Zachary Whyte

Zachary Whyte is an Associate Professor at the Centre for Advanced Migration Studies (AMIS) within the SAXO Institute at the University of Copenhagen. His research examines asylum seekers and refugees in Denmark and Europe, focusing on transnationality, state practices, uncertainty, and everyday life through ethnographic fieldwork in asylum centers and language schools.

His academic background includes:

• DPhil in Anthropology from the University of Oxford based on ethnographic fieldwork at a Danish asylum center
• Postdoctoral research at the University of Copenhagen studying refugees' experiences at language schools

Whyte's work centers on the lived realities of refugees, analyzing how bureaucratic systems create uncertainty while documenting resistance, adaptation, and transnational connections. His ethnographic approach reveals power dynamics in asylum processes and the material conditions shaping refugee experiences.

Recent publications (2022-2025) show consistent engagement with refugee camps, labor migration precarity, and biometric border technologies. Key themes include asylum policy externalization (e.g., Denmark-Rwanda plans), workplace exploitation of migrant workers, and the symbolic/material dimensions of asylum systems, bridging anthropological insights with critical policy analysis.

Whyte operates within the Centre for Advanced Migration Studies (AMIS), an interdisciplinary hub at the University of Copenhagen that integrates anthropology, sociology, law, and political science to advance migration and integration research through collaboration with state and civil society actors.