About

Visit our Panel Ethnographing Germany at the conference Anthropology. Activism. Power. Celebrating 10 Years of boasblogs at the ICI Berlin on October 16, 2026.

Ethnographically generated knowledge makes social processes visible and actively shapes them. Yet in Germany, its public reach often remains limited. This roundtable panel presents scholars working in the anthropology(ies) of the present to reflect on their own ethnographic research in Germany and its societal contribution. This boasblog aims to discuss what ethnographic research can teach us about contemporary social processes and how this work can contribute to ongoing debates, both within academia and in the public sphere. Anthropologists conducting research in Europe, in particular, often navigate the tension of being closely embedded in the “field” while simultaneously being part of the very social contexts they seek to study. In this boasblog we want to place these experiences at the center of the discussion. Thus the blog focuses on ethnographic research conducted in and about Germany and discusses relevant questions for a current public anthropology: How does anthropological research contribute to our understanding of contemporary social processes in Germany and beyond? What insights emerge through ethnographic fieldwork? And how can these insights be brought into ongoing societal debates?

Editorial team:
Janine Hauer (Halle) & Desirée Hetzel (München)