معرفی
Dr. Thomas Hendriks is a social and cultural anthropologist at KU Leuven University, where he holds the FWO Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa (IARA). Previously, he served as the Evans-Pritchard Lecturer in African Anthropology at the University of Oxford (2016–2018 and 2019–2020). His work focuses on labor, race, desire, and queer dynamics in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with fieldwork emphasizing urban contexts and the timber industry. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from KU Leuven, alongside degrees in Development Studies (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and Bioengineering/Forest Management (University of Ghent).
Research Interests
His research explores intersections of queer masculinities, same-sex sexualities, and popular culture in urban Congo. Current projects include Rainforest Capitalism: Ecstasis and Extraction (book) and Fioto: Queer Masculinities in Urban Congo. He also investigates queer futures and activisms in the DRC. Past work examined labor dynamics in Congolese logging concessions and the socio-political dimensions of charcoal trade in Kinshasa.
Publications & Collaborations
Hendriks has authored articles in journals like American Ethnologist, Africa, and Sexualities, with topics ranging from queer ontologies to postcolonial whiteness. He co-edited Readings in Sexualities from Africa (Indiana U.P., 2020) with Rachel Spronk. His work critiques Western frameworks, advocating for decolonized analyses of African sexualities and gender.
Grants & Affiliations
Supported by the FWO (Research Foundation—Flanders), his current research integrates ethnography with queer theory. He collaborates widely, including with the Institute for Anthropological Research in Africa and international scholars.
