Eileen Jahn

Eileen Jahn is a Doctoral Fellow at the Chair of Epistemologies of the Global South within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Bayreuth. Her research critically examines electricity access struggles in Johannesburg, South Africa, focusing on how marginalized communities navigate and resist colonial power structures through their engagements with energy infrastructure.

Her educational background includes:

• M.Sc. in Social Sciences from the University of Amsterdam (2018-2020), with thesis research in South Africa titled "Guardians of Trust: An Ethnographic Account on Mistrust and Trust in Democratization"
• B.A. in Cultural Studies / Art-Media-Aesthetic Education from the University of Bremen, Germany (2016-2018)

Jahn's scholarship centers on the intersection of infrastructure, coloniality, and resistance in the Global South. Her doctoral project "Ugesi Ngowethu" explores how undersupplied communities in Johannesburg employ strategies of non-payment, self-connection, and infrastructure manipulation to demand equitable electricity access. Her work combines ethnographic fieldwork with decolonial theory to understand how historical experiences of colonial power shape contemporary energy justice movements, demonstrating a commitment to centering marginalized voices and knowledge systems in academic discourse.

Her publication record reveals a strong thematic focus on energy justice, decolonial anthropology, and critical urban studies, with recent work examining electricity access in South Africa, repair practices, and climate adaptation politics. Her research consistently bridges theoretical insights with practical community concerns, reflecting an engaged scholarly approach that connects academic and activist spaces across international conferences and collaborative projects.

Eileen actively participates in significant academic venues including the American Anthropologist and major international conferences on energy, urban studies, and decolonial theory. Her collaborative work with scholars like Pamila Gupta, Pedro Silva Rocha Lima, and Penelope Papailias demonstrates her commitment to collective knowledge production and challenging traditional academic hierarchies through projects like the "Call for Complaint" series that addresses colonial hauntings in anthropology.