معرفی
Ken MacLean is Professor of International Development and Social Change at Clark University, where he also holds faculty appointments at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Center for Gender, Race, and Area Studies (CGRAS). With more than two decades of experience working with NGOs across Southeast Asia, he investigates state-sponsored violence, forced migration, and the politics of humanitarian evidence.
Education
- Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2005)
- M.S. in Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (2004)
- M.A. in Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1998)
- B.A. in Anthropology, Princeton University (1990)
Research Interests
MacLean’s scholarship is interdisciplinary and archive-driven, interrogating how human-rights facts are produced, authenticated, and deployed. His work spans three major tracks:
- An ethnographic study of human-rights archives concerning alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar.
- Analysis of open-source intelligence and AI-generated evidence in international criminal proceedings.
- Future-oriented modeling of climate-induced displacement and large-scale violent conflict over essential resources.
Publications & Impact
MacLean is the author of three major monographs—The Government of Mistrust (2013), Crimes in Archival Form (2022, short-listed for the ICAS 2023 Best Book Prize), and Genocide by Attrition (2022)—along with dozens of peer-reviewed articles and policy reports. His recent work interrogates digital storytelling, satellite imagery, and AI-generated evidence in documenting ethnic cleansing and genocide.
Awards & Fellowships
- ICAS 2023 Best Book Prize in the Social Sciences (short-list)
- Fulbright-Hays Program Fellowship
- Fulbright IIE Fellowship
- Wenner-Gren Foundation Grant
- Mellon Foundation Grant
- Jacob K. Javits Fellowship
Grants & Visiting Positions
Research support has come from the Fulbright-Hays Program, Wenner-Gren Foundation, Mellon Foundation, and U.S. Department of Education, among others. He has held visiting fellowships at:
- Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies (NIOD), Netherlands (Spring 2023)
- Mahidol University Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Thailand (Fall 2021)
- University of Kyoto Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Japan (Fall 2016)
Labs, Teams & Future Work
MacLean collaborates with interdisciplinary teams at the Strassler Center and CGRAS, and he is currently developing two new book projects: an ethnographic study of human-rights archives in Myanmar and an examination of Vietnamese amateur pundits shaping South China Sea territorial disputes. His ongoing research continues to explore the social lives of documents—both material and digital—and their material effects on justice and accountability.
