Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Institut für Europäische Ethnologie

Sowmya Maheswaran is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for European Ethnology (IfEE) and the Berlin Institute for Empirical Migration Research (BIM) at Humboldt University in Berlin. Her research and teaching focus on the global dynamics of violence and resistance, particularly in the context of war and post-war periods, displacement, and exile.

In her doctoral project »Resistance in Motion: A Global Horizon of Tamil Struggles« (Widerstand in Bewegung. Ein globaler Horizont tamilischer Kämpfe), she examined how dissidents and cultures of resistance emerge and transform under postcolonial conditions of war in Sri Lanka. She conducted extensive and transnational ethnographic research in the former war-zone and quasi-state of Tamil Eelam and in the diaspora.

Furthermore, Maheswaran is interested in geopolitical shifts and social change arising in connection with development and infrastructure projects, human rights work and political movements.

Sowmya Maheswaran's work combines political and global anthropology with critical migration studies. She has carried out fieldwork in Sri Lanka, Mexico and Germany.

Curriculum Vitae

• Since 2025: Postdoctoral researcher (research and teaching) at the Institute for European Ethnology and the Berlin Institute for Empirical Migration Research
• 2024: Research assistant in the project "Transforming Solidarities. Practices and Infrastructures in the Migration Society", Humboldt-University Berlin (Berlin University Alliance)
• 2021-2025: PhD at the Faculty of Philosophy, Humboldt University in Berlin, funded by a Hans Böckler Foundation scholarship (supervision: Prof. Dr. Manuela Bojadžijev, Prof. Dr. Sandro Mezzadra, Prof. Dr. Sidharthan Maunaguru)
• 2022-2024: Independent research project (with Timo Dorsch): "The Dark Side of Infrastructure. Global Configurations of State, Capitalism and Violence in Sri Lanka and Mexico"
• since 2020: Political consulting and conflict analysis (especially for development and human rights organisations)
• since 2018: Freelance journalism on Sri Lanka
• 2020: Master of Arts in Ethnology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
• 2019: Bachelor of Arts in Ethnology, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
• 2017: Bachelor of Arts in Educational Science/Pedagogy, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

Research interests

• Global and Political Anthropology
• Anthropology of Violence [focus: war, postwar and postcolonial conditions]
• Resistance, Mobilization, Movements
• Political Subjectivities and Dissent
• Migration Research [focus: flight, exile, diaspora, race and ethnicity]
• Ethnographic methods [focus: fieldwork in conflict regions]
• Sri Lanka
• Tamil Diaspora

University Administration

Since 2026: Member of the PhD Commission, Philosophical Faculty
Since 2026: 'Mittelbau' Representative, Institute of European Ethnology
Since 2026: Member of the Institute Council, Institute of European Ethnology
Since 2025: Member of the Examination Committee, Institute of European Ethnology
2021–2022: Doctoral Student Representative, Institute of European Ethnology, Humboldt University of Berlin

Scholarships

2021–2025: Doctoral scholarship, Hans Böckler Foundation
2018–2020: M.A. scholarship, German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes)
2016–2018: Deutschlandstipendium; PROMOS and DAAD scholarships for research stays abroad
2014–2016: Nassau Central Study Fund (Nassauischer Zentralstudienfonds)

Publications (selected)

Edited Volume

• Transforming Solidarities (ed.) (2025): Transforming Solidarities: Practices and Infrastructures in the Migration Society (Solidaritäten transformieren – Praktiken und Infrastrukturen in der Migrationsgesellschaft). Editorial team: Asita Behzadi, Bernd Kasparek, Ulrike Kluge, Sowmya Maheswaran and Veronika Zablotsky. Hamburg: adocs Verlag. https://adocs.de/de/system/files/ebooks/9783943253931.pdf 

Journal Articles

• Maheswaran, Sowmya and Timo Dorsch (2026): "From local site to global logics: Infrastructure, capitalism and violence." Political Geography 127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2026.00051X
• Maheswaran, Sowmya (2022): Review of Harini Amarasuriya, Tobias Kelly, Sidharthan Maunaguru, Galina Dustinova-Stjepanovic and Jonathan Spencer (eds.), The Intimate Life of Dissent: Anthropological Perspectives (Rezension: Amarasuriya et al. (Hg.): The Intimate Life of Dissent). Peripherie. Politik | Ökonomie | Kultur. https://budrich-journals.de/index.php/peripherie/article/view/41632/35575
• Maheswaran, Sowmya (2019): Review of Eva Gerharz, Nasir Uddin and Pradeep Chakkarath (eds.), Indigeneity on the Move: Varying Manifestations of a Contested Concept (Rezension: Gerharz, Uddin & Chakkarath (Hg.): Indigeneity on the Move). Peripherie. Politik | Ökonomie | Kultur.

Book Chapters

• Maheswaran, Sowmya (2025): "A Global Horizon of Solidarity: Movement/s Beyond the National" (Ein Globaler Horizont der Solidarität. Bewegung/en jenseits des Nationalen). In: Transforming Solidarities. Hamburg: adocs Verlag.
• Maheswaran, Sowmya and Stefanie Schüler-Springorum (2025): "On the Relationship between Antisemitism, Racism and Solidarity: A Conversation between Stefanie Schüler-Springorum and Sowmya Maheswaran" (Zum Verhältnis von Antisemitismus, Rassismus und Solidarität: Ein Gespräch von Stefanie Schüler-Springorum mit Sowmya Maheswaran). In: Transforming Solidarities. Hamburg: adocs Verlag.

Interview

• Maheswaran, Sowmya (2026): "With and Beyond the West: Multipolarity, War Regimes and Global Struggles – An Interview with Sandro Mezzadra and Brett Neilson." IRGAC. https://irgac.org/articles/interview-with-and-beyond-the-west/

Public Scholarship Publications

• Maheswaran, Sowmya and Karin Zennig (2024): "Sri Lanka: War to the Bitter End" (Sri Lanka: Krieg bis zum Bitteren Ende). Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik.
• Maheswaran, Sowmya (2021): "Sri Lanka: Militarisation as Crisis Politics" (Sri Lanka: Militarisierung als Krisenpolitik). Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik.
• Maheswaran, Sowmya (2019): "Sri Lanka: Nationalism on the Rise" (Sri Lanka: Nationalismus auf dem Vormarsch). Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik.
• Maheswaran, Sowmya (2019): "Sri Lanka: The Grotesque Coup" (Sri Lanka: Der groteske Putsch). Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik.