Associate Professor, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo
Tanja Winther holds a PhD in Social Anthropology and MSc in Power Engineering. Her research is focused on socially sustainable energy, and she has done fieldwork in Zanzibar (Tanzania), Kenya, Malawi, India and Norway. The gender dimension is central in Winther’s work and she was invited to contribute to a background paper to the World Development Report 2012 on electricity and gender equality (led by Joy Clancy). Currently, she is leading the ‘EFEWEE project’ (funded by DfID), which examines the conditions that enhance women’s empowerment through electrification. She is also involved in research on the gendered impact of Chinese and Norwegian interventions in Malawi and Zambia (project AidEffect). Being one of the first anthropologists to focus on electrification and the author of The Impact of Electricity: Development, Desires and Dilemmas (Berghahn 2008), she has on several occasions been invited to present her work during international conferences. She has an extensive record of academic publications, and also regularly engages in dialogue with policy makers, consultants and engineers. Winther lectures at the University of Oslo (Norway) and Chancellor College in Zomba (Malawi) and is External Examiner in the Energy and Society Programme at Durham University (UK).