Karen Iversen

Dr. Karen Iversen is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of Bath's Department of Social & Policy Sciences. She holds a PhD in Development Studies from SOAS and an MSc in Conflict Studies from LSE.

Her research examines the intersection of migration, humanitarian aid, and resistance in Latin America, with particular focus on internally displaced populations in Colombia. Employing ethnographic approaches, Iversen analyzes how humanitarian policies shape state-citizen relations and create spaces for political activism. Her work investigates victim subjectivities, housing occupations, and participatory mechanisms as sites of resistance.

Recent publications explore the formation of political subjectivities among displaced communities, temporal strategies of resistance, and confrontational participation in formal humanitarian structures.

Iversen contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals through her critical analysis of humanitarian systems and displacement governance. She teaches courses on humanitarianism, migration politics, and development theory.