and Political Science • London, England
Teaching and researching human geography with a focus on African urban studies.
Standard English requirement applies to most programs in Geography, Anthropology, Sociology, and Media.