Elena Butti

I’m much looking forward to deliver a guest lecture at ETH Zurich this coming Monday on informal housing, criminal actors and urban extractivism in Colombia!

Thank you David Kostenwein, Daniela Sanjinés Encinales & Jennifer Duyne Barenstein for the invitation.

We had a most insightful workshop last week in Geneva, discussing the intersection between housing struggles and "illegality". Thanks to my co-organizer Guillaume Dumont, our discussants @hanna-hilbrandt.bsky.social, Matthew Richmond, Miguel Martínez, Martijn Koster & the @gvagrad-ccdp.bsky.social!

Profundamente inspirador participar en este encuentro en Medellín la semana pasada junto a tantos queridos colegas!

Para saber más sobre nuestro Colectivo Juvenicidio y Resistencias Sociales (JUVIR) 👉 www.upf.edu/web/juvenici...

We Are Not Numbers ***THE NUMBER 5 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER*** ***THE IRISH BESTSELLER*** 'Meaningful and impactful ... A vital [read] ... Tell all your friends' BRITISH VOGUE 'A powerful collection' SERVICE 95, found...

When I visited Gaza in 2019, what struck me most wasn’t the destruction – it was the life.

Now, @WeAreNotNumbers has published its first book: powerful essays by young Gazans (2014–2024).

$15. A youth-led project. A way to see Gaza beyond the numbers.

shorturl.at/p57IQ

Hello Montreal! So glad to be joining @sasemeeting.bsky.social 2025 as part of a panel series on illegal markets organized by Matias Dewey & Gabriel Feltran! #SASE2025

📸 The winners of our #PhotoCompetition are:
🏆 Luisa.Lupo, Public Prize – TRACES OF VIOLENCE
🎖️ Nora.Doukkali, Jury Prize – STOLEN TIME
👉 shorturl.at/M8umu

Thanks to all 26 participants, the 580 voters, and the jury:
@juliebillaud.bsky.social, Tobias.Marshall, Antoine.Tardy, @elenabutti.bsky.social

📍 Curious about my recent research on informal housing, migration, and gangs in one of Latin America's largest informal settlements?

📆 Join us TODAY at 3.30 CET for a seminar co-hosted by
@gvagrad-ccdp.bsky.social & @gvagrad.bsky.social - in person & online!

🔜 Info: shorturl.at/BwFDk

📸 The Geneva Graduate Institute is holding a research photo competition!

🤓 And I have the honor of being part of the jury - with @juliebillaud.bsky.social, Antoine Tardy, and Tobias Marschall.

💡 You can view the portfolios here shorturl.at/75aqX

📥 and vote your top 3 here shorturl.at/rVNj0

Join us this Thursday at the Université de Genève for a discussion of my recent research on gang-controlled informal housing markets and urban extractivism in Colombia!

💬 Discussed by Armelle Choplin
📍 Thursday 8 May 2025 - 12h30-13h30
🏫 Uni Mail, salle M 4020

lnkd.in/eEA_g6fE

📢 Are you an outstanding young activist? Or do you know someone who is?

Nominations for the Young Activists Summit close in five days!

➡️ Info here www.youngactivistssummit.org/events

@ActivistsSummit

Huge thanks to my supervisors @fernandapirie.bsky.social and Dennis Rodgers, to the amazing Anthropology Editor at NYU Press & to the anonymous reviewers whose feedback helped me reach this stage. Finally, my most profound gratitude goes to the youth who welcomed me into their lives.

Thanks to @oxfordcsls.bsky.social & @gvagrad-ccdp.bsky.social for hosting this research, @udea.bsky.social & @vriunal.bsky.social for welcoming me during critical research periods in Medellín, and to the ESRC and Swiss Confederation for their financial support.

I'm excited to share that I’ve recently signed a book contract with NYU Press @nyupress.bsky.social !

The book brings together a decade of doctoral & post-doctoral ethnographic work on adolescentes involved at the bottom of the organized crime hierarchy in contemporary urban Colombia. Stay tuned!

@gvagrad.bsky.social @gvagrad-ccdp.bsky.social

Only a few days left to send us your abstracts! Hurry up!👇

Students interested in anthropology - consider joining the London Anthropology Day!

londonanthropologyday.co.uk

YouTube video by Elena Butti El sueño de la casa propia - Short documentary by Elena Butti

📍 For Venezuelan migrants in Medellín, building one's own home in an informal settlement can be a key act of rooting and integration, despite having to deal with extractivist gang practices and the threat of violent state evictions.

👉 Curious to know more? Check out my latest short docu-film!

Tinker Postdoctoral Fellowship in Latin American Studies in Stanford, CA for Stanford University Exciting opportunity in Stanford, CA for Stanford University as a Tinker Postdoctoral Fellowship ...

Great postdoc opportunity for PhD students from LATAM!

📻 Ayer salimos en Radio UNAL con un conversatorio sobre la migración Venezolana en Medellín!

Puedes escuchar aquí 👉 radio.unal.edu.co/detalle/la-m...

📍Curious about my recent research on informal housing, migration, and gangs in one of Latin America's largest self-built settlements?

📅 Mark your calendar for my upcoming seminar at @gvagrad-ccdp.bsky.social on May 15 - in person & online!

🔜Info shorturl.at/4uc2k

El próximo miércoles, yo y Lirio Gutiérrez (UNAL Medellín), estaremos facilitando una mesa redonda sobre la migración venezolana en la ciudad.Tendremos ponentes de las instituciones y sociedad civil. Participación abierta!
📅 26 Febrero 2025
🏫 UNAL Medellín

@gvagrad-ccdp.bsky.social @gvagrad.bsky.social @emlyon.bsky.social

📚 News! With Guillaume Dumont we are organizing a Paper Development Workshop on 'Housing, Illegality and Criminal Actors' at the Geneva Graduate Institute on 9-10 September 2025.

➡️ To apply, please send us a 500 word abstract & a short bio by March 31st.

👉 Full CfP at rb.gy/dzk23x

📚 First Open Access Paper of 2025!

🔎 In this paper, I critically reflect on my use of participatory research methods in youth research.

🙌 Thanks Carles Feixa & Nele Hansen for coordinating this wonderful Social Sciences special issue!

➡️Link surl.li/ityokl

here's @gvagrad.bsky.social stater pack! Just follow all

Here are the official channels of the campaign:
📸 Instagram: bit.ly/4gJY8q3
💙 Facebook: bit.ly/3ZAXOCY

#UnaEscuelaParaSoñar #EducaciónParaTodos

YouTube video by Escuela Nueva Jerusalén CREANDO OPORTUNIDADES

This is the neighbourhood where I work and live in Colombia. It's a 30.000 people self-built settlement in the Medellín outskirts with no state services. With local leaders we developed this fundraising campaign to build the first school. If interested in donating, you can do it here bit.ly/4grNjJl

Inclusive Ethnography Making Fieldwork Safer, Healthier and More Ethical

uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/in...

Yesterday at the IHEID we had a timely & honest discussion on the complexities of contemporary ethnography. For more, check my chapter on the subjective dimensions of ethics & safety, published in Inclusive Ethnography (SAGE 2024) edited by amazing C. Procter & B. Spector 📚

Next Tuesday we close the year together with my brilliant colleague and friend Caitlin Procter talking of ethics, safety & (mental) health in ethnographic fieldwork. Join us for a timely conversation at the Geneva Graduate Institute Anthropology and Sociology Department!