Alexander Meckelburg

Dr. Alexander Meckelburg is a historical anthropologist and Research Fellow in the Department of History at University College London (UCL), affiliated with the ERC-funded African Abolitionism project. He holds a PhD from the University of Hamburg and has conducted extensive fieldwork in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan. His research focuses on the intellectual and global history of abolition in Ethiopia, exploring how historical slavery legacies intersect with contemporary citizenship, migration, and political dynamics in Northeast Africa.

Education: PhD in Anthropology/History from University of Hamburg; editorial roles at Encyclopaedia Aethiopica and Aethiopica Journal. Key affiliations include the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian Studies and SLAFNET project.

Research interests encompass abolitionism, slavery's socio-political legacies, borderland citizenship, and translocal labor systems. Current projects include co-editing a special issue on Ethiopian slave trade histories and analyzing post-slavery memory practices. His work bridges historical ethnography with legal and political frameworks, addressing themes of identity, state formation, and transnational networks.

Notable contributions include studies on Ethiopia's anti-slavery legal evolution (1889–1942), transnational abolition networks, and federal governance models in Ethiopia/Kenya. He has conducted fieldwork across western Ethiopia, the Kenyan coast, and Addis Ababa, emphasizing oral histories and archival research.

Labs/Teams: Co-lead on AFRAB project (ERC), member of SLAFNET dialogue platform, and collaborator with Addis Ababa University's Institute of Ethiopian Studies.