Skip to main content
UMass Collegiate M The University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give
  • Search UMass.edu
College of Social & Behavioral Sciences College of Social & Behavioral Sciences

Main navigation

  • Academics

    Explore our programs

    All programsUndergraduateGraduateCertificates
    See all departments
    Faculty & StaffSignature programsExploratory track
  • Research
    Research centers, institutes, and programsResearch news and highlightsGrant Funding and PoliciesExternal Fellowship OpportunitiesFaculty Research Grants & Awards
    Institute for Social Science ResearchFaculty BookshelfFreedman Lecture SeriesResearch Events
  • Student Services
    Student ServicesGraduate Student ResourcesAdvisingSBS RISE
    Senior CelebrationStudent EventsStudent NewsInternship & Career Opportunities
  • About
    SBS Dean's OfficeVisit UsStrategic planDiversity, Equity and InclusionFaculty & Staff DirectoryNewsEventsAlumni
    Professional ResourcesFaculty ResourcesStaff ResourcesContact Us

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. About
  3. Directory
Image
Headshot of Elizabeth Krause

Elizabeth Krause

Professor of Anthropology

Sociocultural anthropology: population politics, especially reproduction and migration; medical anthropology; political economy and economic anthropology; historical anthropology and social memory; globalization and global families; fast fashion; food and culture; transregional connections and place-based practices; ethnography & writing.

Contact details

Contact

Email: ekrause [at] anthro [dot] umass [dot] edu

Location

Machmer Hall

240 Hicks Way
Amherst, MA 01003
United States

About

I conduct immersive, collaborative, and participatory research to de-essentialize capitalism and illuminate local-global dynamics in terms of how ordinary people live with contradictions of power in an absurdly unequal yet extraordinary world. I ground my work in relation to population politics, production, and reproduction, such as the biopolitics of lowest-low fertility among Italians, migration of overseas Chinese in Italy, and parenting young Latinas in Massachusetts.

I work on global households, transregional connections, place-based economies (Made In Italy), fashion and, most recently, figs. As an ethnographer, I am passionate about how to represent social worlds. I push the boundaries of genre in my writing, teaching, and mentoring.

I have published numerous peer-review and popular articles as well as three books, including A Crisis of Births: Population Politics and Family-Making in Italy (2005, Wadsworth), Unraveled: A Weaver’s Tale of Life Gone Modern (2009, University of California Press) and Tight Knit: Global Families and the Social Life of Fast Fashion (2018, University of Chicago Press). My new project, “The Pedagogy of Figs: Uncommon Lessons for a Sweet Life,” exposes how multispecies worlds, relations, and memories underwrite value. Protagonists inspire blending historical anthropology, narrative ethnography, and memoir to trace the cultural and historical significance of figs ultimately to confront economic crises and nurture well-being.

Relevant links: 

Publications

Research

Hear Our Stories - Website

Creative Economy - Website

Global Bodies - Website

Related programs

  • Anthropology

Related departments

  • Anthropology

Site footer

College of Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • X
  • Find us on Facebook
  • Find us on YouTube
  • Find us on Instagram
Address

Draper Hall
40 Campus Center Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9244
United States

Phone number
(413) 545-4173

Information for:

  • Undergraduate Students
  • Graduate Students
  • Faculty
  • Staff
  • Alumni

Academics

  • Explore our programs
  • Departments
  • Advising

The college

  • About SBS
  • News
  • Events
  • Employment Opportunities

Contact

  • Visit Us
  • Dean's Office Contacts
  • Faculty & Staff Directory

Global footer

  • ©2025 University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Site policies
  • Privacy
  • Non-discrimination notice
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of use