Tilmann Heil

Tilmann Heil is a social scientist affiliated with the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at KU Leuven and serves as Principal Investigator at the Global South Studies Center, University of Cologne. He holds a postdoctoral position at the Maria Sibylla Merian International Centre in Brazil. His research focuses on urban hierarchies, migration dynamics, and conviviality in contexts such as Brazil, Senegal, and Spain. Heil’s work bridges ethnography with interdisciplinary migration studies, examining topics like ethnic plurality, postcolonial power, and queer encounters. Notable projects include 'Valued Difference,' 'Urban Alliances,' and 'Urban Wood/s.' His 2020 monograph Comparing Conviviality explores minimal sociality in Senegalese communities across Casamance and Catalonia.

Education: Doctoral training (2009–2013) at University of Oxford, with fellowships at Max Planck Institute (Göttingen) and Oxford’s COMPAS. Postdoctoral roles included Konstanz University’s Cultural Foundations of Social Integration Centre and coordination of a doctoral program.

Research Interests: Urban sociology, migration studies, conviviality theory, postcolonialism, ethnographic methodologies, and transnational religious networks. His work analyzes how marginalized groups navigate urban spaces and negotiate difference through infrastructural, legal, and cultural practices.

Publications span ethnographies of Senegalese migrants in Brazil, queer encounters in Rio, and critiques of integration policies. His writing emphasizes sensory ethnography, material entanglements, and the complexity of living with difference in superdiverse urban contexts.

Labs/Teams: Active in Global South Studies Center (Cologne), Mecila (São Paulo), and collaborations with institutions like CEBRAP (Brazil) and Rio’s National Museum.