Katia Bianchini

Katia Bianchini is a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany, with a focus on the intersection of law and anthropology in refugee and immigration contexts. She holds a PhD in Law (University of York), an LLM in Comparative Laws (University of San Diego), and a Law degree (Università di Pavia). Her work bridges empirical legal analysis with anthropological methodologies to address issues such as statelessness, asylum adjudication, and the rule of law in migration policies.

• Education
  • PhD in Law, University of York (2011–2016)
  • LLM in Comparative Laws, University of San Diego (1999–2000)
  • Law degree, Università di Pavia (1992–1998)

Bianchini’s research interests include refugee law, immigration law, statelessness, EU law, and human rights law. Her current project examines legislation and responses to missing and deceased sea migrants in Italy, analyzing legal frameworks for search, identification, and burial practices, particularly along the Central Mediterranean Route. She emphasizes the importance of legal anthropology to understand gaps between abstract law and its real-world application.

The trends in her publications reflect a focus on statelessness determination procedures, asylum law (notably witchcraft-based claims), humanitarian visas, and rule of law challenges in migration contexts. Her work spans journal articles, book chapters, and monographs, often combining legal analysis with empirical data from interviews and fieldwork.

Scientific Awards

• Erasmus scholarship, University of Leuven, Belgium (1997–1998)

Grants and Professional Activities include visiting researcher roles at Fordham University and the University of Oxford, as well as editorial work for the Statelessness and Citizenship Review and the CUREDI Database. She has presented extensively on topics like statelessness in the UK, cultural diversity in asylum adjudication, and NGO criminalization in Mediterranean rescue operations.