Jonas Bens

Jonas Bens is a Heisenberg Professor of Anthropology at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg, where he leads research on normative pluralism, colonialism, and affective dynamics. His work bridges legal anthropology, political theory, and postcolonial studies, with fieldwork conducted in East Africa and the Indigenous Americas.

His academic journey includes:

• Habilitation in Social and Cultural Anthropology (2021, Freie Universität Berlin)
• PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology (2015, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)
• State Examination in Law (2013, Cologne State District Court)
• Magister Artium in Social and Cultural Anthropology (2012, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)

Bens' research focuses on how people navigate conflicts within plural normative orders, combining ethnographic methods with analysis of legal and indigenous systems. His work examines sovereignty, justice, property, and punishment through the lens of affect and emotion, challenging Western-centric perspectives on law and politics. His theoretical approach integrates postcolonial critique with affect theory to analyze contemporary global dynamics shaped by colonialism, capitalism, and state formation.

His publications reveal a strong trajectory examining the affective dimensions of legal and political processes, particularly in transitional justice contexts and museum restitution debates. Bens consistently explores how emotions shape legal practices and how legal frameworks structure emotional experiences, with increasing attention to material culture and object agency in postcolonial contexts.

Scientific recognition includes:

• 2022 Acceptance into the Heisenberg Programme of the German Research Foundation
• 2021 Prize of the International Research Marketing Ideas Competition of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
• 2021 Bonn Americanist Studies Award
• 2012 Bonn American Studies Prize

Bens leads multiple significant research projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), including the Heisenberg-Programme project "The Material Culture of Empire" and the CRC research project "Contested Property II." His work has established collaborative networks across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with particular emphasis on museum restitution debates and affective dimensions of property relations. He has supervised doctoral students in the Collaborative Research Center "Affective Societies" at Freie Universität Berlin and continues to mentor emerging scholars in his current position.

As part of the Collaborative Research Center "Affective Societies" at Freie Universität Berlin and now through his Heisenberg Professorship, Bens has developed interdisciplinary teams examining the intersection of emotion, law, and postcolonial critique. His current research group focuses on museum restitution debates, connecting scholars from anthropology, law, history, and museum studies to address colonial legacies in European collections.