Jolien van Veen is a PhD researcher in Cultural Anthropology. She graduated cum laude in 2018 at Utrecht University and has occupied teaching positions at the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University.  

Jolien is currently involved in the project: "Sacralizing Security: Evangelical Bandits in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil". Her research examines the interplay between religion, security, and authority in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Whereas by law Brazil is a secular state, in practice religion occupies an important role in the organization of public life. Furthermore, non-state actors such as drug gangs and paramilitary groups control large parts of the city’s shantytowns or favelas. Recent years have seen a shift in non-state actors’ religious beliefs from Afro-Brazilian traditions to Evangelical Christianity. This project examines the consequences of this shift for the ways in which residents perceive the authority of non-state actors and their ability to provide security.

"Sacralizing Security" is embedded in the Sovereignty and Social Contestation research group at the department of Cultural Anthropology in Utrecht. 

Research interests of Jolien include urban violence, trauma, and memory, anthropology of religion, popular culture, and anthropology of tourism.