Zeynep Yanasmayan

Zeynep Yanasmayan is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Coordinator of the project 'The Challenges of Migration, Integration and Exclusion'. She earned her PhD in Social Sciences from KU Leuven, Belgium.

Her research focuses on the intersection of migration studies, politics, theories and practices of citizenship, governance of religious diversity, constitutional politics, and majority-minority relations. She explores these themes through comparative and interdisciplinary research designs, combining documentary and policy analysis with qualitative methods.

Her work centers on Europe and Turkey, addressing how national policies of diversity interact with sociological realities on the ground. She has previously collaborated with institutions such as Humboldt University in Berlin, European University Viadrina, and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen.

Her career includes roles as Scientific Project Manager for the 'Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe – Innovative Approaches to Law and Policy' (RELIGARE) project at KU Leuven and the 'God and Caesar in Motion' project at European University Viadrina.