In what ways do public discourses shape everyday lives, and how can we research these connections? For this seminar, Anouk de Koning comes to IMER to present findings from fieldwork in Amersterdam and Antwerp, through the concept ‘ordinary iconic figures’. Such iconic figures can be the US “welfare queen”, white Dutch “Henk and Ingrid”, or the Belgian “Flemish Interest voter”. Such iconic figures are part and parcel of public discourses, but are also taken up in policy worlds and everyday interactions. Tracing how such figures resurface in policy practices and urban lives provides insight into the connections between public discourses and everyday lives.

Coffee and tea will be served.

Anouk de Koning is Assistant Professor at the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, Radboud University.