Fabienne Hansen

Fabienne Hansen studied Ethnology and Political Science (BA) at Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg and Ethnology (MA) at the University of Freiburg. Since July 2021, she has been a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at FRIBIS. Her research interests focus on climate mitigation, poverty reduction, and food sovereignty in relation to basic income in the Global South, with a regional focus on Latin America and the Caribbean. She is particularly interested in the effects of cash transfer programs on everyday interactions and life worlds.

Academic Career

• Since October 2021: Organizer of the public FRIBIS lecture series on basic income
• Since July 2021: Doctoral candidate, research associate, and events coordinator at the Freiburg Institute for Basic Income Studies (FRIBIS)
• 2021: Master’s degree with a thesis entitled “We are in the middle of the ocean”: Negotiating livelihoods in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas
• 2019: Two-month field research stay in the Bahamas
• 2015–2021: MA in Ethnology, University of Freiburg
• 2012–2015: BA in Ethnology and Political Science, Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg

Regional Focus

• English-speaking Caribbean
• Brasil

Thematic Focus

• Climate Change
• Environmental Anthropology
• Basic Income / Cash Transfers
• (Post-)Development
• Food Sovereignty

Transfer and Applied Publications

• 2024 Bolsa Família vs. Renda Básica de Cidadania? Exploring Conflicting Values in Brazilian Social Policy Laws through Municipal Practices. PhD/PostDoc Seminar, 26.04.2024. Austral University of Chile, Chile.
• 2023 (mit Jurgen De Wispelaere und Marc J. Doussard) Municipal Basic Income in Brazil: Policy Origins, Policy Diffusion, Policy Mutation. CityCashTransfer-Workshop, 04.12.2023. University of Glasgow, UK.
• 2023  Through the Lens of an Ethnographer: Approaching Public Opinion about Basic Income with Qualitative Research Methods. Workshop “Public Support for Basic Income”, 16.–17.11.2023. KU Leuven, Belgien.
• 2023  Embedding a Digital Community Currency into the Cityscape? Observations about the Communication and Visibility of Niterói‘s Moeda Social Arariboia. Workshop “Basic Income Social Policies in Practice”, 03.08.2023. Federal Fluminense University, Brasilien.

Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Freiburg

Summer semester 2025:

• Basic Income in the Global South: Perspectives, Challenges, and Debates

Winter semester 2023/2024:

• Brasilianische Perspektiven zwischen Cash Transfers, Entwicklung und Solidarischer Ökonomie

Summer semester 2023:

• “Anthropological Perspectives on Climate Realities”