Nanneke Winters

Nanneke Winters is an Assistant Professor at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam, where she conducts research and teaches on migration, im/mobility, and multimethod approaches. Her work is deeply interdisciplinary, rooted in anthropology, feminist geography, and critical development studies, with a regional focus on Central America and transnational migration routes.

She holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Antwerp, a MA in Development Studies (with Cultural Anthropology) from Radboud University Nijmegen, and a MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Her academic journey reflects a sustained commitment to understanding migration through ethnographic and translocal lenses.

Her research explores the intersections of migration, care work, racialization, and displacement, particularly in contexts of securitization and informal humanitarianism. She employs multi-sited ethnographic methods, including financial diaries, social mapping, and longitudinal fieldwork, to capture the complexity of migrant experiences. Her work contributes to critical debates on the migration-development nexus and the lived realities of people on the move.

The recent body of her publications reveals a strong thematic focus on racialized politics of migrant accompaniment, place-making among mobile populations, and the ambivalent dynamics of emplacement in border zones. These works highlight conceptual innovations in understanding migration beyond linear trajectories, emphasizing temporality, informality, and localized agency.

• MA Thesis Award 'Gerrit Huizer' (2007)

She has supervised and co-organized research initiatives, including the Migration Research Seminar Series and Development Research Series at ISS. Her collaborative projects, such as the African trajectories across Central America study funded by the German Research Foundation, demonstrate her engagement with international research networks and interdisciplinary teams. She welcomes PhD candidates interested in migration, im/mobility, and ethnographic methods.

Her work is closely aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to reducing inequalities, promoting decent work, and fostering inclusive communities. She continues to advance critical perspectives on migration through field-based research, teaching, and academic leadership.