Marit Tolo Østebø
Associate Professor
I am a cultural anthropologist whose focal point of interest is anthropology of policy, international development and critical global health. I am particularly interested in exploring the relationship between the normative frameworks, policies, models, and stories that circulate within the policy world and the complex realities that exist ‘on the ground’. My work, which integrates perspectives from multiple specialties including anthropology of policy, anthropology of religion, gender studies, digital anthropology, medical anthropology, and Science and Technology Studies (STS), has focused on policy models and modeling communities, translations of gender equality, the interplay between religion and development, the relationship between politics and health research, and – more recently – the Covid-19 pandemic. While the research I do tends to be multi-sited and transnational in nature, my primary geographical focus is Ethiopia, where I have conducted anthropological fieldwork since 2005.
Together with partners in Norway and Ethiopia, I am in an early phase of a new research project which seeks to explore the meanings and the role of public-private-partnerships within the field of development.
I am currently accepting new graduate students. Feel free to contact me if you wonder whether your research interests would fit with what I do.
Contact Information
Email: marit.ostebo@ufl.edu
Phone: +1 (352) 273-4754
Office: 488 Grinter Hall
Mailing Address:
Department of Anthropology
University of Florida
P.O. Box 117305
Gainesville, FL 32611-7305