Ann Swidler

Ann Swidler is a Professor of the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research intersects sociology, anthropology, and development studies, focusing on the interplay between culture and institutions, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Education: PhD from UC Berkeley, BA from Harvard.
• Teaching: Sociology of culture, religion, and theory.

Research Interests include:

• Cultural repertoires and institutionalization
• Religion and collective action in African contexts
• Responses to HIV/AIDS in Malawi
• Chieftaincy and local governance
• Global-local interactions in development

Recent publications (2020–2024) explore institutional innovation in Africa, spirituality in rural Malawi, and cultural strategies amid HIV/AIDS. Her work often bridges sociological theory with ethnographic fieldwork.

Selected Contributions:

• A Fraught Embrace: The Romance and Reality of AIDS Altruism in Africa (2017, co-authored with Susan Watkins)
• Talk of Love: How Culture Matters (2001)
• Habits of the Heart (1985, co-authored)