Scientific career
Anna Louban is a research assistant and Ph.D. candidate at the Department for Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Constance. She studied at the University of Constance, the Russian State University for the Humanities in Moscow and the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. She completed a B.A. in Sociology and Slavonic Studies and a M.A. in Studies in European Studies. Her master's thesis is "an ethnographic study of how bureaucratic practices subjectify immigrants in Germany".
Her PhD thesis is titled: "The making of 'the immigrant'. An ethnography on the shaping of immigrant identities in the German immigration bureaucracy" (working title). The PhD project is financed by the Center of Excellence "Cultural Foundations of Social Integration".
Publications
Dealing with Suspicion, Differences and Diversities in Contemporary German Immigration Bureaucracy, in Sharon Macdonald and Jan-Jonathan Bock (eds.) Germany's Differences - Newcomers, Nationhood, and Negotiating Belonging. Oxford: Berghahn. (forthcoming)
Comedy of Authenticity. Shared Laughter in the Context of the German Immigration Office. (Forthcoming title to be published in German: Komik der Authentizität. Gemeinsames Lachen im Kontext der deutschen Ausländerbehörde, in Özkan Ezli, Deniz Göktürk und Uwe Wirth (eds.) Komik der Integration (Wege der Kulturforschung). Berlin: Kadmos.)
Presentations
2016. Dealing with Distrust, Differences and Diversities in Contemporary German Immigration Bureaucracy, Presented at the Workshop for Experiencing Differences and Diversities in Contemporary Germany, Institute for European Ethnology, Humboldt University of Berlin, 15-16/04/ 2016.
2016. “To become (or be made) German - Integration as a systematic procedure“. Guest lecture presented at the workshop for Opportunities and Challenges within German and European Policies towards Immigration and Refugees, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Bonn, 14/04/2016.
2015. Presentation and discussion of the results from the research project "The making of 'the immigrant'. An ethnography on the shaping of immigrant identities in the German immigration bureaucracy". Organized and presented in Berlin, 30/10/2015.
2015. Immigration in the Context of German Bureaucracy. Reflections from a Cultural and Social Anthropological Perspective, invited lecture presented at the public lecture series Diversity Without limits in Extremely Diverse Societies. Pädagogische Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd, 24/11/2015.
2015. Mapping Emotional Geographies in German Authorities Dealing with Immigration and Naturalization, paper presented at 5th International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies, Edinburgh, Scotland,10-12/06/2015.
2014. Bureaucratic Encounters in German Immigration Offices, paper presented at Collaboration, Intimacy & Revolution - innovation and continuity in an interconected world, 13th EASA Biennial Conference, Tallinn, Estonia, 31/07/-03/08/2014.
2014. Immigration bureaucracy – Who’s in and who’s out in membership terms, paper presented at 2. Conclave of the “Cultural Foundations of Integration”, Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland, 17-19/07/2014.
2014. Insights in the Ph.D programm in Konstanz, at the Cluster of Excellence, at the Division of Social and Cultural Anthropology, paper presented at the Workshop for the students of the M.A. programme “Cultural Foundations of Europe”, Nonnenhorn, Germany, 08-09/05/2014.
Research interests
- Transnational migration
- Transcultural identities
- Anthropology of the state and bureaucracy
- Legal anthropology
- Citizenship
Projects
| Title | Responsibility | Period |
|---|---|---|
| The making of the immigrant. An ethnography on the shaping of immigrant identities in German immigration bureaucracy | Project leader | since 30.11.2015 |
Activities
| Type | Institution |
|---|---|
| Membership | Vergabekommission "Internationalisierung" (since 01.10.2014) |
| Membership | German Anthropological Association (DGV) |
| Membership | European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) |