Mayke Kaag

Leiden University and University of Amsterdam

Mayke Kaag is Professor of the Anthropology of Politics and Governance in Africa at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (CADS) on behalf of the African Studies Centre Leiden, Leiden University. She is also Professor of the Anthropology of Islam in Africa and its Diaspora at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Her research focuses primarily on Africa’s global connections, including in the field of knowledge production, (geo-)politics, Islamic philanthropy and activism, and migration. She is the convenor of the collaborative research group ‘Africa in the World: Rethinking Africa’s Global Connections’. Key publications include: ‘Linking-in through education?: exploring the educational question in Africa from the perspective of flows and (dis)connections’ (2018), ‘A plea for  kaleidoscopic knowledge production’ (together with Miriam Ocadiz, 2019), Destination Africa. Contemporary Africa as a Centre of Global Encounter (co-edited with G. Khan-Mohammad and S. Schmid, Brill 2020), and Trust and Trust Making in Africa’s Global Connections (co-edited with A. Thiel and I. Tarrósy, Brill 2025).