oalexand


Othon Alexandrakis

Photo of Othon Alexandrakis

Department of Anthropology

Associate Professor
Chair, Anthropology

Office: Vari Hall, 2050
Phone: (416)736-2100 Ext: x40139
Email: oalexand@yorku.ca

Accepting New Graduate Students


Ph.D. – Rice University (2010) M.A. – University of Western Ontario (2003) B.A. – University of Western Ontario (2001) Following his doctoral studies Othon joined the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2010-2011). His teaching, publications and research focus on: citizenship, migration, emergent and contested identities, governance, cities, childhood, Greece and Europe. His broader academic interests include ethnographic methods/writing, discourse publics, and memory.

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Alexandrakis's research and publications explore cultural processes of change, micro-social responses to conditions of shared hardship, the politics of knowledge, transnational migration and childhoods, and ethnographic methods. He has over fifteen years of ethnographic research experience in Greece, primarily among undocumented migrants, anti-establishment youth, the Roma community (commonly known as Gypsies), and unaccompanied refugee children. Alexandrakis is currently engaged in two research projects, the first as single-investigator exploring political agency among unaccompanied migrant youth titled "Critical Humanitarianism: Precarious Pathways and Disruptive Sanctuary in Greece", and the second as co-investigator on an international interdisciplinary research team examining how liminal life shapes migrant child well-being and developmental trajectories titled "Exploring the Impact of Protracted Displacement: War-affected Refuge Children in Greece and Italy. He has published numerous articles, is the editor of "Impulse to Act: A new Anthropology of Resistance and Social Justice" (2016), and author of "Radical Resilience: Athenian Topographies of Precarity and Possibility" (2022).

Degrees

Ph.D., Rice University (2010)
M.A., University of Western Ontario (2003)
B.A., University of Western Ontario (2001)

Research Interests

Anthropology , Citizenship, Migration, Childhoods, Emergent and Contested Identities, Governance, Cities, Greece and Europe
Books

Publication
Year

Othon Alexandrakis. 2022. Radical Resilience: Athenian Topographies of Precocity and Possibility. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London.

2022

Alexandrakis, Othon (Editor). 2016. Impulse to Act: A New Anthropology of Resistance and Social Justice. Indiana University Press.

2016

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

Alexandrakis, Othon. 2016. “Incidental Activism: Graffiti and Political Possibility in Athens, Greece.” Cultural Anthropology 31(2): 272-296.

2016

Alexandrakis, Othon. 2015. "Transformative Connections: Trauma, Cooperative Horizons, and Emerging Political Topographies in Athens, Greece." History and Anthropology 27 (1):32-44.

2015

Othon Alexandrakis. 2013. “Neoliberalism and the New Agora: Exploring Survival, Emergence, and Political Subjectivity among Pluralized Subaltern Communities in Athens, Greece.” Anthropological Quarterly. 86(1): 77-106.

2013

Other

Publication
Year

Alexandrakis, Othon, and David Nugent. Political Spatio-temporalities: A Conversation with David Nugent. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/political-spatio-temporalities-a-conversation-with-david-nugent

2017

Alexandrakis, Othon, and John Borneman. The Crucial Question. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/the-crucial-question-an-interview

2017


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Fall 2024 AP/ANTH4450 3.0 A The Anthropology of the City SEMR


Upcoming Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2025 GS/ANTH6020 3.0 M Advanced Methods In Anthropology SEMR


Ph.D. – Rice University (2010) M.A. – University of Western Ontario (2003) B.A. – University of Western Ontario (2001) Following his doctoral studies Othon joined the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2010-2011). His teaching, publications and research focus on: citizenship, migration, emergent and contested identities, governance, cities, childhood, Greece and Europe. His broader academic interests include ethnographic methods/writing, discourse publics, and memory.

Alexandrakis's research and publications explore cultural processes of change, micro-social responses to conditions of shared hardship, the politics of knowledge, transnational migration and childhoods, and ethnographic methods. He has over fifteen years of ethnographic research experience in Greece, primarily among undocumented migrants, anti-establishment youth, the Roma community (commonly known as Gypsies), and unaccompanied refugee children. Alexandrakis is currently engaged in two research projects, the first as single-investigator exploring political agency among unaccompanied migrant youth titled "Critical Humanitarianism: Precarious Pathways and Disruptive Sanctuary in Greece", and the second as co-investigator on an international interdisciplinary research team examining how liminal life shapes migrant child well-being and developmental trajectories titled "Exploring the Impact of Protracted Displacement: War-affected Refuge Children in Greece and Italy. He has published numerous articles, is the editor of "Impulse to Act: A new Anthropology of Resistance and Social Justice" (2016), and author of "Radical Resilience: Athenian Topographies of Precarity and Possibility" (2022).

Degrees

Ph.D., Rice University (2010)
M.A., University of Western Ontario (2003)
B.A., University of Western Ontario (2001)

Research Interests

Anthropology , Citizenship, Migration, Childhoods, Emergent and Contested Identities, Governance, Cities, Greece and Europe

All Publications


Books

Publication
Year

Othon Alexandrakis. 2022. Radical Resilience: Athenian Topographies of Precocity and Possibility. Cornell University Press: Ithaca and London.

2022

Alexandrakis, Othon (Editor). 2016. Impulse to Act: A New Anthropology of Resistance and Social Justice. Indiana University Press.

2016

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

Alexandrakis, Othon. 2016. “Incidental Activism: Graffiti and Political Possibility in Athens, Greece.” Cultural Anthropology 31(2): 272-296.

2016

Alexandrakis, Othon. 2015. "Transformative Connections: Trauma, Cooperative Horizons, and Emerging Political Topographies in Athens, Greece." History and Anthropology 27 (1):32-44.

2015

Othon Alexandrakis. 2013. “Neoliberalism and the New Agora: Exploring Survival, Emergence, and Political Subjectivity among Pluralized Subaltern Communities in Athens, Greece.” Anthropological Quarterly. 86(1): 77-106.

2013

Other

Publication
Year

Alexandrakis, Othon, and David Nugent. Political Spatio-temporalities: A Conversation with David Nugent. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/political-spatio-temporalities-a-conversation-with-david-nugent

2017

Alexandrakis, Othon, and John Borneman. The Crucial Question. Interview. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review Online, 23 January 2017, https://polarjournal.org/2017/01/23/the-crucial-question-an-interview

2017


Current Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Fall 2024 AP/ANTH4450 3.0 A The Anthropology of the City SEMR


Upcoming Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2025 GS/ANTH6020 3.0 M Advanced Methods In Anthropology SEMR