
I am a Professor (full professor/Hoogleraar) at the Institute of Development Policy at Antwerp University. My work lies at the intersection of political science, development – and area – studies, and relies heavily on field research.
I’m the author of ‘Nasser Road. Political Posters in Uganda‘ (editor, Eriskay Connection), ‘Rebel Lives. Photographs from inside the Lord’s Resistance Army’ (Hannibal Books/ FOMU), and Negotiating Public Services in the Congo (edited with Tom De Herdt, Zed Books), in addition to articles for academic publications such as African Affairs, International Affairs and many others. I am a regular contributor to a variety of media-platforms, such as The New Humanitarian, Washington Post’s Monkey Cage, African Arguments, Al Jazeera, and many others.
I focus on governance- and conflict- dynamics in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). I study the ways in which the state interacts with a range of non-state actors at a variety of scales and with a variety of actors: rebel groups, international donors, local non-state actors, and so on.
I am fascinated by the use of visual material, both as a research method, as a way to make academic output available to a broader audience, and for its aesthetic value in itself. My books ‘Nasser Road’, and the book & exhibition Rebel Lives – in collaboration with Georges Senga, Rein Deslé and others – is an important example.
I obtained my PhD at the Conflict Research Group, Ghent University, in 2007. I was a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2013-2014, at the Department of International Development. I have worked, and continue to work, closely with a number of Universities in the DRC and Uganda, through VLIR-UOS partnerships.
I regularly engage with policy, in a number of ways. I for example was an expert witness at the International Criminal Court for the case of ex-LRA commander Dominic Ongwen; or my spotlight briefing for the UNDP Borderlands Centre, where I wrote about informal cross-border trade along the Uganda-DRC border.
I live with my family in Antwerp, and spend a lot of time on Antwerp’s playgrounds with our three kids. I’m fascinated with photography (I studied photography at the Luca School of Arts, Ghent, 2003-2007). Have a look at this website to see some of my own work.
Contact: Kristof.titeca (at) uantwerp.be
You can follow me on Twitter, Researchgate, Academia or Instagram. (but please reach out via email, rather than through messaging on these platforms).
News
My new edited book(let) ‘Nasser Road. Political Posters in Uganda’ was published this June. The book is the result of a long fascination with these posters, which I first started seeing during my research in the Ugandan-Congolese borderlands 20 years ago. I’ve been collecting them ever since, and a few years back, I started looking for the designers – a quest which led me to to Nasser Road, Uganda’s (in)famous street, known both as a center of the printing industry in the wider region, and as a centre of fraud. The book presents an analysis of both the posters and the street.
I’m honoured that the photo/art publisher Eriskay Connection published the book – I’m a big fan of their work(s). I’m equally honoured that Yusuf Serumkuma agreed to have his work on Nasser Road published in the book; and that photographers Katumba Badru and Zahara Abdul contributed with photographs.
First edition of the book is sold out with the publisher, but still available in some bookshops.
A second edition of the book has been printed in Nasser Road/Uganda, and will be available in November 2023.
Attention for the book:
- Nominated for the 2023 Aperture Paris Photo First Book Award
- Shortlisted for the 2023 ‘author book award’ of the Arles Rencontres de la Photography.
- British Journal of Photography
- Le Monde Diplomatique
- Trigger
- Africa As a Country
- Review of African Political Economy
- MO Magazine
- Afrique XXI
- Belgian Platform for Photobooks
- Protest in the Photobook
I’m closely following the dynamics around the anti-LGBTI law in Uganda, and have written a range of pieces on this – such as this piece in African Arguments, or this piece in De Volkskrant.
Nasser Road book: the Nasser Road edition
I am currently preparing a Nasser Road print of the Nasser Road book. The book will be (re)printed in the street, and will be available in Kampala and Uganda. It will become available after the book presentation at the 21st of October 2023. The book presentation is a collaboration with the Uganda Press Photo Awards (UPPA); the Nasser Road edition is a collaboration with History in Progress Uganda.