Till Mostowlansky

Till Mostowlansky is a Research Professor and Eccellenza Professorial Fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at The Graduate Institute Geneva. He also holds a position as Professor of Urban Studies at the Kyiv School of Economics. He completed his PhD at the University of Bern and earned a Habilitation in social and cultural anthropology from the University of Fribourg. His research focuses on infrastructure, humanitarianism, development, and their intersections with religion and mobility in Central and South Asia. Key projects include leading the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded project "Quiet Aid: Service and Salvation in the Balkans-to-Bengal-Complex" and co-editing Infrastructure and the Remaking of Asia. He has held prior positions at the University of Hong Kong, National University of Singapore, and others.

Research expertise includes urban/rural dynamics, border studies, refugee diasporas, postcolonial development, and the history of science. Geographically, he specializes in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. His work often explores how infrastructure and humanitarian practices shape marginalized border regions.

Major publications include Azan on the Moon (2017), which examines Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway, and co-edited volumes on Asian infrastructure and Muslim humanitarianism. He has contributed to over 20 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters analyzing topics like Shia charity networks, Belt and Road impacts, and Muslim humanitarianism’s global dimensions.

Grants and fellowships include Swiss National Science Foundation awards, ERC projects on China-Law Development, and collaborations with organizations like Allegra Lab’s MUHUM initiative. His fieldwork spans Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Europe.