Lauren Bonilla

Lauren Bonilla is Lecturer and Research Affiliate in Anthropology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 2014 to 2018, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate with the Emerging Subjects Project at University College London’s Department of Anthropology. Merging cultural anthropology and human geography, Lauren is interested in the social and environmental dimensions of development and debt. Her research examines negotiations around wealth, ownership, and well-being in Mongolia’s volatile extractive economies.

Posts by This Author

Introduction: Temporary Possession

Theorizing the Contemporary

Introduction: Temporary Possession

At a prestigious auction house in London, as the hammer descended to confirm the final offer on a painting, the item in question destroyed itself through a shre... More

Temporary Possession

Theorizing the Contemporary

Temporary Possession

Around the world, experiences of ownership are turning toward temporary and contingent forms of possession. This Theorizing the Contemporary series explores tem... More

Voluminous

Theorizing the Contemporary

Voluminous

In late April 2011, nearly a month after the Tohoku earthquake caused the catastrophic tsunami in Japan, my Facebook feed featured a series of YouTube clips cal... More