Team > Dr. Sarah Katz-Lavigne

Sarah Katz-Lavigne received her PhD in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University and in International Relations from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Her doctoral thesis focused on conflicts in and around large mining areas in the southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In particular, it examined how a number of actors regulate the so-called “secret” extraction of minerals at LSM sites, including the government, public and private security services, representatives of companies, artisanal miners and other actors in the supply chain. She also assessed the impact of implementing a multi-layered property rights regime on conflict and distribution dynamics in and around mine sites.

Sarah has published articles as a solo author in The Extractive Industries and Society, Resources Policy and Third World Thematics. She has co-authored articles with Moses Kiggundu (Carleton University) in the Africa Journal of Management and with Doris Buss, Aluoka Otieno and Eileen Alma in the Canadian Journal of African Studies. She also has politically oriented articles in The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage and Africa is a Country, and has spoken out against the idea that artisanal cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo is “conflict-prone” or “dirty. ”

Dr. Sarah Katz-Lavigne