Don Kalb

Don Kalb is a Professor in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Bergen, Norway. He is actively involved in research on political economy, class formation, financialization, and the rise of nationalist movements in the 21st century. His work bridges historical and contemporary anthropological inquiry, with a focus on global capitalism and its social consequences.

His research interests center on political economy, class and value, financialization, and the anthropology of capitalism. He explores how economic transformations generate new forms of inequality, cultural identity, and political mobilization, especially in post-socialist Europe and the Global North. His scholarship critically engages Marxist theory, historical anthropology, and ethnographic fieldwork to understand the dynamics of labor, money, and social change.

The recent publications reflect a strong trend toward analyzing neoliberalism, populism, and financial crisis through an anthropological lens. His work investigates how economic devaluations intersect with cultural and political shifts, particularly the rise of right-wing movements. Themes of labor, value, dispossession, and resistance recur across his articles, books, and public writings.

He has received funding from the Bergen Research Foundation, the Norwegian government, and the University of Bergen for his project Frontlines: Class, Value, and Social Transformation in 21st Century Capitalism, which supports interdisciplinary research on emerging class inequalities. He has supervised master’s students such as Camilla Søreide Hansen and Marte Bruem Olsen.

Don Kalb is affiliated with a vibrant research group within the Department of Social Anthropology that focuses on global capitalism, urban struggles, and political movements. His collaborative projects, including edited volumes with Chris Hann and Massimiliano Mollona, indicate strong team-based research efforts centered on class analysis and social transformation.