Strengthening the humanity and dignity of people in crises through evidence and learning
Faculty and Researchers
Elizabeth StitesResearch Director and Assistant Professor
Assistant Research Professor, Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy
Research Assistant Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition
Elizabeth Stites directs Feinstein’s Research Program on Conflict and Livelihoods, focused on the effects of conflict and violence on civilian livelihoods. She is particularly interested in how different members within a household make changes to their livelihoods in times of conflict or crisis, and also how violence and livelihood strategies can reinforce each other. On the policy level she examines the effects of humanitarian, development, and military policies on livelihoods, security, and gender roles. Her field work aims to improve the effectiveness of international and national policies through evidence-based research reflecting the lived experiences of local communities. She aims to understand the challenges and hopes that inform people’s daily decision making, and strives to ensure that local people’s voices and experiences are heard in contexts in which they are often invisible. She has worked in multiple countries in sub-Saharan Africa, in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Nepal and on the Syria crisis.
Prior to joining Feinstein, Elizabeth worked as a consultant to UN organizations, academic centers, and international non-profits. She lived in South Africa for four years in the 1990s, where she researched post-apartheid land restitution and worked closely with families, community groups, government agencies, and non-profit organizations.
Elizabeth holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University, an M.A. from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and an M.A.L.D. and a Ph.D. from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.
- Intra-household livelihood adaptations and coping
- Male youth and violence
- Cyclical links between livelihoods and violence
- Uganda
- Eastern Africa
- Nepal
- Gender, Culture, and Conflict in Complex Emergencies (NUTR 222/DHP D232), Fall Term
- Gender and Human Security in Transitional States and Societies (DHP D231), Spring Term
- Stites, Elizabeth and Anastasia Marshak. “Who are the Lonetia? Findings from southern Karamoja, Uganda.” Journal of Modern African Studies 54 (2016). 237-262.
- Stites, Elizabeth and Darlington Akabwai. “‘We are now reduced to women’: Impacts of forced disarmament in Karamoja, Uganda.” Nomadic Peoples 14, 2 (2010). 24-43.
- Stites, Elizabeth. “A Struggle for Rites: Masculinity, Violence and Livelihoods in Karamoja, Uganda.” In Gender, Violence, and Human Security: Critical Feminist Perspectives, edited by Aili Tripp, Myra Marx Ferree, and Christina Ewig. New York University Press, 2013.
News Items
Jeeyon Janet Kim publishes in Food Security
Jeeyon Janet Kim, Elizabeth Stites, Patrick Webb, Mark A. Constas, and Daniel Maxwell published “The effects of male out-migration on household food security in rural Nepal“ in Food Security in…
Read MoreFeinstein team held a workshop on bridging the gap between research and practice with FAO in Rome
A Feinstein team including Helen Young, Andy Catley, Elizabeth Stites, and Anastasia Marshak held a one day workshop with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in…
Read MoreFeinstein Research Projects
Mind the Gap: Bridging the Research, Policy, and Practice Divide to Enhance Livelihood Resilience in Conflict Settings
This research project reviews, re-analyzes, and synthesizes the lessons from Feinstein’s experience of research linked to building livelihood resilience in protracted conflict situations.
Read MorePartnership on Youth, Migration, and Resilience
This partnership between Save the Children US and FIC aims to improve the evidence base on migration of young people to urban areas.
Read MoreFeinstein Publications
The Currency of Connections: The impact of weddings and rituals on social connections in Bentiu, South Sudan
This briefing paper examines changes to wedding rituals and the nature of marriages in the Bentiu Protection of Civilians site and adjacent areas of Rubkona and Bentiu towns.
Read MoreThe Currency of Connections: The establishment and reconfiguration of informal livelihood groups in Bentiu, South Sudan
This briefing paper explores the establishment and reconfiguration of informal livelihood groups and associations as a form of socioeconomic connectedness in Bentiu, South Sudan.
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