Curriculum Vitae Joana Hofstetter

Dr. Joana Hofstetter

University of Freiburg
Institut für Soziologie
Global Studies Programme
Rempartstr. 15
D-79085 Freiburg im Breisgau

Phone: 0049-(0)761-2039391
Joana.hofstetter@soziologie.uni-freiburg.de

Office hours during the semester:

Thursdays 9 - 10 a.m. (in person & via Zoom)

Office hours during the lecture-free period: upon request

Current Position

Since 04/2025

since 2023

Interim Director of the Global Studies Programme

Postdoctoral Researcher, ECSEuro project Enacting Citizenship and Solidarity in Europe "From Below": Local Initiatives, Intersectional Strategies, and Transnational Networks, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence.

Areas of Specialisation

Gender, Sexuality, and Work; Contentious Politics; Feminist and Postcolonial Theory; Qualitative and Participatory Research Methods.

Academic Career

2017-2023	PhD in Sociology and Political Science, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence. Thesis Title: Resilient Resistances. The Self-Organization of Sex Workers Against the German Prostitute Protection Act (with distinction).
2022	Visiting Researcher, Department of Political Science and Administration, Complutense University of Madrid.
2019-2020	Visiting Researcher, Institute of Sociology, Free University of Berlin.
2019	Visiting Researcher, Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences, Humboldt University Berlin.
2014-2016	M.A. in Social Sciences (Global Studies), University of Freiburg, University of Cape Town, Chulalongkorn University. Thesis Title: The Contemporary Sex Worker Movement in Europe in the Context of Neo-Abolitionism and Repressive Policies.
2009-2013	B.A. in Sociology, University of Freiburg. Thesis Title: Buen Vivir – a New Path to the Good Life? The Guiding Principle of the Ecuadorian Constitution and its Current Reception in Germany.

Publications (Selection)

works in progress

Rubio Grundell, L. and Hofstetter, J.L. Turning the Lens: Feminist Anti-Prostitution Campaigns in Europe as Instances of De-democratisation, last presented at workshop "Contentious Politics within Civil Society", WZB Berlin Social Science Center, November 7-8, 2024.

Hofstetter, J.L. Participatory Action Research - Troubling the methodological ’gold standard’ of sex work research.

forthcoming

2022

2018

forthcoming

2022

Monographies

Hofstetter, J. L. Protesting against Protection. Sex Worker Mobilizations in Germany. Palgrave Macmillan.

Journal Articles

Abrams, S., Bernhardt, F., Flückiger, N., Hofstetter, J.L. and Maaroufi, M. Cooking, Caring, Commoning from Below: Grassroots Community Kitchen Initiatives in Five European Cities. In: Franz, Y. and Strüver, A. (ed.) Public Urban Cultures of Care. Urban Planning Special Issue.

Hofstetter, J. L. (2022). Gegen das Gefühl der Ohnmacht – politische Selbstorganisierung von Sexarbeitenden im Kontext des Prostituiertenschutzgesetzes. GENDER – Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, (1/22), 26-40.

Hofstetter, J. L. (2018). Still We Rise — The Contemporary Sex Worker Movement in Europe in the Context of Neo-Abolitionism and Repressive Policies.Moving the Social – Journal of Social History and the History of Social Movements, 59, 47–69.

Book Sections

Hofstetter, J.L. Intra-feminist debates. Elgar Encyclopedia on Gender and Politics. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Adami, A., Hofstetter, J.L. and della Porta, D. Inhabiting the City. Solidarity Practices in Urban Mobilizations in Italy. In: della Porta, D. et al. (ed.) Enacting Citizenship and Solidarity in Urban Spaces in Europe, Bristol University Press.

Hofstetter, J. L. (2022). Sex Worker Movements. In: Snow, D.A., della Porta, D. & McAdam, D. (ed.) The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements, 2nd edition.

Hofstetter, J. L. (2022). Dal riconoscimento dei diritti all’aumento del controllo in nome della protezione: l’ambivalenza del quadro giuridico tedesco. In: Garofalo Geymonat, G. & Selmi, G. (ed.) Prostituzione e lavoro sessuale in Italia. Oltre le semplificazioni, verso i diritti, Rosenberg & Sellier, Torino, 185-201.

Teaching Activities

SS 2025	Seminar "European Social Thought: Continuities and Critiques", Sociology Department, Global Studies Programme, University of Freiburg
2024	Soziale Arbeit im Kontext von Sexarbeit, Social and Educational Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.
2024	Methodological practices in social movement research: qualitative interviewing, seminar, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore.
2024	Diversity in Movement(s). Feminist Organizing at the Intersection of Sex and Work, seminar, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore.
2023	Contested cities - Researching grassroots mobilizations in urban environments, seminar, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano.
2021	Sexarbeit - Annäherungen an eine große (Un-)Bekannte, Online Spring School, Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst.
2016	Colloquium and Global Studies-Forum, Global Studies Programme, University of Freiburg.
2011	Social Theory, Institute of Sociology, University of Freiburg.

Organization of Conferences (Selection)

2024

2020

2019

2018

10th Interdisciplinary Conference Kritische Sexarbeitsforschung (online).

6th Interdisciplinary Conference Kritische Sexarbeitsforschung - Digitalisierung und Sexarbeit, Leipzig University (online).

5th Interdisciplinary Conference Kritische Sexarbeitsforschung - Sexarbeit(sforschung) im aktuellen politischen Kontext, University of Graz.

Workshop Participatory Action Research and Social Movements. Methods, Approaches and Practices, Scuola Normale Superiore Florence.

4th Interdisciplinary Conference Kritische Sexarbeitsforschung, Ruhr University Bochum.

Policy Counseling

"Academic Standards in Sex Work Research." Online Seminar for Employees in Administration, Politics, and Healthcare. Hosted by Professional Association for Erotic and Sexual Services (in German).

with the German Association for Sex Work and Prostitution Research

Statement on the Misuse of Lawsuits Against Civil Society Actors (SLAPP) (in German).
Supporting Statement on the Reform of the General Equal Treatment Act (in German).
Position Paper "Queer Sex Work", Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (LSVD) (in German).
Expert at Hearing on "The Situation of Prostitutes in Bavaria", Committee on Labour,
Social Affairs, Youth and Family, Bavarian State Parliament.

Professional Experience

2016-2017 Interim Programme Director, Global Studies Programme, University of Freiburg.
2016 Research & Teaching Assistant, Global Studies Programme, University of Freiburg.
2015 Editorial & Advocacy Work Assistant, Collectif Droits & Prostitution, Paris.
2014 Editorial Assistant, Journal between North and South, Information Centre iz3w, Freiburg.
2013 Research Assistant, Institute for Ecological Economy Research, Heidelberg.
2012 Research Assistant, Arnold Bergstraesser Institute for Socio-Cultural Research, Freiburg.
2011 Research Assistant, Project "Universality and Acceptance Potential of Social Science Knowledge", University of Freiburg.
2011 Teaching Assistant, Institute of Sociology, University of Freiburg.