Latest News and Events
Here you can find the latest information and events of the DFG Emmy Noether Junior Research Group.
Center for Development Research (ZEF) Public Lecture – Control and Agency in Global Production Networks
On November 13, 2025, Dr. Caroline Hambloch and Dr. Freedom Mazwi, our group’s TWAS-DFG Visiting Fellow, gave a ZEF public lecture at the Center for Development Research (ZEF) of the University of Bonn. The lecture examined control and agency in global production networks, focusing particularly on the speakers' current research into the political economy of contract farming in Zimbabwe’s tobacco sector.
ISS African Development Roundtable – Current Social and Political Challenges across the African Continent
On November 10, 2025, Dr. Freedom Mazwi, our group’s TWAS-DFG Visiting Fellow, participated in the African Development Roundtable at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS). Organized by Shuaib Lwasa (ISS) and Helena Pérez Niño (ISS), the event brought Dr. Mazwi into discussion with Petronilla Wandeto (ISS), Mohamed Muse (Leiden–ISS), and Ahmed Elassel (ISS). The roundtable marked the 50th anniversaries of independence for Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also explored contemporary social and political challenges across the continent. Each researcher presented insights from their ongoing work.
Group Excursion – Ahr Valley region
On October 16, 2025, the DFG Emmy Noether Junior Research Group took part in a team-building excursion to the Ahr Valley region. Accompanied by Dr. Rakhmat Hidayat, a visiting fellow in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies, PhD student Ignasius Jaques Juru, and Prof. Dr. Kristina Großmann (the department's head), the group learned about life in the Eiffel region, as well as current trends in land use and forest transformation in rural Germany. They also observed the (limited) progress of ongoing recovery efforts nearly five years after the devastating 2021 flood disaster.
During the visit, the group enjoyed activities such as apple picking and hiking through the vineyards of the Ahr Valley, which provided further opportunities for discussion and reflection. The day concluded with a taste of Federweißer, a young, partially fermented wine typical of the harvest season in the region.
DGA Conference Contribution – Labor and Global Production Networks in Asia: Labor Regimes in Oil Palm Production
On September 10, 2025, Dr. Caroline Hambloch presented her research on labor regimes in oil palm production in the Philippines and Malaysia at the 5th Conference on Asian Studies (the biennial conference of the German Association for Asian Studies). The presentation was part of Panel 14: Labor and Global Production Networks in Asia, and is based on research for an upcoming article, co-authored with Dr. Helena Perez Nino and Dr. Carlo Arceo. The research analyzes how labor in Palawan's emerging oil palm sector is organized through fragmented yet stable employment systems, which are shaped by both local markets and global production pressures, challenging the assumption that frontier labor regimes rely on overt control.
EAAE Conference Contribution - Market Power and Value Chains: Labor Control and Agency in Tobacco Contract Farming in Zimbabwe
On August 28, Dr. Caroline Hambloch, leader of the DFG Emmy Noether Junior Research Group: Local labor struggles in global value chains, and Dr. Freedom Mazwi, TWAS-DFG Visiting Fellow at the University of Bonn, presented their preliminary research findings on labor control and agency in Tobacco contract farming in Zimbabwe at the 18. European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) Congress in Bonn. The research builds on fieldwork conducted in Zvimba district between 2024 and 2025 and identifies forms of control embedded in contract relations, and the methods and limitations through which smallholders challenge their subordinate inclusion and exploitation in tobacco value chains.
The day prior, the Junior Research Group had their first complete in-person meeting with everyone finally gathered in Bonn. Future research avenues, ideas for cooperation, and many ideas and stories were exchanged. Beyond research and getting formalities in order, the group connected over Southeast Asian food and Colombian coffee.