Mitteilungen

Judith Beyer gave an interview to the Myanmar Television Channel MRTV4 on the occasion of a one-day research workshop "Doing fieldwork in Myanmar", which she co-organized with the Department of Anthropology at the University of Yangon in Myanmar on April 1st, 2016. You can watch the news feature here.

Prof. Dr. Judith Beyer ist Mitglied im neuen von der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) geförderten Netzwerk "Plurale Ökologien im Widerstreit: Ethnologische Perspektiven auf Südostasien". In den nächsten drei Jahren werden zwölf deutsche WissenschaftlerInnen zu Fragen der Mensch-Umwelt-Beziehungen im südostasiatischen Raum arbeiten. Insgesamt wurden sechs Arbeitstreffen genehmigt, eines davon wird 2017 unter der Leitung von Prof. Beyer in Konstanz stattfinden.

 Im Sommersemester 2016 ist Prof. Dr. Judith Beyer Fellow am Kulturwissenschaftlichen Kolleg in Konstanz. Sie wird vertreten durch Dr. Raúl Acosta-Garcia.

Former research assistant Esther Htusan from Myanmar awarded Pulitzer Price for Public Service

We are proud of Esther Htusan from Myanmar, a former research assistant to Prof. Judith Beyer, who has been awarded the Pulitzer Price for Public Service together with three of her collagues from the Associated Press on April 18, 2016.
Esther Htusan and her colleagues rigorously investigated the South East Asian seafood industry and their use of slave labor over the course of two years. The womens' articles, videos and awareness-raising campaign led to the freeing of 2000 slaves who had been held captive on an island off the Indonesian coast for years. Their investigation involved close collaboration with the International Organization for Migration and inspired a legal reform process over food security in the U.S. Congress. Following their reporting, the United Nations are now investigating labor abuses in supply chains as the produce of slave labor – mostly peeled shrimp - is being sold by major brands in the US and Europe.
Before starting her career as a journalist in 2013, Esther Htusan has worked as a research assistant in Prof. Beyer’s research project on religious minorities in Yangon, Myanmar.

We congratulate Esther for receiving this prestigious prize!

Announcement on the Pulitzer Prize homepage with further links to the journalists’ articles

forthcoming book by the Associated Press on the topic: Fishermen Slaves

Esther Htusan with an Indonesian coastal guard, looking for Burmese fishermen-slaves; Ambon, Indonesia.
Esther Htusan with an Indonesian coastal guard, looking for Burmese fishermen-slaves; Ambon, Indonesia.

Esther Htusan with an Indonesian coastal guard, looking for Burmese fishermen-slaves; Ambon, Indonesia.


Esther Htusan and her colleague Robin McDowell from the Associated Press with runaway Burmese slave laborers; Aru Islands, Indonesia.


Vorträge/ Tagungen/ Workshops

05. December 2016

Was mit Menschen. Ethnologie als Beruf(ung). ALS-Akademie. Alte Landesschule Korbach. 

23. Juli 2016

Individuality and the making of urban communities. European Association for Social Anthropology, University of Milano-Biccoca, Italy.

15.-16. Juli 2016

"Ethnologie online. Über das Wissenschaftsblog allegralaboratory.net". Universität Leipzig.

14. Juli 2016

Religious minorities in Myanmar. First findings from fieldwork. Arbeitsgespräch am Kulturwissenschaftlichen Kolleg. Universität Konstanz.

23.-25. Juni 2016

Gemeinschaft ohne Gesellschaft? Religiöse Minderheiten in Yangon. Myanmarforschung 2016. Interdisziplinäre Erkundungen eines Landes im Wandel, Humboldt Universität Berlin.

14. Juni 2016

"'Don't trust the trustees!' Representing and administering religious minorities in Yangon, Myanmar," Institutskolloquium, Department of Anthropology, University of Freiburg.

10.-12. Juni 2016

Gerichtlich gesicherte Existenz. Ethnizität, Besitz und die Rolle des Rangoon High Court als Ort der Wissensproduktion. DFG-Netzwerktreffen, Universität Heidelberg.

The workshop program can be accessed here.

You can watch the news feature here.