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Dr. Julia Leser
Visiting Fellow (3rd Funding Phase, 2022-2025)
February 2025 until July 2025
Associated Member
Contact
Vita
2025
Visiting Fellow, Collaborative Research Center “Dynamics of Security”, Philipps University Marburg, Germany;
Lecturer, Social Sciences Faculty, Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany2021–2024
Postdoctoral Researcher, European Ethnology Department, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany, VW Foundation Research Project “Challenging Populist Truth-Making in Europe: The Role of Museums in a Digital ‘Post-Truth’ European Society (CHAPTER)”2024
Visiting Researcher, Research Centre for Memory Cultures, Jagiellonian University Krakow, Poland2023
Visiting Researcher, Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarianism Studies (HAIT), TU Dresden, Germany2018–2020
Postdoctoral Researcher, Political Science Department, Leipzig University, Germany, BMBF Research Project “Strangers in Their Own Land? A Study on the Malleability of National Narratives using Political Laboratories”2017–2020
PhD Researcher, Department of Social Work and Management, HAWK Hildesheim, Göttingen & Holzminden, Germany, BMBF Research Project “Beyond the Glass Ceiling. Women Professors between Recognition and Marginalization”2019
Doctor of Philosophy, Political Science, Leipzig University, Germany2014–2017
PhD Researcher, Political Science Department, Leipzig University, Germany, DFG/ANR Research Project “Institutionalizing Human Trafficking. A French-German Comparison"Research Interests
Far-right and Populism Studies
Policing and Security Studies
Qualitative, Ethnographic, and Participatory Methods
Political Theories of the State, Governance, and Nationalisms
Politics of Affect and Emotions
European Politics
Eastern Germany
Publications
Books & Edited Volumes
2025
Nationale Narrative in Zeiten gesellschaftlicher Spaltung. Empirische Einsichten und Perspektiven für die Politische Bildung. Springer VS.2024
Forum: Critical Ethnography. Public Anthropologist, 6(1), 125–199 (with Eva Johais).2021
The Wolves are Coming Back. The Politics of Fear in Eastern Germany. Manchester University Press (with Rebecca Pates).Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
2025
Right-Wing Populism and Museums: Findings from an Interview Study in the UK, Poland, and Germany. Museum & Society 23(2) (with Alice Millar, Marlena Nikody & Pia Schramm).
Alt/Futures: Völkisch-nationalistische Zukunftsnarrative für den Osten Deutschlands. Berliner Blätter 91/2025, 81–96.
Populist Truth-Making: A Conceptual Approach to Populism in the Context of European Museums. International Journal of Heritage Studies 31(4), 487–499 (with Christoph Bareither & Sharon Macdonald).
2024
Ethnography as Weapon. In Johais, E., & Leser, J. (Eds.). Forum: Critical Ethnography. Public Anthropologist 6(1), 181–188.
Kramer, R., Leser, J., Paulitz, T. & Wagner, L. (2023). Professorinnen an Kunst- und Musikhochschulen im Spannungsfeld zwischen Theorie und Praxis: Der Einfluss informeller Praktiken und künstlerischer Feldlogiken. Zeitschrift für empirische Hochschulforschung 6(1), 45–61.
2022
Entre coopération et conflit: La «coopération de confiance» entre la police et les centres de consultation spécialisés dans l’accompagnement des victimes de la traite des êtres humains. Cultures & Conflits 122, 47–65 (with Anne Dölemeyer).
2021
Affektive Komplexität in rechten Kontexten – Methodologische Impulse. Forum Kritische Psychologie 3, 94–112 (with Florian Spissinger)
2020
On the Sensory Policing of Vices. Morality at Work in a German Vice Squad. Journal of Extreme Anthropology 4(1), 22–44.
The Category of ‘Culture’ in Vice Squad Policing in Germany. Sociologus 70(1), 57–72
The Functionality of Affects: Conceptualizing Far-Right Populist Politics Beyond Negative Emotions. Global Discourse 10(2), 325–342 (with Florian Spissinger)
Ostdeutsche Identität(en) im Wandel? Perspektiven für Intra- und Interkohortenvergleiche. Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft 14, 171–197 (with Lars Vogel).
2019
Performing ‘Resistance’ – The Far Right’s Master Narrative. The Journal of Culture 8(1), 13–21 (with Florian Spissinger, Jamela Homeyer & Tobias Neidel)
On the Affective Governmentality of Anti-Trafficking Efforts: An Ethnographic Exploration. Journal of Political Power 12(3), 339–357 (with Rebecca Pates)
2017
The Emotional Leviathan: How Street-Level Bureaucrats Govern Human Trafficking Victims. Digithum 19, 19–36 (with Rebecca Pates & Anne Dölemeyer)
2016
Schwierige Verhältnisse. Menschenhandelsopfer und Geschlecht vor Gericht. Femina Politica 25(1), 24–38 (with Rebecca Pates & Anne Dölemeyer).Chapters in Edited Volumes
2025
“Nationale Narrative in Zeiten gesellschaftlicher Spannung: Einleitung”. In Nationale Narrative in Zeiten gesellschaftlicher Spaltung. Empirische Einsichten und Perspektiven für die Politische Bildung , J. Leser (Ed.). Springer VS, 1–25.
“Nationale Narrative über (Nicht-)Zugehörigkeit in Deutschland: Zur Alltäglichkeit nationalen Denkens in pluralen Gesellschaften”. In Nationale Narrative in Zeiten gesellschaftlicher Spaltung. Empirische Einsichten und Perspektiven für die Politische Bildung, J. Leser (Ed.). Springer VS, 45–74 (with Jamela Stratenwerth, Florian Spissinger & Mario Futh)
2023
“Wolf Politics. Modi der (Nicht)Regierbarkeit in den Peripherien Ostdeutschlands”. In Rechtspopulismen der Gegenwart. Kulturwissenschaftliche Irritationen, C. Hentschel & S. Wellgraf (Eds.). Spector Books, 175–191.
"The Functionality of Affects: Conceptualising Far-Right Populist Politics beyond Negative Emotions”. In The Politics of Negative Emotions, D. Degerman (Ed.). Bristol University Press, 156–176 (with Florian Spissinger).
2022
“Negotiating the Territories of Anti-Trafficking Efforts: The ‘Unlikely Cooperation’ Between Police Officers and Social Workers in Germany”. In Trafficking and Sex Work, M. Darley (Ed.). Routledge, 68–83 (with Anne Dölemeyer).
2021
“The Framing of Right-Wing Populism: Intricacies of ‘Populist’ Narratives, Emotions, and Resonance”. In The Palgrave Handbook of Populism, M. Oswald (Ed.). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham., 437–450 (with Rebecca Pates).
“Die Übersetzung situativer ‘Bauchgefühle’ in eine Analyse politischer Affekte: Potentiale ethnografischer Affektforschung für die Untersuchung von rechter Politik”. In Gesellschaft unter Spannung. Verhandlungen des 40. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie 2020. B. Blättel-Mink (Ed.). Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie, 1–11 (with Florian Spissinger).
Dellenbaugh-Losse, M., Homeyer, J., Leser, J. & Pates, R. (2020). “Toxische Orte? Faktoren der regionalen Anfälligkeit für völkischen Nationalismus”. In Rechtes Denken – Rechte Räume, L. Berg & J. Üblacker (Eds.). Bielefeld: transcript (with Rebecca Pates, Mary Dellenbaugh-Losse, Jamela Homeyer).
2019
“Befindlichkeiten des Demos – Zur politischen Funktion von Affekten im Zeichen des Populismus und einer ‘Krise’ der Demokratie”. In Komplexe Dynamiken globaler und lokaler Entwicklungen. Verhandlungen des 39. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie in Göttingen 2018, N. Burzan (Ed.). Göttingen: DGS (with Rebecca Pates & Florian Spissinger).
2018
“Policing the absence of a victim: An ethnography of raids in sex trafficking operations”. In Policing the Sex Industry: Protection, Paternalism and Politics, T. Sanders & M. Laing (Eds.). Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 109–125.Other Publications
2023
Mikropolitik des Rechtsrucks, VerfBlog, 2023/11/16. Link to article
2022
State Sensorium. Rethinking the Role of Senses and Affects in Street-Level Bureaucrats’ Discretion. PoLAR – Political and Legal Anthropology Review, Virtual Edition on Bureaucracy and Tactics. Link to article
Museums and Populism(s) – Perspectives from an Emerging Field of Research. CARMAH Reflections (with Alice Millar, Marlena Nikody &Pia Schramm) Link to article
2021
Die Nation als Exklusionsmaschine. PoliLab (with Tobias Neidel, Florian Spissinger & Jamela Stratenwerth) Link to article
2020
Affective Politics of the Far Right Beyond Negative Emotions. Global Discourse Blog (with Florian Spissinger). Link to article
