Dr Anna Oechslen
Visiting Research Fellow, January - April 2026
Home institution: Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space
Anna Oechslen is a cultural anthropologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space in Erkner, Germany. Her research focuses on how digitalisation shapes various forms of work and mobilities.
Project title: Futures of Digital Work and Migration. An Examination of Overlapping Timespaces of Everyday Practice
This project aims to uncover the frictions between political, economic, and affective dimensions of refugees’ digital work practices by integrating their temporal and spatial aspects, which have largely been studied separately so far. The frictions occurring as remote digital work practices encounter national labour and migration regimes are gaining traction in light of current political shifts. Not knowing when they may return or move on, Ukrainian knowledge workers fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 made use of opportunities to work remotely, often across national borders. However, as their displacement continues, their future orientations shift toward a more long-term perspective, and they are urged to integrate into the local labour market, as my current research shows.
In this project, I aim to bring into dialogue the study of digital work and migration to develop an integrated spatiotemporal framework. Studying forced migrants’ digital work practices through a lens of future orientations contributes insights on how individuals are affected by but also shape futures of work. I draw on my ongoing empirical research with Ukrainians in Germany and develop these insights conceptually in dialogue with scholars at the University of Edinburgh.