Bettina Beer

Prof. Bettina Beer is a Full Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Lucerne, affiliated with the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. Her research focuses on kinship, migration, and the socio-cultural impacts of global capital, particularly in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Beer holds a PhD from the University of Hamburg (1995) and habilitation (2001) on body concepts and racism. She has held prestigious positions such as the Leibniz Chair (2011–2014) and is a member of the Young Academy (Berlin-Brandenburg).

Her research projects include De-Kinning and Re-kinning (SNF-funded, 2022–2026), examining estrangement and divorce in kin networks, and International Capital and Local Inequality (PNG mining impacts). She leads the University Research Priority Group on Family Change in Migration and Globalization (2016–2021).

Beer’s work spans ethnographic fieldwork in Oceania and Southeast Asia, addressing themes like interethnic marriages, sensory anthropology, and environmental governance. She co-edits Sociologus and has published widely on cultural diversity and socio-political transformations.

Her accolades include the Heisenberg Fellowship (DFG), Siemers-Preis, and UNESCO’s Best Practice Award for heritage management in Vigan, Philippines. She teaches courses on anthropological theory, kinship, and global ethnography, mentoring numerous PhD students.