Anna Spiegel

Dr. Anna Spiegel is a Researcher at Bielefeld University's Faculty of Sociology, affiliated with the Department of Economy and Work and the Institute for World Society. She coordinates the DFG-funded Research Training Group 'Cross-Border Labour Markets' (RTG2951) and previously served as Acting Professor of General Sociology at the University of Paderborn. Her work focuses on transnational migration, transnational social spaces, mobility of highly skilled professionals, translocality, sociology of knowledge, and gender studies.

Education: Doctorate in Sociology (2008), University of Bielefeld; Diploma in Sociology (2003), specializing in social anthropology and women's studies. Thesis: 'Here I am more Bolivian than there': On the translocal construction of 'Bolivian' identity in Buenos Aires.'

Research Interests: Anna’s research explores transnational social dynamics, including mobile managerial elites, translocal activism, and the negotiation of development concepts. Key themes include spatial identity, knowledge translation, and gendered mobilities. Her recent work analyzes the paradoxes of expatriate managers’ cosmopolitanism and the entanglements of transnational labor markets.

Grants & Projects: Leads RTG2951 (2024–present), coordinated DFG project 'Expatriate Manager: A New Cosmopolitan Elite?' (2011–2015), and participated in VW projects on translocal gendered spaces (2003–2005).

Labs/Teams: Core member of the Graduate School 'Cross-Border Labour Markets' and affiliated with the Competence Network Latin America (via collaborative projects).