Jacqui Baker

Research Fellow, Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention

Biography: 

Bachelor of Arts (ANU), Bachelor of Asian Studies (Indonesian) Hons. (ANU), Masters of Social Anthropology (LSE), PhD Government (LSE).

Research Interests: 

Jacqui writes about the politics of security and order in Southeast Asia. With a background in comparative government and anthropology, Jacqui specialises in political ethnography and critical approaches to the study of crime, corruption and violence in Southeast Asia. Her PhD thesis was an ethnography of the transformations in the illicit financing of the state coercive apparatus as democratization effected a reorganization of the security sector from military to police. This study combined two years of fieldwork in Jakarta with Indonesian police and military officers, gang and militia members, Chinese capitalists, drug offenders, politicians and illicit casino operators with years of archival and newspaper research to map the hidden streams of illicit capital that flow through the city and into the coffers of the coercive institutions. Jacqui has also conducted fieldwork with extremist Islamic groups such as Laskar Jihad.  Currently, Jacqui’s research interests have turned to changes in the economy of illicit narcotics in mainland Southeast Asia.

Consultancies: 

A proponent of applied anthropology, Jacqui has extensive experience in project management, evaluation and research in East Timor and Indonesia specializing in law, security sector reform and Islamic education. Jacqui has undertaken consultancies for a range of semi and non-governmental organizations such as the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor Leste, the European Commission, The Asia Foundation and Amnesty International.