Sarah Wagner
Assistant Professorsewagner@uncg.edu
(336) 256-1189
PhD Harvard University 2006
MALD Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy 2002
Research Interests
Identification technology and society; missing persons and the politics of memory; social theory; mechanisms of post-conflict social reconstruction; forced migration, refugee return and resettlement.
Current Research
Part political anthropology and science and technology studies, my recent research has focused on the nexus of genetic technology, politics, and society in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. My book, To Know Where He Lies: DNA Technology and the Search for Srebrenica’s Missing (University of California Press, October 2008), examines the DNA-based forensic system developed to identify the over 8,000 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) men and boys killed in the July 1995 genocide at the UN "safe area" of Srebrenica. Based on extensive ethnographic research conducted from 2003 to 2007, the study analyzes the technology’s sociopolitical import for postwar Bosnia—from surviving families to nationalist political leaders and international representatives—as well as its application beyond the Balkans. In continuing research in eastern Bosnia, I am working on a collaborative project on the aftermath of the Srebrenica genocide that looks at prevailing discourses of nation-building and post-conflict social reconstruction.
My interest in the application of genetic technology in postmortem identification systems has recently expanded to include the United States and the recovery efforts for missing soldiers. This research addresses how DNA testing used to identify remains of US soldiers killed in the Vietnam War has affected modes of national commemoration, as well as expectations of surviving families and fellow soldiers about the recovery and identification processes.
Select Publications
Books
To Know Where He Lies: DNA Technology and the Search for Srebrenica's Missing (University of
California Press, October 2008)
Srebrenica: After the Genocide. Forthcoming manuscript (Co-authored with Lara Nettelfield).
Articles
"Justice Has Become a Normal Thing." Co-authored with Lara Nettelfield. Opinion Editorial. Vancouver Sun, July 26, 2008.
"DNA Identification: Checking Expectations of Truth and Justice." Co-authored with Lindsay Smith. Anthropology News, Vol. 48, no. 5., May 2007.
"Bosnia's Muslims Still Cry Out for Justice." Co-authored with Lara Nettelfield. Opinion Editorial. The Globe and Mail, July 12, 2005.
"For the Bosniaks, the US Ideal is in Ruins," Co-authored with Lara Nettelfield. Opinion Editorial. Los Angeles Times, September 19, 2004.