Suburbs of Distinction: Middle Class Boundary Work in Suburban Dar es Salaam

Dr. Claire Mercer is an Associate Professor of Human Geography at the LSE Department of Geography and Environment.

Recent research has been concerned with the relationship between the African diaspora and the African continent. This research places Africa at the centre of questions about diaspora. Claire recently completed a four-year ESRC-funded research project, graded ‘outstanding’, which examined the development work undertaken in Africa by diaspora communities in Britain. This involved a study of four transnational home associations from Cameroon and Tanzania (with Ben Page, UCL; and Martin Evans, University of Chester). The book based on the project, Development and the African diaspora: place and the politics of home is published by Zed Books. is published by Zed Books.

She is currently working on new research on the middle classes, domestic architecture and suburban space in Tanzania. She is a member of the Editorial Working Group of Review of African Political Economy, a member of the International Advisory Board of Antipode, a member of the Advisory Board of Critical African Studies, and an Editorial Board Member of the Development Geography Section for Geography COMPASS.