Luke Freeman, PhD, is a leading expert on the culture and politics of Madagascar. He has brought this expertise to roles as a tenured professor at the University of London (LSE & UCL), as a special advisor to former president Marc Ravalomanana, and as a social and political risk analyst to the Madagascar extractive sector. He has also filled leading roles in the development and humanitarian sector, notably as a pioneer of the application of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) for indigenous peoples in the tropical timber sector. Luke's recent responsibilities include Director of Social Performance at Rio Tinto Madagascar, Director of Social Policy at UNICEF Madagascar and Head of Social Behaviour Change at CRS Madagascar. He has also worked as an advertising strategist for the WPP group and a leadership coach in the university sector.
Caste discrimination or persecution, Climate-related issues, Ethnic discrimination or persecution, Gender-based violence/domestic violence, Healthcare access/health systems capacity, Land tenure disputes, Political persecution, Prison conditions, Violence against children/child abuse
Produced reports on human trafficking for domestic labour from Madagascar to Gulf States.
• Indigenous people’s institutions, values & practices: lessons for the implementation of indigenous children’s & women’s rights. A case study from the Republic of Congo (With S. Borreill) UNICEF, Congo-Brazzaville, 2014
• Speech, silence, and slave descent in highland Madagascar. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute Volume 9, Issue 3 pp. 600-617, 2013 link
• Separation, connection and the ambiguous nature of émigré houses in rural highland Madagascar. Home Cultures, 10:2, pp. 93-110, 2013 link
• Tendances, caractéristiques et impacts de la migration rurale-urbain à Antananarivo, Madagascar. UNICEF, 2010 link
• Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Implications for Sustainable Forest Management in the Congo Basin, in Governing Africa’s Forests in a Globalized World. London: Earthscan pp.319-334, 2010 link
• Why are some people powerful? In Questions of Anthropology, pp. 281-306. London: Routledge, 2007
• Capacity building of indigenous people’s organizations in the African Great Lakes Region. London: Baring Foundation, 2007
• Voleurs de foies, voleurs de cœurs : Européens et Malgaches occidentalisés (Madagascar), Terrain, 43, pp. 85-106, 2004 link