Camille Pellerin

Kort presentation

Camille Pellerin (PhD in Development Studies) is a researcher at the Department of Government. Her research focuses on state – society relations, democratisation, political reform, public administration and urban conflict in the Horn of Africa. Camille is an affiliate researcher at the French Centre for Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa. She co-coordinates the courses ‘Introduction to Development Studies’ (Bachelor level) and the ‘The Politics of Development’ (Master level)

Nyckelord

• communal conflict
• public sector
• hybrid regimes and democratization
• politics of authoritarian regimes
• civil society

Forskning

Ongoing Research Projects

Why evictions turn violent: the politics of growing cities (Swedish Research Council 2025-00744), joint project with Emma Elfversson (PI) and Kristine Höglund

Globally, rapid urban growth is reshaping cities, offering opportunities for economic and sustainable development, while also exposing urban residents to new insecurities, including the threat of eviction. While research shows how urban transformation significantly impacts local livelihoods and political mobilization, we know little of the role that housing politics, and the often violent processes of evictions, play in these broader dynamics. We argue that varying dynamics of forced evictions offer key insights into how political elites frequently use evictions as a tool for political control over urban space and how urban residents claim their right to the city, asking: How do urban politics shape the violent enforcement of, and resistance to, collective evictions? We advance research on the violent outcomes of urban development by centering the political dimensions of evictions, and theorize how settlement-level dynamics shape the strategic use of forced evictions and how urban communities respond. Empirically, we will focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, and collect new quantitative and qualitative data. We will combine large-N analyses with in-depth study of strategically selected cases in Ethiopia and Kenya, two countries where evictions have been prominent, but violence dynamics vary. Jointly, the project components will generate policy-relevant knowledge essential for achieving sustainable urbanization.

Higher Education on the Democracy–Autocracy Continuum: The Role of Bureaucrats in Democratization and Democratic Safeguarding (Funded by the Programme for Democracy and Higher Education, Uppsala University), joint project with Karin Leijon

This pilot study examines how higher education bureaucrats influence democratic processes under different political regimes. While higher education is often seen as a driver of democratization, the role of its bureaucrats remains understudied. Using Sweden and Ethiopia as contrasting cases, the research explores how bureaucrats shape policy implementation, institutional norms, and governance in higher education. Through key informant interviews and document analysis, it investigates their interactions with policymakers, responses to political pressures, and potential roles in democratic safeguarding or autocratization. By moving beyond binary classifications of governance, the study bridges Global North-South divides in public administration research and offers a more nuanced understanding of bureaucratic roles on the democracy-autocracy continuum. The findings will refine theoretical frameworks on bureaucratic influence in higher education and contribute to interdisciplinary debates on governance, democratization, and state capacity. The study is policy relevant, revealing how bureaucratic actions influence both the strengthening and erosion of democracy across different political contexts.

Bureaucracy and Ecopolitics in Ethiopia’s Political Transition – on the Role of Environmental Bureaucrats in Democratisation (Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development 2023-00948), joint project with Karin Leijon and Yonas Ashine Demise

The proposed project studies how bureaucrats influence the success or failure of environmental policy processes during periods of democratic reform. In charge of implementing and enforcing policies and often involved in policy formulation, bureaucrats influence success and failure of policy processes. Existing research has spanned many different policy areas, but only few studies exist on bureaucrats involvement in environmental policy. Moreover, while success of democratic transitions depends on democratic reforms, including reforms guaranteeing citizens’ environmental rights, the capacity and willingness of bureaucracies to support such reforms has been nearly completely neglected in previous research. The research gap is surprising, given the importance of environmental policy for sustainable and democratic development. We will conduct an empirically grounded case study of bureaucrats’ involvement in environmental policy in Ethiopia since 2018, to produce unique and much needed knowledge on how bureaucrats can both facilitate and hamper attempts at sustainable and democratic development. Combining document analysis with interviews and observations, the four-year project (1) analyses the organisation of the Ethiopian civil service; (2) explores how bureaucrats have supported and implemented or subverted and opposed environmental policy and (3) studies the relationships between the Ethiopian bureaucracy, politicians and experts involved in environmental policy processes.

Shades of Civic Activism: State – Labour Relations in India and Ethiopia (Swedish Research Council, 2019-03564), joint project with Jenny Jansson (PI), Silke Neunsinger and Andreas Admasie

How can we understand expansion and contraction of civic space under different political regimes? Research on civil society–state relations has yet to develop a theory that can account for the complexity and variations of their relations and interactions on the continuum between authoritarian and democratic rule. Previous research has commonly adopted divergent theoretical frameworks for explaining civil society – state relations under democratic and under authoritarian rule. This project explores how different levels/scales of authoritarian and democratic rule shape possibilities for civic action through in-depth case studies of state – labour relations in two countries, India and Ethiopia. Taking negotiations around minimum wages as an entry point, we will analyse when and how trade unions have been able to place labour demands on the political agenda and when and to what extend labour demands have been legislated on an adhered to. Drawing on archival data going back to the 1960s and semi-structured interviews will allow us to (1) compare civil society – state relations under different levels/scales of authoritarian and democratic rule, (2) shed light on how the reduction/enlargement of civic space shape possibilities for civic action and (3) understand similarities and differences in civil society – state relations under different levels/scales of authoritarian versus democratic rule.