June 4, 2019
Paul Kohlbry is an anthropologist who works at the intersection of law, economy, and settler colonial studies. His current project explores how private property has come to orient land politics in the West Bank, tracking how shifts in rural political economy and transformations in property law have shaped Palestinian land defense projects since the 1980s. More broadly, his writing tries to bring Palestine into conversation with a broader range of Indigenous experiences through the lens of political economy. He has also worked with grassroots Palestinian organizations in the West Bank and is interested in learning how research can speak to the needs and concerns of movements. He is currently completing his dissertation at Johns Hopkins University. At Brown, he will be teaching on land and environmental politics, beginning his book manuscript, and surfing Point Judith as much as possible.