Welcome! I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at Boston College. During Fall 2023, I was a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Toulouse. Previously, I was a visiting fellow at the Kellogg Institute at Notre Dame. I received my Ph.D. from Cornell University.  

My research and teaching focus on comparative politics and the political economy of development in African countries. I am particularly interested in the politics of property rights; the roles of informal and customary institutions; natural resource politics; and state-citizen linkages. Several of my current research projects examine land rights and plural systems of authority. This includes my book, Land Politics: How Customary Institutions Shape State Building in Zambia and Senegal (2022, Cambridge University Press). My research has been published in Perspectives on Politics, African Affairs, American Political Science Review, Comparative Politics, Democratization, the Journal of Politics, and World Development. I am grateful to have received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Fulbright Council, and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), among others.

Research Interests:
Comparative Politics, Political Economy of Development, State-Building, Natural Resource Governance

Contact
Department of Political Science
Boston College
McGuinn Hall, Room 201
140 Commonwealth Ave
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

 lauren.honig[at]bc[dot]edu