Research Interests
Migration, human rights law, European law, public international law, law and anthropology
Research Area
Europe
Profile
Katharina Ebner joined the Max Planck Fellow Group “JUST MIGRATION: Labour Migration Regimes in Transnationalised Contexts” in June 2023 as a PhD candidate. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international justice from Leiden University College, The Hague (Netherlands) and a master’s in law from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (Switzerland). Before joining the Max Planck Institute she worked at the Council of Europe as a project manager on human rights protection with a specific focus on migration, and contributed to the work of the Steering Committee for Human Rights. She also completed a research internship focusing on the legal framework governing human trafficking with the United Nations Independent Expert on the Enjoyment of Human Rights by Persons with Albinism.
Her current research focuses on the transnational dimensions in lawmaking in the sphere of labour migration.
Why Law and Anthropology?
Combining law and anthropology allows me to look beyond the formal legal procedures to gain a more profound understanding of the structures and processes that shape labour migration law. Having worked in international organisations and observed the negotiation of new laws and policies, I am aware of the impact that underlying social and cultural practices can have on lawmaking processes. Anthropology provides me with the tools necessary to explore these practices and gain a more profound understanding of the processes through which labour migration law is conceptualized and negotiated.