10/2011–present Full Professor (W2) of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg
2/2011 – 9/2011 Heisenberg Fellow of the DFG (German Research Foundation)
April 2010 Full professorship offer from the University of Zurich, Switzerland (rejected)
2/2010 – 9/2011 Private lecturer (germ. Privatdozentin) at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Cologne
January 2010 Habilitation at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Cologne; Venia Legendi in social and cultural anthropology; Title of the thesis: Celebrating distinctions: Marriage, elites and reproduction in rural Namibia;
1/2000- 1/2010 Senior Lecturer (germ. Hochschulassistentin) at the Institute of Ethnology, University of Cologne, Germany
Summer semester 2007 Visiting Professor at the Institute of Ethnology, University of Hamburg, Germany
1/2003 – 12/2007 Project leader of C10 research project ‘Demographic, social and economic change in a multiethnic region of Central Namibia’
December 1999 Doctorate in social anthropology at the University of Cologne; Title of the thesis: Das geplante Kind. Demographischer, wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Wandel in einer mexikanischen Gemeinde (The planned child. Demographic, economic and social change in a Mexican community)
July 1995 M. A. degree; University of Cologne; Thesis: Kultureller Konsensus in einer multiethnischen Schulklasse? Eine Untersuchung kognitiver Netzwerke (Cultural consensus in a multiethnic classroom? An investigation of cognitive networks)
1990-1995 Academic studies, University of Cologne – subjects: Social Anthropology, German literature, Film Sciences and Psychology
Research Interests
Reproduction, kinship and gender in Southern Africa and Latin America; AIDS in Southern Africa; cultural dimensions of immunization; migration and health
Research Area(s)
Southern Africa (Namibia); Mesoamerica (Mexico)
Publications
Monographs and Edited Volumes
2016. ed. together with R. van Dijk: Change and continuity in Southern African Marriages. Special Issue ‘Anthropology Southern Africa’. Vol 39 & 40.
2013. ed. together with A. Redder, R. Kießling, K. Bührig, B. Brehmer, I. Breckner and J. Androutsopoulos: „Mehrsprachige Kommunikation in der Stadt. Das Beispiel Hamburg“. Münster: Waxmann.
2010. ed. Together with Alber, E., B. Beer and M. Schnegg: „Verwandtschaft heute“. Berlin: Reimer.
2000. „Das geplante Kind: Demographischer, wirtschaftlicher und sozialer Wandel in einer mexikanischen Gemeinde“. Hamburg: Lit.
Journal Articles (peer-reviewed)
2017. together with F. Dawids. “The Struggle for Marriage: Elite and Non-Elite Weddings in Rural Namibia”. Anthropology Southern Africa 40 (1): 15-28.
2016. together with R. van Dijk. “Marriage as an End or the End of Marriage? Change and Continuity in Southern African Marriages”. Anthropology Southern Africa 39 (4): 257-266.
2015. “Gebauter Lebenssinn. Häuser in transnationalen mexikanischen Familien“ Sociologus 65 (2): 153-176
2014. „Was bedeutet Heirat, wenn nur noch wenige heiraten? Zum Wandel von Heirats- und Konsumpraktiken in Namibia.“ Gender. Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft 6(2): 70-84.
2012. „Creating Illegitimacy: Negotiating Relations and Reproduction within Christian Contexts in Northwest Namibia“. Journal of Religion in Africa 42 (4): 408-432.
2011. „Celebrating Distinctions: Common and Conspicuous Weddings in Rural Namibia“. Ethnology 50 (2): 153-167.
2010. „The female side of male patronage: Gender perspectives on elite formation processes in Northwest Namibia“. Journal of Namibian Studies (8): 28-47.
2010. „Viel mehr Männlichkeit! Thematische Potenziale der ‚Männlichkeitsforschung‘ als ‚Geschlechterforschung‘“. Erwägen Wissen Ethik 3 (3): 83-85.
2008. “A House of One’s Own: Gender, Migration and Residence in Rural Mexico.” American Ethnologist 35 (1):171-187.
Chapters in Edited Books
2017. “‘Of course I can speak English more than my mother tongue!’ Sprache und Identität aufstrebender Mittelklassen im postkolonialen Namibia” In: Krause, A., G. Lehrmann, W. Thielmann and C. Trautmann (eds.) Form und Funktion. Festschrift für Angelika Redder zum 65. Geburtstag. Tübingen: Lehmanns, 409-421.
2016. “African Marriages in Transformation: Anthropological Insights” In Etim, J. (ed.): Introduction to Gender Studies in Eastern and Southern Africa. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, 95-114.
2016. together with F. Bedorf “From Ultiomogenitur to Senior Club. Negotiating Certainties and Uncertainties of Growing Older between Rural Mexiko and Urban Chicago” In: Wonneberger, A., M. Gandelsman-Trier and H. Dorsch (eds.) Migration, Networks, Skills. Anthropological Perspectives on Mobility and Transformation. Bielefeld: Transcript, 47-66.
2015. „Kind unter Kindern. Geschwisterbeziehungen in Fransfontein, Namibia“ In: M. Fink and R. Gronemeyer (ed.): Afrikanische Kindheiten. Soziale Elternschaft und Waisenhilfe in der Subsahara. Bielefeld: Transcript, 81-96.
2013. together with Egetmeyer, L., Meisel, R. and S. L. Radt: „Ältere MigrantInnen in Hamburg. Sprachliche und kulturelle Diversität in Senioreneinrichtungen und anderen Alter(n)swelten.“ In: ed. Together with A. Redder R. Kießling, K. Bührig, B. Brehmer, I. Breckner and J. Androutsopoulos: Mehrsprachige Kommunikation in der Stadt. Das Beispiel Hamburg. Münster: Waxmann, 29-54.
2013. „Sharing Made Us Sisters: Sisterhood, Migration and Household Dynamics in Mexico and Namibia“. In: Alber, E.; Coe, C. and T. Thelen (ed.): The Anthropology of Sibling Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, 29-50.
2013. together with Schnegg, M. and C. Greiner: „Pastoral Belonging: Causes and Consequences of Part-Time Pastoralism in North Western Namibia.“ In: Bollig, M.; Schnegg, M. and H.-P. Wotzka (ed.): The Emergence, History and Contemporary Political Ecology of African Pastoralism. New York and Oxford: Berghahn, 341-362.
2012. Together with A. Behrends: „Zwischen Charisma und Korruption. Kontinuitäten und Brüche in der Auseinandersetzung mit Eliten in Afrika.“ In: Bierschenk, T. und E. Spiess (ed.): Kontinuitäten und Brüche. Fünfzig Jahre Unabhängigkeit in Afrika. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 301-320.
2010. Together with S. Brandner: „Wem glauben? Eine explorative Studie zu Impfentscheidungen von Kölner Eltern zwischen Internet, ärztlicher Autorität und verwandschaftlichem.“ In: H. Dilger and B. Hadolt (ed.): Medizin im Kontext: Krankheit und Gesundheit in einer vernetzten Welt. Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang Verlag, 73-93.
2010. Together with M. Schnegg: „Namibische Wahlverwandschaften. Zur Dualität von Struktur und Handlungsfreiheit in der Verwandschaftsethnologie.“ In: ed. Together with E. Alber, B. Beer and M. Schnegg: Verwandtschaft heute. Berlin: Reimer, 305-328.
2010. “Demographic and anthropological perspectives on marriage and reproduction in Namibia.” In: W. Möhlig, O. Bubenzer and G. Menz (ed.): Towards Interdisciplinarity. Köln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut, 205-234.
2009. “(Re)producing an Elite. Fertility, Marriage and Economic Change in Northwest Namibia.” In: C. Greiner and W. Kokot (ed.): Networks, Resources and Economic Action. Berlin: Reimer, 303-325.
2007. “’We All Have Our Own Father!’ Reproduction, Marriage and Gender in Rual Northwest Namibia.” In: S. LaFont and D. Hubbard (ed.): Unravelling Taboos: Gender and Sexuality in Namibia. Windhoek: LAC, 197-214.
Book Reviews
2011. Buchbesprechung Haukanes, Haldis and Tatjana Thelen (eds.): ‘Parenting after the Century of Child: Travelling ideals, institutional negotiations and individual responses’. Sociologus 61(1): 119-121.
2011. Buchbesprechung Rodríguez, Richard T.: ‘Next of Kin. The Family in Chicano/a Cultural Politics’. American Anthropologist 113 (2): 372-373.
Conference Presentations (since 2007)
2016 “Landscapes of Belonging. Building and Dwelling in a transnational Mexican community” Workshop ‘The Affective Creation of Community: Home-Making Practices between Mexico, Peru and the USA’ (Organizer Ingrid Kummels), Lateinamerika-Institut, FU Berlin, 11.11.2016.
2016 “For all the wrong reasons. Marriage and divorce in Namibia“, European Association of Social Anthropologist (EASA) conference, Panel 18 “Rethinking Marriage. Exchange and Emotion in Comparative Perspective“ (Organizers Pauli and van Dijk), Milan, Italy, July 2016.
2016 „Where does the middle class belong? Namibian weddings and the contested production of locality”, Workshop ‘Middle Classes in Africa – anthropological and sociological perspectives’. Bayreuth, 27.-29.4.2016
2015 „Alter(n) in transnationalen mexikanischen Familien”. Erste nationale Fachtagung Kindheits- und Familienwissenschaften (HAW Hamburg, 09.-10. Februar 2015).
2014 “Rites of passage into the middle class: social differentiation through changing life-cycle celebrations in Namibia”, Workshop at the International Research Center ‘Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History’: “The Making of Middle Classes: Social Mobility and Boundary Work in Global Perspective”. (Organisation C. Lentz, J. Budnio and A. Noll). Berlin, 6.-8.11.2014.
2014 “Class Switching: Implications of rural-urban mobility for emerging middle classes in Namibia”, Panel 39, VAD Conference, University of Bayreuth, 11.-14.06.2014.
2014 “Belonging as a new key concept in anthropological migration research?”, Workshop “Sozialwissenschaftliche Theorien in der empirischen Migrationsforschung”, University Zürich, 30.-31.5.2014.
2013 “Finding, keeping and losing fathers: Reproductive networking in rural Namibia”, European Conference on African Studies (ECAS), Panel Hidden dimensions: demographic trends and sexual culture in contemporary Africa. Lisbon, Portugal.
2012. „The key to fertility. Generation, reproduction and elite formation in a Namibian community“. Fertility and Reproduction Seminars: „Reproduction and Social Differentiation“, University of Oxford, 29 October 2012.
2012. Together with Franziska Bedorf: „From Ultimogenitur to Senior Club. Negotiating certainties and uncertainties of growing lder between rural Mexico and urban Chicago“. European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) Conference, Paris, 10.-13.7.12.
2012. „Familie als Heimat. Familienleben in einer transnationalen mexikanischen Gemeinde“. Interdisciplinary Conference „Familie als Kollektiv“, University Passau, 23.-24.03.2012.
2011. „Creating illegitimacy. Marriage, motherhood and conflicting moralities in rural Namibia“. (Panel „Christian engagement in times of HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa: religious subjectivities in the field of sexuality and reproduction“ von Bochow and van Dijk) European Conference of African Studies, Uppsala, Schweden, 14.6.2011.
2011. „Kinship and cash. Ethnographic reflections on changing gender and generational relations in rural Mexico“. Workshop about „Gender, Family and Neoliberalism“ by B. Beer and R. Kunz, University Luzern, Schweiz, 30.5.2011.
2010. „Anwesend in Abwesenheit: Transnationalen Familien zwischen Mexiko und den USA“. Ethnological colloquium of the Institute of Ethnology, University Hamburg, 29.6.2010.
2010. „Familie transnational. Migration, Reproduktion und Generation in einer transnationalen mexikanischen Gemeinde“. Collective Lecture. Latinamerica Centre of Köln University 8.6.2010.
2010. „Wann wird eine Schwester eine Schwester, ein Bruder ein Bruder? Neuere Ansätze der Verwandtschaftsethnologie am Beispiel von Geschwisterbeziehungen“. Lecture, Philosophical Faculty of Köln University, Köln, 5.5.2010.
2010. „Namibian colonial and postcolonial elites: Creation and consolidation of power in the former Damaraland“.(Panel „African Elite Generations“ A. Behrends).VAD Conference, Mainz, 7. – 10.4.10.
2009. „Siblings’ sharing: Becoming and being sisters in Mexico and Namibia“. Tagung „Brother- and Sisterhood from an Anthropological Perspective“, (Organisation by E. Alber and S. van der Geest) Schloss Thurnau / Bayreuth University; 5. – 7.11.2009.
2009. Organisation oft he panel together with M. Schegg: „Eliten zwischen Aneignung, Anpassung und Abgrenzung“. DGV Conference, Frankfurt a. Main, 30.9. – 3.10.09.
2009. Together with M. Schnegg: „Die weibliche Seite männlicher Patronage: Elitäre Dynamiken und Geschlechterbeziehungen im ehemaligen Damaraland, Namibia“. DGV Conference Frankfurt a. Main, 30.9.2009.
2007. Organisation oft he Panel together with E. Alber, B. Beer and M. Schnegg: „Verwandtschaft heute“. DGV Conference Halle, Saale, 2. – 4.10.07.
2007. Panel together with Alber, Beer und Schnegg: „Wahlverwandtschaften: Struktur und Agency in der Verwandtschaftsethnologie“. DGV Conference Halle, Saale, 2. – 4.10.07.
2007. Together with S. Brandner: „Wem glauben? Impfentscheidungen von Eltern zwischen Internet, Verwandten und Kinderarzt“. Conference „Medizin im Kontext. Krankheit und Gesundheit in einer vernetzten Welt“. Berlin, ZMO 28. – 29.07.
2007. „The marriage gap: stratification and the transformation of the family in Namibia“. AEGIS European Conference on African Studies, Panel Oheneba-Sakyi „Representations of the African Family of the 21st century“. Leiden, Netherlands, 11. – 14.7.07.
2007. „Celebrating distinctions: Marriage and class formation in Namibia“. Max-Planck-Institute for ethnological research. Halle/Saale, 5.6.2007.
2007. „Kontinuität und Wandel von Heirat in Namibia“. Colloquium of the Institute for Ethnology of the University Hamburg, 21.6.2007.