Ethnographic Imagination Basel

About Ethnographic Imagination Basel

Ethnographic Imagination Basel (EIB) – a series on reimagining the world from the mundane – is produced by the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Basel. It is a research, educational, and public engagement initiative exploring innovative forms of political imagination through ethnographic practice. The podcast promotes ethnography not only as a tool of scholarly research but also as a mode of imagination available to all, a means for pursuing deeper intercultural, contextual understanding and more ethical ways of being in the world.

Publisher

Basel Social Anthropology

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Feb 2023

Latest episode

16 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

26 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Sept 2026

   On Humor - with Mirco Göpfert

   How can humor help us better grasp the world in which we live? In this episode, we explore how humour, comedy, parody and laughter are central to understanding political power today, with Mirco Göpfert,  professor of social and cultural anthropology at Goethe University in Frankfurt. Göpfert’s body of work explores humour and satire, attending to the complex dissonances and absurdities of the political sphere. He examines humour and satire not only as epistemic practices but also, quite centrally, in relation to the anthropology of the state, bureaucratic practices, violence and security, crime, power, and resistance. Amongst his numerous articles are “Epistemophilic Obsessions: Espionage, Secrets and the Ethnographer's Will to Know”(2020), “Surveillance in Niger: Gendarmes and the Problem of `Seeing Things`”(2016), “Travelling Police: the Potential for Change in the Wake of Police Reform in West Africa (with Jan Beek)” (2015). This episode features discussions around his more recent work on humour, including articles such as “Dissonance: Cartooning in Iran” (2024), “Humor, and the Study of Things That Don't Match” (2022), “On dictators and clowns” (2020), “An Artistic Reaction to Perceived Injustice: Cartooning, Resistance and Textures of the Political in Iran” (2020). Host: George Paul Meiu, Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Basel. Production: Zainabu Jallo (Institute of Social Anthropology) in collaboration with the New Media Center at the University of Basel

2. 

   23 Jun 2026

   On Bodies - with Sabine Mohamed

   How can embodiment be a key site from which to tackle the world in which we live? This episode, On Bodies, features Sabine Mohamed, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Johns Hopkins University, who discusses the ways in which historical and social transformations are shaped by corporeal experiences. Sabine's research examines the relationships among bodies, race, infrastructures, and futures in East Africa and other regions. Her scholarship broadly addresses urbanism, infrastructure, borders, migration, ports, and trade, with a key focus on how bodies and race mediate conceptions of the future. Working primarily in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Germany, Mohamed's current book project ethnographically investigates the interconnections between blackness and experiences of urban and national dispossession. Her ongoing research traces the experiences of female laborers as they navigate economic exchange, Chinese investment, and resource extraction within the East African corridor. This work interrogates the complex intersections of labor, race, and gender. In parallel, she is engaged in a long-term project that examines Black feminist movements, sexualities, and practices of belonging in contemporary Germany. Her publications have appeared in a range of international and interdisciplinary journals, including Verge, Modern Africa,Tertium Comparationis, and New Writing, as well as in edited volumes, such as Disembodied Territories (2022) and Counter_Readings of the Body (2021) Host: George Paul Meiu, Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Basel. Production: Zainabu Jallo (Institute of Social Anthropology) in collaboration with the New Media Center at the University of Basel.

3. 

   1 May 2026

   On Migration - with Charles Piot

   How do migrations foster the development of imaginative strategies, and in what ways do the constraints encountered during these transitions prompt innovative approaches to navigating and reshaping our world? In this episode, we examine migration, focusing on the aspirations, economic factors, and intermediaries that have influenced transnational mobility. Our guest, Charles Piot, investigates migration within the context of the post-Cold War political economy of Togo in West Africa. Charles Piot is a professor of cultural anthropology, African and African American studies, and gender, sexuality, and feminist studies at Duke University. His research focuses on the political economy of West Africa, addressing themes such as modernity, development, migration, diaspora, and the enduring impacts of colonialism in both rural and urban Togo. His recent ethnographic work examines how neoliberalism shapes emerging imaginaries of the future, particularly regarding aspirations for transnational mobility. He has authored several books, including Remotely Global: Village Modernity in West Africa (1999) and Nostalgia for the Future: West Africa after the Cold War (2010). In this episode, we will center our discussion on his book The Fixer: Visa Lottery Chronicles (2019), co-authored with Kodjo Nicolas Batema, which received the 2020 Victor Turner Prize in ethnographic writing. Host: George Paul Meiu, Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Institute of Social Anthropology at the University of Basel. Production: Zainabu Jallo (Institute of Social Anthropology) in collaboration with the New Media Center at the University of Basel.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

12,943

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Spotify

5.0 / 5

13 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

44

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

68

Contact Ethnographic Imagination Basel

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.