Pierre Petit

Pierre Petit is a Professor of Anthropology at the Free University of Brussels (Université libre de Bruxelles) and a Senior Research Associate at the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS). He specializes in comparative historical anthropology, material culture, and state-minority dynamics, with fieldwork spanning Congo and Laos.

Research interests encompass:

• Historical anthropology of Laos' highland regions
• State-ethnic minority relations
• Talismanic and numismatic cultures
• Globalization of Catholic iconography

Notable publications include:

• History, Memory, and Territorial Cults in the Highlands of Laos: The Past Inside the Present (Routledge 2020)
• Chasing Traces. History and Ethnography in the Uplands of Socialist Asia (co-edited with Jean Michaud, University of Hawaii Press 2024)

He serves as editor of Civilisations, Belgium's leading anthropology journal, and as President of the Belgian Royal Numismatic Society.