Sonja Ganseforth

Sonja Ganseforth is a Researcher at the University of Leipzig's Institute of Geography within the Economic Geography and Labor Market Research group, holding this position since January 2023. Her academic foundation includes a PhD from Leipzig's DFG Research Training Group "Fracture Zones of Globalization" focused on Japanese development policy in the Middle East, and an MA in Arabic and Oriental Philology, Japanese Studies, and German as a Foreign Language with international study periods in Damascus and Kyoto.

Her research critically examines:

• Globalization of food systems and political ecology of food
• Commons and property rights over natural resources/public spaces
• Environmental justice and development discourses
• Japanese coastal fisheries governance
• Urban food systems with emphasis on sustainability and food justice

Current projects investigate structural change in Japanese fisheries, Japan's role in global fisheries trade ("blue economies"), and mega-events' impact on urban rights. Her interdisciplinary approach combines field research in Japan with critical geography frameworks, building on extensive experience at Freiburg University and the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo where she led the "Future of Local Communities" research focus.

Dr. Ganseforth maintains international research connections through prior positions at Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), and academic engagements in Kyoto and Damascus. Her scholarly contributions appear in geographical and Japan-focused journals, addressing resource governance and urban social movements through decolonial and justice-oriented lenses.