Michi Knecht

Prof. Michi Knecht is a Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Bremen. As a co-spokesperson of the DFG Research Training Group 2686 (Contradiction Studies) and the interdisciplinary platform Worlds of Contradiction, they bridge humanities, social sciences, and law to explore contradictions in globalized contexts. Their work emphasizes decolonization, cosmopolitization, and critical re-examination of disciplinary knowledge histories. A passionate ethnographer, Knecht’s research focuses on connections between knowledge practices and social/political structures, addressing topics like reproductive technologies, poverty, anonymity regimes, and colonialism’s impact on Pacific gift societies. Co-founder of the Bremen NatureCultures Labs (BNCL) and co-editor of the DCNtR blog, they advocate for experimental, collaborative methodologies to confront contradictions in contemporary societal challenges.

Research priorities include unrequited reciprocity, object-extractivism, and museum debates, with a commitment to interdisciplinary approaches that transcend disciplinary boundaries. Their platforms aim to foster critical dialogue between academia and public spheres, emphasizing the role of contradiction as a motor for knowledge production rather than a problem to resolve.