
Dr Muhammad A. Kavesh
Associate Professor & Director of South Asia Research Institute | School of Culture, History and Language | College of Asia and Pacific | Australian National University
I am an anthropologist whose research explores ethics, decolonization, animals, and the shifting geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific. My work engages with how human and more-than-human worlds intersect, with a particular focus on South Asia. I am the author of “Animal Enthusiasms: Life Beyond Cage and Leash in Rural Pakistan” (2021) and the lead editor of “Nurturing Alternative Futures: Living with Diversity in a More-than-Human World” (2024). In addition, I have edited two special journal issues and published widely in leading journals, including American Anthropologist, American Ethnologist, Journal of Asian Studies, Oxford Development Studies, and South Asia. My current research, supported by the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA), examines the animal trade and emerging geopolitical dynamics in South Asia.
PhD, Australian National University
Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Australian Anthropological Society
Faculty of Arts and Science Post-Doctoral Fellowship, University of Toronto