Matthieu Bolay

Dr. Matthieu Bolay is a Lecturer and Ambizione research fellow at the Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern, where he conducts research on knowledge politics, norm making, and valuation practices in the context of global extraction. His work examines how investment arbitration knowledge is produced and circulated, and how it transforms relations between normative orders governing extractive resource supply chains.

Dr. Bolay received his PhD Summa cum Laude from the University of Neuchâtel in 2017, where he worked as a research and teaching assistant at the Laboratory for Transnational Studies. Prior to his current position, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Graduate Institute in Geneva (2018-2021), investigating emerging forms of corporate governance under transparency politics in extractive industries. During his doctoral studies, he was granted a Doc.Mobility fellowship at the London School of Economics (2015-2016).

His research interests focus on the interplay between knowledge politics, norm making, and valuation practices in the governance of extraction, technology, labor, mobility, and migration. Dr. Bolay's work particularly examines artisanal and small-scale mining in West Africa, investment arbitration in extractive industries, and the social dimensions of resource governance. His approach combines ethnographic fieldwork with theoretical insights from political anthropology, economic sociology, and science and technology studies.

Dr. Bolay is currently leading a four-year Ambizione research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation titled "Arbitraging Extraction (Arbitrex): Arbitral Reasoning in the Legal Topographies of Global Extraction." This project examines how investment arbitration knowledge is produced, institutionalized, and circulated, and how arbitration transforms relations between normative orders governing extractive resource supply chains.

His publications span multiple disciplines including anthropology, political geography, migration studies, and resource policy, with a focus on West African mining contexts, supply chain governance, and the social dimensions of resource extraction. A notable trend in his recent work is the examination of how digital technologies mediate resource governance, how moral economies shape supply chains, and how mobility practices intersect with resource extraction.

Dr. Bolay has received the prestigious Ambizione fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation, which supports promising early-career researchers to lead independent projects. His research has also been supported by various funding mechanisms including the SDC-funded iMoMo project on water management and the SNF-funded Edutrans project on international education.

Through his research on artisanal mining, migration, and resource governance, Dr. Bolay contributes to understanding the complex social dynamics at play in extractive contexts, particularly in West Africa. His work bridges theoretical insights from social anthropology with practical concerns in resource governance and sustainable development.