2019: PhD (Ethnology and Anthropology), University of Jyväskylä, Finland.Thesis title: “Differentiated citizenship, displacement, and materiality in state–citizen relations in Ahmedabad”
2013: M.Soc.Sc. (Social and Cultural Anthropology), University of Helsinki, Finland.
2011: Bachelor of Arts, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Studies in Ethnology, Sociology and Gender Studies.
record of employment
03/2023–present,Postdoctoral researcher, University of Oulu, Finland
09/2021–02/2023,Postdoctoral researcher, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
10/2022–11/2022, Visiting fellow, Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK
06/2019–03/2020, Visiting scholar, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta (CSSSC), India
04/2019–08/2021, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Helsinki, Finland (parental leave, 10 months, 10/2020–8/2021)
04/2015-02/2016, Visiting scholar, CEPT University, India
01/2015-12/2018, Doctoral student, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
05/2013–08/2013, Intern, Social Insurance Institution of Finland
public talks and conference papers
16 February 2023, Helsinki, Finland: Paper “Fish drought: Amphibious politics of Koli fishers in the aftermath of cyclones,” Development Days 2023 Conference.
13 December 2022, Oulu, Finland: Invited lecture “Climate change, migration, and sustainable livelihoods in India,” University of Oulu.
26 July 2022, Belfast, UK: Paper “Cultivating the sea: Kolis, dol netting, and ontopolitics in coastal Mumbai,” EASA Biennial Conference 2022.
18 February 2022, Helsinki, Finland: Paper “Amphibious infrastructuring from below: Koli fishers, dol nets, and reciprocal care,” Development Days 2022 Conference.
18 November 2021, Jyväskylä, Finland: Paper “Accumulating Violence: Artisanal Fishery and the Hereafter of Plastics in Peri-Urban Mumbai,” Asian Studies Days 2021.
25 Apr 2019, Helsinki, Finland: Paper “Rakennettu ympäristö, sosiaaliset suhteet ja koettu kansalaisuus uudelleenasutusalueella Ahmedabadissa, Intiassa,” Urban Studies Conference 2019.
17 Apr 2019, Santiago de Compostela, Spain: Paper “The great sacrifice: demonetization, anti-nationalism, and the ‘common people’ motif in Modi’s India,” SIEF Congress 2019.
17 Aug 2018, Stockholm, Sweden: Paper “Arborescent Community: Displaced Sindhis’ Politics of Emplacement,” EASA Biennial Conference 2018.
31 Oct 2017, Jyväskylä, Finland: Talk “Aistitieto ja etnografinen elokuva,” Jyväskylä City library.
27 Jun 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark: Panelist in a discussion titled “Democracy at 70.” Asian Dynamics Initiative Conference 2017.
27 Jun 2017, Copenhagen, Denmark: Paper “From Third-Class to World-Class? Claiming Belonging, Countering Betrayal in the Margins of Ahmedabad,” Asian Dynamics Initiative Conference 2017.
22 May 2017, Jyväskylä, Finland: Paper “Shaped stories: Material modifications in a slum resettlement site in Ahmedabad, India,” Biennial Conference of the Finnish Anthropological Society 2017.
22 Mar 2017, Tampere, Finland: Participant in the working group “Urban Studies,” SOVAKO Winter School.
2 Feb 2017, Helsinki, Finland: Paper “‘All the Others are Third-Class Citizens’: Claiming Belonging, Countering Betrayal in Neoliberal Ahmedabad,” Development Days 2017 Conference.
9 Dec 2016, Jyväskylä, Finland: Chair of the panel “Western Identity,” The West: Concept, Narrative, and Politics.
6 Aug 2016, Jyväskylä, Finland: Paper “Materiality of Belonging: Contestations over Religious Buildings in a Slum Resettlement Site in Ahmedabad, India,” Poverty’s Causes and Consequences in the Urban Developing World.
5 Aug 2016, Jyväskylä, Finland: Chair of the panel “Poverty & Development in India,” Poverty’s Causes and Consequences in the Urban Developing World.
23 Jul 2016, Milan, Italy: Paper “Ambivalent Engagements: Resettled Slum-Dwellers’ Responses to the World-Class City Vision in Ahmedabad, India,” EASA Biennial Conference 2016.
11 Jul 2016, Vienna, Austria: Paper “Thrown into the Jungle – Experiences of Displacement and Disruption in Neoliberal India,” ISA Forum of Sociology.
18 Feb 2016, Ahmedabad, India: Invited lecture “Mobilization of Difference in a Slum Resettlement Site in Ahmedabad,” FP Lecture Series, CEPT University.
teaching merits
Jan–Feb 2022: Course “Anthropology of Climate Change,” University of Jyväskylä.
Aug–Oct 2020: Course “Anthropology of Climate Change” together with Dayabati Roy, University of Helsinki.
1 Apr 2019: Lecture on the course “Etnografiaseminaari I: Etelä-Aasia,” University of Helsinki.
11 Sep–18 Oct 2017, 16 Jan–14 Feb 2017, 23 Sep–24 Oct 2016: Course “Research Methods in History and Ethnology” together with Matti Roitto and Anssi Halmesvirta, University of Jyväskylä.
2016–2022, Jyväskylä, Finland: Individual lectures on the courses “Etnologian ajankohtaisia kysymyksiä,” “Ethnology of Development,” “Poverty and Development,” and “Socio-Cultural Ethnography and Ethics,” University of Jyväskylä.
artistic merits
23 Sep 2019, My photo series “Kansalaisuuden materiaalisuus” won the third place in the science photography contest organized by The Federation of Finnish Learned Societies
8 Nov 2016, Short documentary “The Goodwill City” screened at the event “Visual India: Films and Photos from the Field,” University of Jyväskylä
19 Dec 2015, Photo essay “Distanced Away: Constrained Livelihoods in the South-Eastern Margins of Ahmedabad” (in collaboration with Niklas Salmi). Exhibition “Violence, Conflicts and Inequality in Ahmedabad,” Satya Art Gallery, Ahmedabad.
other merits
2021–present, scientific editor in AntroBlogi, a Finnish-language online publication bridging the gap between the academic and the everyday
2017–2020, board member in the Association of Finnish Ethnologists Ethnos
JELENA SALMI 