Dorte Thorsen

Research Project
Youth’s Independent Migration from Rural Burkina Faso to Ouagadougou

Nordic researcher (Denmark) at NAI since November 2005.

Academic background
Dorte Thorsen completed her DPhil in African Studies at University of Sussex in 2005. Before joining the Nordic Africa Institute, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Development Research Centre on Migration, Globalisation and Poverty and an associate tutor in anthropology at Sussex. She has assessed research bids for DfID/ESRC and the Norwegian Research Council, peer-reviewed manuscripts for Food Policy and Geografiske Annaler and has acted as expert witness for the UN.

Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

Research
Thorsen’s doctoral research explored gender relations, household economies and the politics of decision-making in a chronically poor rural setting. Through biographies and participant observation, she illustrated both long-term aspect of decision-making and the countless ways in which women and men pursue their preferences. In her postdoctoral research, she focuses on independent child- and youth migrants, their livelihood experiences and intergenerational relationships.

Subject areas
West Africa, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, children, youth, migrant livelihoods, informal sector, intergenerational relationships, gender relations, anthropology.

Contact
dorte.thorsen@nai.uu.se
Tel: +46 18 56 22 63 (direct)