Trained as a social anthropologist, Joanna Menet worked at the Laboratory for the Study of Social Processes at the University of Neuchâtel from 2012 to 2022. Her research focus lies at the intersections of migration/mobility, transnationalism, gender and the body. Her empirical approach encompasses qualitative research methods, including multi-sited fieldwork, participant observation, semi-structured interviews as well as embodied research. Joanna has a strong interest in academic writing and creative tools in the teaching of writing. She is co-editor of the Swiss Journal for Sociocultural Anthropology (formerly tsantsa).

Joanna Menet received a PhD 'summa cum laude' from the University of Neuchâtel in 2019. Her doctoral thesis developed a theoretical framework to study ‘the salsa circuit’, taking into account the embodied doings of salsa dancers as well as ‘regimes of mobility’ and individuals’ different positions in a transnational field. Through the entry point of salsa dancing, the dissertation explored the circulation of people, imaginaries, dance movements, conventions and affects from a transnational perspective. In particular, it examined the negotiations of gender and ethnicity and analyzed the transnational careers of salsa dance professionals in Cuba and Europe.

From spring 2019 to summer 2022, Joanna was part of the European HERA project titled 'Moving Marketplaces: Following the everyday production of inclusive public spaces'. The project has investigated the livelihoods and everyday activities of market traders in four European countries to understand how markets emerge and function as public spaces.

Joanna has also worked as a resarcher within the NCCR-on the move, in the project ‘Gender as a Boundary Marker in Migration, Citizenship and Belonging: Case Studies from Switzerland and beyond’. Before that, she was engaged as a teaching assistant and participated in the teaching activities for Master and Bachelor students. Prior to joining the University of Neuchâtel, she was a researcher at the Swiss Forum for Migration Studies (SFM), working on Swiss migration policy and federalism. She holds a Masters Degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Zurich.

Book

Menet, Joanna (2020). Entangled Mobilities in the Transnational Salsa Circuit. The Esperanto of the Body, Gender and Ethnicity. London: Routledge. Available Open Access.

Peer reviewed articles

MMP, van Eck, Emil, Sophie Watson, Rianne van Melik, Markus Breines, Janine Dahinden, Gunvor Jónsson, Maria Lindmäe, Marco Madella, Joanna Menet, Joris Schapendonk (2022) Moving Marketplaces: Understanding Public Space from a Relational Mobility Perspective, Cities. Open Access.

MMP, Breines, Markus, Janine Dahinden, Gunvor Jónsson, Maria Lindmäe, Marco Madella, Joanna Menet, Joris Schapendonk, Emil Van Eck, Rianne Van Melik, Sophie Watson (2022) Re-producing public space: the changing everyday production of outdoor retail markets, Urban Geography: 1-8. Open Access.

Breines, Markus Roos, Joanna Menet, and Joris Schapendonk (2021). Disentangling Following. Implications and Practicalities of Mobile Methods. Mobilities, 16 (6): 921-934. Open Access.

Dahinden, Janine, Carolin Fischer, and Joanna Menet (2020) Knowledge production, reflexivity and the use of categories in migration studies: tackling challenges in the field. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 44(4): 535-554 doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1752926

Book chapter

Menet, Joanna and Janine Dahinden (2022). The role of mobility and transnationality for local marketplaces. In: Ceren Sezer and Rianne van Melik (eds.) Marketplaces. Movements, Representations and Practices. London, Routledge. Open Access.

Book review

Menet, Joanna (2022) « Sarah Andrieu et Emmanuelle Olivier (dir.), Création artistique et imaginaires de la globalisation, Paris, Hermann, 2017, 378 p. », Ethnologie française, 52(2): 339-341. https://doi.org/10.3917/ethn.222.0339

Other publications

Von Arx, Martina, Stefan Egli, Philipp Lutz und Joanna Menet (2017). Die Migration und wir. In: Philipp Lutz (Hg.) Neuland. Schweizer Migrationspolitik im 21. Jahrhundert. Foraus, NZZ Libro.

Achermann, Alberto, Christin Achermann, Joanna Menet und David Mühlemann (2013). Das Zulassungssystem für religiöse Betreuungspersonen. Eine explorative Studie. Im Auftrag des Bundesamts für Migration.

Wichmann, Nicole, Michael Hermann, Gianni D’Amato, Denise Efionayi-Mäder, Rosita Fibbi, Joanna Menet und Didier Ruedin (2011). Gestaltungsspielräume im Föderalismus: Migrationspolitik in den Kantonen. Bern-Wabern: Eidgenössische Kommission für Migrationsfragen.

Blog articles

Menet, Joanna (2020). A day in a Marketplace in 2050, Blog NCCR-on the move.

Menet, Joanna (2019). "Woher kommst du wirklich?" Zugehörigkeit und Geschlecht in der Stadt Zürich, Blog NCCR-on the move.

Dahinden, Janine, Carolin Fischer, Joanna Menet, and Anne Kristol (2018). Gendernationalism as a new expression of political nationalism, Blog Gender Campus.

On academic writing

Menet, Joanna (2021) Ecrire à l'université: trucs et astuces (1/2), Blog UniNEtudiant-e.

Menet, Joanna (2021) Ecrire à l'université: trucs et astuces (2/2), Blog UniNEtudiant-e.