Laura Bear

Professor Laura Bear MBE, FBA is a leading scholar in psychological and economic anthropology at the London School of Economics (LSE), Department of Anthropology. Her work focuses on intimate economies, infrastructures, austerity, and care in South Asia, Japan, and the UK. She holds a PhD from the University of Michigan and has advised UK government committees during the pandemic. Her interdisciplinary research engages with institutions like the International Inequalities Institute and the ESRC Rebuilding Macroeconomics Network. Key contributions include the book Navigating Austerity (2015) analyzing debt and policy impacts in India, and leading the COVID and Care Research Group. She experiments with ethnographic mediums including films and policy reports, currently exploring psychotherapy's role in psychological anthropology.

Her research interests span austerity's socio-political dimensions, time as a governance tool, and cooperative economies. Notable collaborations include the GENS manifesto with Ho, Tsing, and Yanagisako, critiquing capitalist systems. Awards include being a finalist for the ESRC Impact Prize and Fellowship of the British Academy. Her work bridges academia and policy, addressing inequality through both theoretical and applied lenses.

Recent projects include comparative studies on the Hooghly River (India) and Thames (UK), exploring cooperative economies and post-growth initiatives in Japan. She emphasizes building a new 'public good' framework to strengthen communities and citizen-state relations. Her advocacy during the pandemic highlighted health disparities and care system vulnerabilities.

• Education: PhD, University of Michigan
• Key Roles: SAGE Behavioral Science Committee Advisor (2020), ESRC-funded Researcher (India), LSE Anthropology Department Head
• Labs/Teams: COVID and Care Research Group, International Inequalities Institute

Publications span books, edited volumes, and articles in Economy and Society, Cambridge Anthropology, and Annual Review of Anthropology. She also engages in media through films and conversations with scholars like David Graeber and Thomas Piketty.