Alex Rewegan

Visiting scientist, PhD Candidate

Alex Rewegan is a Ph.D. Candidate in the History, Anthropology, Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS) program at MIT. As an anthropologist, Alex studies the social and cultural aspects of cannabis legalization across North America, with a focus on how legalization efforts are offering unique opportunities to address intersecting issues of social, racial, economic, and environmental justice. Studying with and alongside farmers and activists across the continent, Alex studies in particular how and to what extent the legalization of cannabis is informing efforts towards more sustainable and anti-racist forms of agriculture, addressing both the challenges of climate change and the exclusionary, racialized history of North America’s agricultural systems.

Alex’s dissertation features ethnographic, comparative case studies of different cannabis farming and market contexts, including California, Massachusetts, and Southern Ontario, providing a rich documentation and analysis of how different legalization regimes roll-out on the ground, and with what effects. Alex originally hails from Toronto, Canada with a B.A. in Anthropology from McMaster University and an M.A. in Social Anthropology from York University.