Juliette Mertenat

Juliette Mertenat is a PhD candidate and a teaching assistant at the Institute of Geography and Sustainability (IGD) at Lausanne University, Switzerland. She obtained a Master's degree in Middle East Studies from the University of Geneva where she wrote a thesis about bordering processes performed by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Her research interests include interactions between international and local scales, urban geopolitics, post-conflict environments and international organisations. She works under the supervision of Prof. René Véron. Her study explores urban reconstruction practices in Beirut and the geopolitical dynamics resulting from the involvement of international actors. She uses a qualitative approach that combine the study of everyday practices with a critical reading of geopolitics. Her thesis aims to offer a deeper understanding of urban reconstruction as a multi-scale process.