Email: nhayes@uwaterloo.ca
Background
I obtained my PhD in Anthropology with a concentration in African Studies from Boston University in 2011. I am a cultural anthropologist with a specialization in sub-Saharan Africa, gender, sexuality and health. My research explores the political economy of intimacy in contemporary Malawi and examines the effects of Malawi's lengthy history of structural violence on cultural expression, including sexual behaviour, in the context of the AIDS epidemic. I am particularly interested in how colonialism and economic globalization have placed the intimate relationships of poor Malawians on an increasingly transactional footing, creating a sexual economy based on competitive multiple concurrent partner sex.
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
2016 - “‘Marriage is Perseverance’: Structural Violence, Culture and AIDS in Malawi.” Anthropologica 58(2):1-11.
2015 - “‘Dying is Dying, That’s All’: Structural Violence, Cultural Projects and Malawian AIDS Proverbs.” African Journal of AIDS Research 14(3):1-9.
2013 - “Human Rights Discourse, Gender, and HIV in Southern Malawi.” Anthropologica 55(2):349-358.
Book Chapters
2016 - “Faith, Hope, and Charity: Barriers to Condom Use among Women in Southern Malawi.” In Missing the Mark? Women and the Millennium Development Goals in Africa and Oceania. Naomi McPherson, ed. Toronto: Demeter Press. Pp. 96-125.