Tania Li

Tania Li is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto, specializing in political ecology and agrarian transformation in Southeast Asia. Her fellowship at Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute examines socio-spatial justice in rural global South contexts.

Research explores capitalist relations in indigenous frontiers, oil palm plantations in Indonesia, and powers of exclusion in land governance. Methodologically combines ethnographic fieldwork with political economy analysis to critique development paradigms.

Major publications include 'Plantation Life' on corporate occupation in Indonesia's palm oil zone and 'Land's End' analyzing indigenous frontier capitalism. Research collaborations include interdisciplinary projects on citizenship, environmental justice, and state-society relations in resource conflicts.

International recognition includes visiting positions at Cambridge and Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Research projects receive funding from European Union Horizon 2020 and Canadian research councils.