Where travels, Research and Arts Meet..
Is where I connect with words, ideas, and human emotions. This is where I feel most at home.
Long before university, notebooks and travelogues captured my travels on a life journey to understand the world, its people, and myself. When I entered university, travels became fieldwork, but I always preserved that original spontaneity, unapologetically blurring the lines between the wanderer and the researcher. Universities are special is places housing humanity’s knowledge across generations. For me, this knowledge comes alive through ethnography – through people. Almost two decades ago, academia became the foundation of my intellectual journey; and to this day, fieldwork fuels my thinking.
In 2003, what began as a brief stop in Malaysia on my way to Cambodia became the foundation of my entire academic trajectory. I earned my MA (2007) and PhD (2014) in Comparative Politics from Sciences Po Paris focusing on civil society, politics and religion. Since 2015, I have led extensive comparative ethnographic projects across Southeast Asia, North Africa and the Caribbean focusing on politics, religion, elections, violence, human rights and child rights. I held research positions at highly competitive institutions globally.
In 2021, I ventured beyond academia’s boundaries, founding a political consulting firm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This move allowed me to apply my research in new ways, advising political leaders on communication and policy-making. Shifting from observer to participant in the making of politics, I’ve developed new ideas, gained incredible perceptions, and gathered extensive material for my writings.
As of July 2025, I’ve relocated to Brittany, France. While keep ing an active research agenda with global institutions such as the University of Oslo and Collège de France, where I am an Associate Researcher; I am working on several documentary film projects. As of January 2026, I am a practicing psychoanalyst at a family center, working with children and adults seeking analytical work.
Stanford APARC | Exploring Politics: Why Malaysia?
In this interview, Sophie Lemière was interviewed by The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC). The Shorenstein APARC addresses critical issues affecting the countries of Asia, their regional and global affairs, and U.S.-Asia...
Filmmaking: Research in Motion
As a documentary film author and director, I transform research into powerful visual stories that bridge academia and public discourse.
Storytelling has been my driving force since childhood. I’ve always been captivated by the power of narratives, whether through written words, on-screen characters, or the raw authenticity of documentaries. I explored various artistic avenues – from fiction writing and drama to singing and filmmaking. While creativity drove my spirit, academia gave structure and depth to my curiosity about power dynamics, societal structures, and people.
I have long been drawn to filmmaking and it has become an essential part of my work. Throughout my academic career, I sought ways to share my knowledge beyond traditional circles. I discovered that filmmaking could amplify my voice as a woman scholar and bridge academic research with public discourse. Today, my research naturally flows into cinematic expression. My documentary films provide a dynamic and accessible medium to explore deep questions and share complex ideas. Drawing from field observations and analysis, my films engage broader audience in important social and political debates for general viewers to my own students.
My films are developed together with and produced by Cyril Pennec and Judith Naudet at Effervescence Productions (Paris, France).
I am represented by Nathan Ouazana (Agency: Plan A, Paris).
Psychoanalysis: Listening to the Unconscious
As a practicing psychoanalyst, I work with children, adolescents, and adults seeking to engage in analytical work. I receive patients at a family center where the analytical space becomes a place for exploring the unconscious, understanding one’s inner world, and navigating life’s complexities.
My practice resonates particularly with individuals experiencing neurodiversity, those carrying childhood or adult trauma, and people affected by institutional, societal, or intra-familial violence—especially women and children. These experiences shape how we move through the world, and psychoanalysis offers a path toward understanding and transformation.
My own lengthy analytical journey unfolded alongside my explorations of the world. While I traveled across continents studying politics and society, I simultaneously navigated the depths of my unconscious. This dual exploration—outward and inward—continues to inform my work today.
I remain in constant training and exploration of analytical practice, weaving together my knowledge in social sciences, my lived experience as a woman and neurodivergent person, and the unique insights each patient brings to our work together. Psychoanalysis, like ethnography, honors the particularity of each person’s story while revealing universal human truths.
I am actively seeking to join international working groups and research networks exploring the intersections of psychoanalysis, neurodiversity, trauma, and social justice.
For more information or to schedule a consultation, please contact me by email or through the family center’s website.
Academia: Politics, Power & Society
FFor nearly two decades, my research has explored power, politics, and identity through the lens of political anthropology and comparative politics. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork across Malaysia, Southeast Asia, North Africa, and the Caribbean, I examine how authoritarian and semi-authoritarian regimes build and maintain legitimacy, how political violence operates through civil society, and how marginalized communities—particularly women, children, and minorities—navigate these systems.
I hold a MA (2007) and a PhD (2014) in Comparative Politics from Sciences Po Paris, where I developed the original concept of “connivance militancy” to describe how ruling parties subcontract political violence through organized civic actors. I held positions at global institutions including Harvard, Stanford, New York University, Kyoto University, Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore. I am currently an Associate Researcher at the Collège de France and collaborate with the University of Oslo on an EU-funded project examining Strongmen in Asia.
My work bridges academic scholarship and public engagement through publications, media collaborations, think-tank partnerships, and documentary filmmaking.
Past Positions
2018-2020: Non-Residential Fellow, Democracy in Hard Places Initiative at the Ash Center for Democracy, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA
2020 and 2022: Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), Washington DC, USA
2020: International Visiting Scholar, Stanford Humanities Center, Stanford University, USA
2019: Visiting Research Fellow, The Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University, Japan
2019: Senior Fellow, Malaysia Program, Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) , Singapore
2018: Walter Shorenstein Senior Fellow, The Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), Stanford University, USA
2017-2018: Postdoctoral Fellow, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs (WCFIA), Harvard University, USA
2016: Adjunct Professor of Human Rights and World Politics, New York University, NYU Florence campus, Italy
2015-2017: Max Weber Fellow, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), European University Institute, EUI, Italy
2014-2015: Jean Monnet Postdoctoral Fellow, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS), European University Institute, EUI, Italy