Julia Pauli

Julia Pauli is a Full Professor (W2) at the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Hamburg, where she has been employed since October 2011. Her research focuses on kinship transformations, migration dynamics, class formation, and demographic change, with long-term ethnographic fieldwork in Mexico (since 1995) and Namibia (since 2003). She leads multiple DFG-funded projects examining transnational kinship, marriage patterns, and migration.

Research Interests: Pauli's work explores the intersections of kinship, migration, and social stratification. She investigates how transnational mobility reshapes family structures, aging experiences, and class identities in Latin America and Southern Africa, with emphasis on Mexico-Namibia comparisons. Her recent projects analyze return migration's impact on kinship navigation and housing practices.

Education:

• Habilitation (2010) and PhD (1999) in Social Anthropology from University of Cologne
• Magister degree (1995) in Anthropology, German Literature, and Film Sciences

Awards:

• Heisenberg Fellowship (DFG, 2011)
• Offermann-Hergarten Award (2001)

Doctoral Advising & Grants: Supervises 8+ PhD students on topics including migration and kinship. Secured continuous DFG funding since 2003 for projects such as Return to Mexico: Migration and Pluralization of Kinship (2022-2025) and Fertility Transition in Oman (2016-2022). Leads collaborative research initiatives like the LiMA project on aging and multilingualism.