Dr Nici Nelson MA PhD

I have published on urban anthropology; gender and development; approaches to development such as participatory methodologies and policy issues; gender and sexuality; urban livelihoods in the informal sector; child fostering; HIV/AIDS; and marriage and households with specific reference to East Africa. In addition to my academic work, I have done regular consultancies for aid and development organisations such as ACORD, the Eritrean Consortium, UNICEF and UNFPA, in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Areas of supervision

Current PhD Students:

Sarah O'Neill, Defying the law, negotiating change. The Futanke's opposition to the national ban on FGM in Senegal

Completed PhD Students:

Nandera Mhando, Meaning, Gender and Kinship Making Aming the Kuria of Tanzania: Male and Female Agency

Selected publications

'Genderizing Nairobi's Urban Space', in L'Afrique Orientale. pp 269-323. F Grignon & H Maupeu (eds) L'Harmattan: Paris. 2000

'Urban Poverty in Africa: A Historical Perspective', in Urban Poverty in Africa: From Understanding to Alleviation. pp 1-8. Sue Jones (eds). Intermediate Technology Publications: London. 1999

'Representations of Men and Women, City and Town in Kenyan Novels of the 1970s and 1980s', in African Languages and Cultures 9(2): 145-165. 1996.

'A Discourse of Anger in a Situation of Gender-Power Asymmetry: The Negotiation of Safer Sexual Practices Between Young Women and Men in Nairobi', in Images of African Women: The Gender Problematic. S Newell (ed) Center for Commonwealth Studies: University of Stirling. 1995

'The Kambu Group: A Successful Women's ROSCA in Mathare Valley (1971-1990)', in Money Go Rounds: The Importance of Rotating Savings and Credit Associations for Women. S Ardener & S Burman (eds). Berg: Oxford. 1995

Power and Participatory Development: Theory and Practice. (with Sue Wright. London. 1995