Geoffrey Hobbis

Geoffrey Hobbis is an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen’s Knowledge Technology and Innovation department. His research spans digital anthropology, platform capitalism, and climate change impacts in Pacific Island communities.

• Key collaborations include work on the digitization of economies in Solomon Islands and Kyrgyz Republic.
• Active projects focus on digitalization at the margins of global capitalism, with roles as co-promotor.

Research Interests: Hobbis investigates digital technologies in rural and island contexts, emphasizing their sociocultural and economic implications. His work critiques platform capitalism through ethnographic studies of Facebook markets, dolphin hunting, and digital infrastructures in Melanesia.

Scientific Trends: His recent articles highlight intersections between:

• Digital methods and sociocultural practices
• Climate change adaptation in island nations
• Platform economies beyond capitalist frameworks
• Materiality of technology in non-Western settings

Activities: Hobbis co-organizes workshops like the Technicalities Speaker Series and presents on topics such as digital ethics and infrastructural challenges in the Pacific.