2023-2024

Visiting Scholar at the Universidad de la República in Montevideo, Uruguay (Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation)

Since 2021
Senior Researcher at the Department of Iberian and Latin American History, Historical Institute, University of Cologne

2018-2021
Senior Researcher at the CRC 1342 “Global Dynamics of Social Policy”, University of Bremen

2016-2018
Senior Researcher at the Working Group “Latin American History”, History Department, University of Bremen

2015
PhD in History, University of Bremen. Thesis title: “Bevölkerung, Fertilität und Familienplanung in Kolumbien zur Zeit des Kalten Krieges: Eine transnationale Wissensgeschichte”

2015
Lecturer at the Department of Iberian and Latin American History, Historical Institute, University of Cologne

2009-2015
Research Assistant at the Working Group “Latin American History”, History Department, University of Bremen

2003-2009
Latin American History at the University of Cologne, and the University of Oviedo

• Development policies and ideas
• Social policies and the welfare state
• Gender History
• Global and transnational history
• History of Knowledge
• Latin America, esp. Colombia and Uruguay 

Long-lasting and influential images of Uruguay as an exceptional model country were created in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, and especially under the liberal batllista governments between 1903 and 1933. This habilitation project analyzes the processes and actors behind the creation of these images.

The idea of Uruguay as a vanguard welfare state was a key element of how its politicians and reformers portrayed the small country’s exceptionalism. The project thus looks at the interrelated policy fields of public health, labor, and education in order to analyze the transnational and international dimensions of Uruguayan nation building and state consolidation. Informed by global history approaches, the project identifies and traces the actors who shaped these policy fields. It follows them in their continental and transatlantic travels, publications and exchanges, and analyzes the tangible and imaginary spaces in which these activities unfolded. The project is especially interested in how these reformers showcased Uruguayan successes elsewhere, and in what they presented as lessons learned at home. It argues that their trans- and international activities shaped ideas of Uruguay abroad, but also influenced domestic political processes and self-perceptions.

The project analyzes Uruguayan labor policies in the first four decades of the twentieth century from a global history perspective. It thus proceeds from the fundamental assumption that these policies cannot be understood without considering the inter- and transnational arenas of social policy formation. By critically engaging with methodological debates within the field of global history, it addresses questions such as: How did Uruguayan reformers present their country’s “successes” to the world? How did their trans- and international actions influence domestic events? Where can we trace knowledge transfer between the Uruguayan government and other global actors, and when and how did government officials use international references primarily as a means to strengthen arguments within domestic debates?

In terms of national policy specifically, the project’s main argument is that health and labor policies were interconnected during those decades, and that the idea of healthy citizens informed much of what officials discussed under the term “labor”. Therefore, the project will focus on the legislation that reflects these entanglements most clearly: the general prevention of labor accidents and unhealthy work environments, the specific protective measures for groups perceived as vulnerable (most notably women and children), and the different forms of help and compensation offered to workers whose health suffered at their workplace.

Support: Feodor Lynen-Forschungsstipendium der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung

Duration: 2023-2024