Alexandra Rijke

Alexandra Rijke is a Lecturer in Cultural Geography at Utrecht University, specializing in the geographies of borders, checkpoints, and spatial political technologies in occupied territories. Her research focuses on Palestinian experiences in the West Bank and the socio-spatial impacts of occupation infrastructure. She has conducted extensive fieldwork analyzing checkpoint regimes, mobility restrictions, and the everyday geographies of material barriers.

Her key research projects include the Wall spatialities initiative (2015-2019), which explored material barriers in Israel/Palestine, and the ongoing Clean Future project examining well-being in 'dirty work' contexts. She has also coordinated workshops like Camps, Checkpoints and Border Fortifications (2019), fostering interdisciplinary dialogue on containment and (im)mobility.

Rijke frequently presents at conferences, delivering talks such as Life in the Land of the Checkpoints (2024) and How to study a border wall (2024). Her work bridges critical geopolitics with human geography, emphasizing the lived realities of marginalized populations under settler colonialism.