Dr Imani Strong completed her PhD at the London School of Economics in 2021. Her thesis, entitled “Contracting Change: An ethnographic study of affirmative action, entrepreneurship, and bureaucracy in Atlanta, Georgia,” is the basis of her current book project.

Grounded in 12 months of fieldwork in Atlanta—including time embedded in Atlanta City Hall—Imani’s research contributes to a growing body of ethnographic research on affirmative action internationally and centres racial identities and perspectives in its theoretical approach to bureaucracy, audit, and capitalism. Her work primarily explores the self-fashioning of African American entrepreneurs as ethical capitalist and racial actors and the forms of emotional and ethical labours undertaken by bureaucrats tasked with administering a legally constrained program.

Dr Strong is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Griffin & Strong, PC, a public policy consulting and research firm based in Atlanta, GA, USA. The firm specializes in economic disparity research studies and diversity consulting for governmental entities. Her doctoral research also examines the legal underpinnings of these studies and their practical impact on the landscape of restitutive bureaucracy in the United States.

Imani holds an MSc in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford and a BA in Anthropology from Mount Holyoke College. Her doctoral research was funded by the Leverhulme Trust through the LSE’s International Inequalities Institute.