My research focuses on how people craft their lives in conditions of uncertainty and precarity. Working across human geography, anthropology and sociology, I use qualitative and creative methods to centre lived experiences, embodied and affective knowledge. 

As a postdoc in the Labour Geography group, I contribute to the ERC Advanced Grant project 'Underemployed', led by Karin Schwiter. The project studies the rise of involuntary part-time employment across Europe through comparative research in the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands. I am responsible for the case study in the UK, where I look at how labour, gender, migration and welfare systems shape underemployement and how workers respond to and challenge these conditions.

Previously, I worked as a postdoc at Durham University (UK) in the interdisciplinary COAST project. This research focused on walking, wheeling and cycling in rural coastal areas in East Durham. My ethnographic fieldwork explored how mundane mobility practices in marginalised post-industrial communities connect to larger social, political and environmental issues. We shared our findings in the shape of policy briefs, academic articles, an illustrated booklet of fictionalised stories, and a documentary film. 

I hold a PhD in Social Anthropology from the  University of Aberdeen (UK, 2024). My thesis discussed island life in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic based on 12 months of ethnographic fieldwork on the Isle of Coll in Scotland between August 2020 and August 2021. This research documented everyday life during an extraordinary moment, following the ways in which the island was entangled with the mainland and exploring how the pandemic unsettled relations to other islanders amidst fear of contagion. 

Education

PhD in Social Anthropology (2024)
University of Aberdeen, UK

Title: Facets of Uncertainty: Island life during the COVID-19 pandemic
Supervisors: Dr Jo Vergunst, Dr Tatiana Argounova Low

MA in Sociology and Anthropology (2018) University of Basel, Switzerland

BA in Social Sciences (2015)
University of Zürich, Switzerland

 

Academic Employment

Postdoctoral Research Associate
17/11/2024 – 30/04/2026
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK

• Coordinated and delivered a work package on sustainable mobility in rural communities in Northeast England
• Designed and conducted participatory qualitative research (ethnography, focus groups, creative methods)
• Collaborated across disciplines (Geography, Public Health, Sports Sciences and Sociology) and with partners in NGOs and local government
• Presented at conferences and workshops, published two academic articles, co-created a documentary film and illustrated booklet, wrote a policy brief 
• Guest lectured in MSc Physical Activity, Health and Society, supervised MSc student

 Teaching Fellow
01/01/2024 – 01/06/2026
Department of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen, UK

•  Co-administrated, lectured, tutored and graded assessments on undergraduate courses: Emotion, Self and Society; Introduction to Anthropology; Humans and Other Animals (interdisciplinary)
• Advised students and provided academic support

 Doctoral Researcher
01/09/2019 – 22/06/2024
Department of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen, UK

• Designed and lead a qualitative research project on impacts of COVID-19 on precarity and uncertainty in Scottish rural and island communities
• Disseminated findings at international conferences, published peer-reviewed articles
• Represented doctoral students in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (School of Social Sciences, 2022–2024)
• Co-organised and led 3 workshops for PhD researchers
• Taught on undergraduate courses in Anthropology and Sociology 

Research Assistant
01/08/20217 – 30/04/2018
Institute of Sociology, University of Basel, Switzerland       

• Contributed to the development of an SNF grant proposal on migration and affective belonging
• Literature review, data management planning, and drafting of proposal sections

 

Awards

2019 – 2022    
Galloway Trust PhD Studentship
University of Aberdeen, UK

2020              
Full Scholarship DFG (German Research Foundation)
Winter School ‘Configurations of Mobility’, University of Würzburg, Germany 

 Monograph

Bosbach, C. (accepted). Living with Uncertainty: Scottish island life during the COVID-19 pandemic. New York/London: Berghahn. 

Peer-reviewed

Bosbach, C. 2024. Lifeline Ferries: Existential dimensions of essential mobilities. Critique of Anthropology 44/4: 457-472. DOI: 10.1177/0308275X241299354 

Bosbach, C., Cleary, C. and Eades, L. 2023. Editorial Note: Atlantic Archipelago. Irish Journal of Anthropology 26/1: 7-14. DOI: 10.33178/IJA.26.1

Bosbach, C. 2023. Weathering COVID. Irish Journal of Anthropology 26/1: 121-128. [ethnographic poetry] DOI: 10.33178/IJA.26.1

In preparation/under review

Bosbach, C., Asker, C., Bell, S., Phoenix, C., Pollard, T. and Guell, C. (under review). Choosing active and sustainable travel? Experiences of dis/comfort in everyday mobilities. Social Science and Medicine. 

Bosbach, C., Asker, C., Phoenix, C., Pollard, T and Guell, C. (in preparation). Transport in and out of Hopelessness.

Chapters in Edited Volumes

Bosbach, C. 2024. Making remoteness through pandemic im/mobilities on the Isle of Coll, Scotland. In Vannini, P. (ed.), Mobilities in Remote Places, 17–28. London, New York: Routledge.

Creative Outputs

Bosbach, C. and Jahz, E. with Asker, C., Phoenix, C., Pollard, T., & Guell, C. 2026. What moves people. Stories of walking, wheeling and cycling in County Durham and Cornwall. SPHR-NIHR. DOI: 0.5281/zenodo.19449307

Policy Briefs

Bosbach, C., Asker, C., McGuire, L. et al. 2026. Exploring challenges to coastal rural communities' active and sustainable travel. Research Briefing. NIHR-SPHR. https://sphr.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/research-briefing-guell-AST-and-rural-communities_final.pdf 

Blogs

Bosbach, C., Gupper, T., Jaschek, S., Kreft, K. Saleh, A. and Thurmann, L. 2023. Trading safety for knowledge? Perspectives on risks and wellbeing in fieldwork. Boasblog. Contested knowledge. Available at: https://boasblogs.org/contestedknowledge/ trading-safety-for-knowledge/

Book reviews

Bosbach, C. 2021. Amit, Vered and Salazar, Noel B. (eds.) 2020. Pacing mobilities: timing, intensity, tempo and duration of human movements. New York: Berghahn Books. Social Anthropology 29: 273–274. DOI: 10.1111/1469-8676.12983

Working Papers

Oldenburg, S., Bosbach, C. and Wabersich, C. (eds.) 2018. Making the City in Cartagena. Basel Papers on Political Transformations 16–17.