Susanne Fehlings

Susanne Fehlings is a Visiting Professor in Social and Cultural Anthropology at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, affiliated with the Faculty of Philosophy and History and the Frobenius Institute for Research in Cultural Anthropology. She leads the Volkswagen Foundation-funded project "Informal Markets and Trade in Central Asia and the Caucasus" and serves as a Fellow of the Johanna Quandt Young Academy at Goethe University.

• Habilitation: 2020, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
• PhD: 2014, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen
• Education: Master (2007), Tübingen; Exchange studies at Moscow State University (2005) and Sorbonne University (2001)

Her research focuses on the Caucasus and Central Asia, examining urban anthropology, informal economies, social and economic anthropology, and the anthropology of the state and bureaucracy. She also explores intersections between anthropology and science fiction, as well as memory studies. Her work analyzes the cultural, political, and economic dynamics of trade networks, particularly between Eurasia and China.

Recent publications address topics such as informal markets, Chinese entrepreneurs in the Caucasus, and the transformation of urban spaces in post-Soviet contexts. Her projects investigate how informal trade adapts to global crises like the Corona pandemic, emphasizing historical continuity in transnational commerce.

• Scientific Awards:
  • Fellow of the Johanna Quandt Young Academy
  • Volkswagen Foundation grant

She collaborates with institutions like Yerevan State University (Armenia) and Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Georgia), fostering student exchange and research partnerships in the Caucasus region. Her habilitation thesis, "Traders, Informal Trade and Markets between the Caucasus and China," underscores her long-term engagement with Eurasian trade networks.