Jane I. Guyer

Jane I. Guyer "is a Professor of Anthropology. She came to the Hopkins department from Northwestern University in 2002, having served previously on the faculties of Harvard and Boston University. Her research career has been devoted to economic transformations in West Africa, particularly the productive economy, the division of labor and the management of money. Theoretically she focuses on the interface between formal and informal economies, and particularly the instabilities that interface gives rise to. Her co-edited book is the result of collaborative work with a Nigeria-based network of social scientists, on currency devaluation in the popular economy under structural adjustment and military rule in the 1990s (Money Struggles and City Life, 2002). The work of the group continues, on the topic of accountability. Her last book (Marginal Gains, 2004) re-examines the anthropological and historical record on monetary transactions in Atlantic Africa. Since that publication she has developed two research themes: African land use, as a continuation of An African Niche Economy (1997) into a comparative study published with colleagues in a special issue of Human Ecology (2007); and a series of papers on Cultures of Monetarism, which draws on West African, Western and other non-Western sources. Papers and abstracts on that topic are attached, in the interests of communication about these crucial issues.

"In 2008 she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (Anthropology Section).

"She serves on several national and international committees, including:


 * 2001-9 The International Advisory Group to the World Bank and the Governments of Chad and Cameroon on the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development and Pipeline Project (see www.gic-iag.org).
 * 2003-8 Panel, The Lost Crops of Africa series, National Academy Press.
 * 2006-9  The Board and the Executive Committee of the African Studies Association.


 * Advisory Committee, Five College African Scholars Program
 * Former Head, Program of African Studies