Barbara Goebel

Prof. Barbara Goebel is an Honorary Professor at the Free University of Berlin's Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology and the full-time Director of the Ibero-American Institute (IAI) within the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation since 2005. She leads the German arm of the Mecila research initiative (BMBF) focusing on Latin American conviviality and inequality. Her work spans socio-ecological inequalities, knowledge infrastructures, and the digital transformation of cultural heritage.

Education: Social anthropology, prehistory, and economic/social history studies culminating in a doctorate. She has held visiting professorships in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and the U.S. (e.g., Dartmouth College, 2022).

Research Interests: Her studies emphasize the anthropology of nature, resource conflicts, and the geopolitics of knowledge. She critiques global inequities in environmental governance and advocates for Indigenous self-determination. Recent projects include analyzing digital curation's impact on cultural heritage equity and Amazonian futures.

Grants & Projects: Current leadership includes the DFG-funded 'Temporalities of Future in Latin America' (2024–2028) and the Humboldt Foundation's 'Red de mujeres de América Latina y Alemania en las humanidades y las ciencias sociales' (2025–2027). Past roles include coordinating the EU-CELAC relations project (2020) and leading the Mecila initiative.

Awards: Recipient of Argentina's Premio Leloir (2022) for international scientific cooperation.

Administration: Chair of the German Latin American Studies Association (ADLAF), member of SPK's interim board, and advisor to multiple national/international institutions including the DFG and Chile's ANID.

Labs/Teams: Oversee the IAI's research networks and the Mecila collaborative framework, focusing on interdisciplinary teams across 15+ Latin American and European institutions.