Biography
Ushehwedu is a research fellow with the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at King's College London. His research interests have broadened to include the anthropology of sex tonics specifically as they relate to their illicit trade in the informal urban spaces in African contexts. Other research interests are gendered analysis and broadly the political economy of development.
Research
As part of the Wellcome Trust project “What's at stake in the fake? Indian Pharmaceuticals, African markets and global health” I use ethnographic research to explore the interface of sexuality, trade in sex tonics and the Zimbabwean economic crisis in urban informal streets. Over-the-counter sex tonics in Zimbabwe were banned in 2013. This, together with the unstable economic environment, have engendered a vibrant informal trade in sex enhancers.
I explore discourses around efficacy and the policing of the illicit/informal trade. The study also allows for extended analysis of gender and sexuality in the trade and consumption of sex tonics.
Research Interests
- Anthropology of leisure drugs
- Policing health
- Gender and sexuality
- Political economy
PhD Supervision
Usheh is happy to supervise students who are interested in political economy of development in Africa and Leisure drugs in Africa.
Further Details
See Usheh's research profile