Franziska Fay

Dr. Franziska Fay is an Assistant Professor of Political Anthropology at the Institute of Anthropology and African Studies (ifeas) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Her research focuses on gender, violence, decolonization, and child protection in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. She holds a PhD from SOAS, University of London, and conducted extensive fieldwork in Zanzibar. Notable contributions include her book Disputing Discipline (2021), examining child protection practices through participatory ethnography. Fay has held fellowships at Goethe University Frankfurt and the Leibniz Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO).

Her teaching includes courses on Political Anthropology, African Feminisms, and Decolonizing Anthropology. Current research explores feminist praxis in Tanzania and colonial archives related to sexual violence. She actively engages in public anthropology through media interviews and co-authored works on ethical contestations in anthropological practice.