Kimberly Theidon received her Masters in Public Health and Ph.D. in medical
anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley. She has a longstanding interest in
the impact of violence, poverty and discrimination on people's lives and well being. In the
United States she has worked extensively in the mental health, HIV/AIDS and reproductive
health fields, directing health education programs and collaborating on several National
Institute on Mental Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse funded research projects.
In addition to her work in the United States, Dr. Theidon has conducted activist research in
Latin America for over a decade. Her forthcoming book, Intimate Enemies: Violence and
Reconciliation in Peru (Public Anthropology Series, UC Press) draws upon extensive
qualitative research on political violence, trauma, religious movements and transitional
justice in post-war Peru. Her comparative community-based study of the micropolitics of
reconciliation practiced at the communal and intercommunal levels identifies various
factors that facilitate - or hinder - the reconstruction of social relationships and coexistence
in the aftermath of fratricidal violence. Her work thus provides insights into local level
peace building in other post-conflict societies.
From 2001-2003 Dr. Theidon directed a research project on community mental health,
reparations and the politics of reconciliation with the Ayacuchan office of the Peruvian
Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A book based upon this research, Entre Prójimos:
el conflicto armado interno y la política de la reconciliación en el Perú, was published by
the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos in 2004. Entre Prójimos was awarded the 2006 Premio
Iberoamericano Book Award Honorable Mention for outstanding book in the social
sciences by the Latin American Studies Association.
Dr. Theidon is currently completing another book, El Dorado: coca, conflicto y control en el
Valle Apurímac. This book is based upon collaborative research on counter-drug and
anti-terrorism policies in Peru's foremost coca growing region, the Apurímac valley. In
analyzing these interventions, she examines alternative development, new forms of
governmentality, and the rise of the cocalero movement.
In addition to her work in Peru, Dr. Theidon is conducting research in Colombia and
Ecuador on two interrelated themes: the causes and consequences of populations in
displacement, refuge and return, with a particular interest in the role of humanitarian
organizations in zones of armed conflict; and the paramilitary demobilization process in
Colombia. Her research on the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR)
program has focused on Bogotá, Medellín and Turbo-Apartado, and involves working not
only with the ex-combatants but the communities to which they return. In this multi-sited
research, Dr. Theidon has emphasized the reintegration phase, convinced that the unit of
analysis and intervention must move beyond the demobilized combatants themselves to
understand the complex dynamics of social relationships and local peace-building efforts.
Dr. Theidon is an associate professor of anthropology at Harvard University.