معرفی
Michaela Pelican is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Cologne, serving since January 2024 as Rector's Representative for International Affairs and Speaker of the Global South Studies Center Cologne (GSSC). She directs the international research unit 'The production and reproduction of social inequalities' and the research cluster 'Conflict-Induced Displacement and Socio-Economic Resilience,' while also leading DFG research unit 5183 on 'Transborder Mobility and Institutional Dynamics.'
Her academic foundation includes advanced degrees from leading German institutions:
- PhD: Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
- MA: University of Bayreuth
Pelican's research interrogates ethnicity, indigeneity, and conflict through the lens of migration within the Global South, social inequality, and visual anthropology. Her regional expertise centers on sub-Saharan Africa (Cameroon, Gabon, South Africa) with significant extensions to Arab Gulf States and China, examining transnational connections and migrant agency in non-Western contexts. She challenges dominant South-North migration paradigms by documenting entrepreneurial migration routes across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
Her publication trajectory reveals consistent engagement with Global South migration dynamics and social inequality, culminating in 2025 works addressing decolonizing academia and inequality production. These build upon decades of fieldwork in Cameroon and comparative studies in China/Gulf States, emphasizing how migrants navigate regulatory environments and reshape discourses across borders.
Recognition includes prestigious research fellowships:
- Fellow at Morphomata International Center for Advanced Studies (2018/19)
She actively mentors doctoral researchers while securing major grants for transnational collaborations:
- Doctoral Students: Yang Zhou (2017), Séverin Kaji (2020), Lai Pik Chan (2021)
- Major Grants: Swiss National Science Foundation (2007 Cameroon project), DFG research unit 5183
Pelican co-founded the 'Ethnography at home' program studying refugee integration in Germany and leads the 'Remapping the Global South' network connecting universities across five continents, fostering interdisciplinary research on Africa-Asia connections through field schools and joint publications.
