Catherine Scheer

Catherine Scheer is a Lecturer in Anthropology at the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO) since 2019, associated with the Southeast Asia Center (EHESS/CNRS). Her research focuses on the intersection of Christianization and development enterprises in the highlands of continental Southeast Asia, particularly among indigenous communities like the Bunong in Cambodia.

Her educational background includes:

• DEUG in History from University of Paris 7 - Denis Diderot
• Khmer language studies at INaLCO
• First Master's thesis at University of Paris 10 - Nanterre on representations of Northeast Cambodian margin inhabitants
• Second Master's thesis at EHESS on Protestant NGOs' development missions for Bunong communities
• PhD from EHESS in 2014 supervised by Yves Goudineau (EFEO) on Bunong-Protestant dynamics in Cambodian highlands

Scheer's research examines how Christian missionary activities intersect with development initiatives in Southeast Asian highland communities. She investigates the moral and cosmological transformations that occur when indigenous communities engage with Protestant teachings, particularly in contexts of land loss and market expansion. Her work combines anthropological approaches with religious studies to understand how indigenous identities are reshaped through religious conversion and development projects. She has particular expertise in the Bunong communities of Cambodia's highlands and their navigation of religious, cultural, and political changes over recent decades.

Her scholarly output reveals a consistent focus on the intersection of religion, development, and indigenous identity in Southeast Asia. Over time, her work has expanded from localized studies of Bunong communities to broader analyses of how religious organizations influence policy-making related to indigenous languages and rights across the region. Her publications demonstrate expertise in political anthropology, religious studies, and development discourse analysis, with particular attention to how global religious networks interact with local communities.

Scheer has contributed to academic discourse through:

• Co-editing the volume 'The Mission of Development: Religion and Techno-Politics in Asia' (2018)
• Organizing international conferences including 'Charitable Faiths? NGOs and Religion in Asia' (2017)
• Contributing to the 'Religion and NGOs' podcast series on The Religious Studies Project
• Serving on the editorial board of Heidelberg Ethnology

Her teaching career includes positions at the University of Heidelberg (2017-2019), where she taught seminars on anthropology of religions, development, and indigenous issues with a Southeast Asian focus. Prior to this, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (2015-2017), working on the 'NGOs and Religion in Asia' project.