Elisabeth Becker-Topkara
Research Profile
Cultural Sociology | Sociological Theory | Religion | Race and Ethnicity | Migration
I am a cultural sociologist with interests in the study of religion, ethnicity and migration in Europe, as well as a theoretical agenda of theorizing from the margins. My work focuses on the experiences and entanglements of Muslims and Jews in Europe and United States. In my Freigeist project “Invisible Architects: Jews, Muslims, and the Construction of Europe,” I highlight how Jews and Muslims have contributed to the formation of European societies. I am author of Mosques in the Metropolis: Incivility, Caste and Contention in Europe (University of Chicago Press) and Heimat: The Moving Lives of Jewish Berlin (forthcoming with Verso). I have published with leading sociology, cultural sociology and area studies journals and am co-edit of the peer-reviewed journal, Patterns of Prejudice. I further write for mainstream outlets on issues related to diversity, including the Washington Post, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Tablet Magazine.
Selected Publications
Books
- Becker, E. (2021). Mosques in the metropolis: Incivility, caste, and contention in Europe. University of Chicago Press.
- Becker, E. (forthcoming). Heimat: The moving lives of Jewish Berlin. Verso.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
- Becker, E. (forthcoming). From the objects to the subjects of restitution: Jewish claims-making on Nazi-era looted art and artefacts. Ethnoscripts.
- Becker, E., & Topkara, U. (2025). Citizen stranger: German Muslim intellectuals, German Jewish intellectuals and a politics of relationality. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Advance online publication.
- Becker, E., Collado-Suarez, A., & Arana Barbier, P. (2025). Towards multicultural memory: Struggles over a Muslim cemetery in post-civil-war Spain. Ethnicities. Advance online publication.
- Becker, E. (2024). Theorizing 'new ethnicities' in diasporic Europe: Jews, Muslims and Stuart Hall. Ethnic & Racial Studies. Advance online publication.
- Becker, E., Rinaldo, R., & Guhin, J. (2023). Classifying Muslims: Contextualizing religion and race in the US, UK, and Germany. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 62(4), 749–769.
- Becker, E. (2021). Incivility and danger: Theorizing a Muslim undercaste in Europe. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 10, 398–431.
Current / Completed Research Projects
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Curriculum Vitae
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| Year | Position / Degree |
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| Year | Position / Degree |
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Since 2021 | Freigeist Fellow (Assistant Professor), Max Weber Institute for Sociology, Universität Heidelberg Freigeist project centers on Jewish and Muslim contributions to the formation of European societies. Sociological Theory, Cultural Sociology, Europe, Minorities, Religion |
2020 – 2021 | Assistant Professor, Sociology, University College Dublin Sociology, Cultural Sociology, Religion, Migration |
2018 – 2020 | Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture and Religious Studies, University of Virginia |
2018 | PhD in Sociology, Yale University |
2013 | MPhil in Sociology, Yale University |
2009 | MSc in Latin American Studies, Oxford University |
2008 | MSc in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, Oxford University |
2006 | BA in Sociology and College Scholar, Cornell University. Summa cum laude |
Fellowships
- 2024 Visiting Fellowship, Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities
- 2024 Fellowship for Jewish Art Restitution Research, Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture
Awards
- 2024 Springboard Award, British Council (research partnership on Jewish-Muslim relations)
- 2023 Paul Lazarsfeld Professor Award, University of Vienna
- 2022 Sandra Barnes Anti-Racist Scholar Award, American Sociological Association
Talks
Selected academic talks:
- 2025 “Speaking and Listening in Dark Times : The University as a Space of Trust”, Reflection Room Lecture, Bielefeld University.
- 2024 “75 Jahre Bundesrepublik – 75 Jahre Einwanderung : Zeitgeschichte als Migrationsgeschichte”, Humboldt University Berlin (co-organizer).
- 2024 “Nazi-Era Looted Art and a Post-Holocaust Transnational Civil Sphere : Civil Approaches to an Uncivil Past.”Yale University Center for Cultural Sociology.
- 2024 “The Politics of Forgetting : Radically Rethinking Jewish-Muslim Present, Futures, and Pasts.” Council for European Studies Conference.
- 2024 “Rethinking Nazi-Era Looted Art Restitution : Agency and/in Museums.” Southampton Institute for Arts and Humanities.
- 2024 “Claiming Heritage, Curating Agency : Jewish Actors and the Restitution of Nazi-era Looted Art and Artefacts.” British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies.
- 2023 “Dangerous Memories : Jewish and Christian Political Theologies after Auschwitz.” Theology After Christendom Conference, Oxford University.
- 2023 “Another Fateful Triangle : Jews, Muslims, Europe.” Parkes Institute for Jewish-non-Jewish Relations, Interfaith Keynote Lecture.
- 2023 “Looking Forward by Looking Back : Jewish and Muslim Perspectives on Belonging in Berlin.” Encounters Conference, Humboldt University, Keynote Lecture.
- 2023 “From Dangerous Memories to a Post-Holocaust Transnational Civil Sphere : Civil Approaches to an Uncivil Past.” Civil Sphere Conference : Global Perspectives on Culture and Politics.
- 2023 “Return of the Repressed? Jewish Cultural Brokers and the Return of Nazi-Era Looted Art.” Paul Lazersfeld Professor Lecture, University of Vienna.
- 2023 “A Sociology of Diaspora and Mediterranean Crossings.” Diaspora and Indigeneity Conference, Heidelberg College of Jewish Studies.
- 2023 “Representing Religious Social History in Public Scholarship.” Co-Produced Religions Project, University of Bern.
Selected public talks:
- 2025 “The Appeal of the Far Right” De Balie, Amsterdam, panelist.
- 2025 “The Wandering Jew : A Traveling Exhibition”, German Historical Institute London, speaker.
- 2024 “Third Space : Jewish-Muslim Discourse in Divided Times”, Toward One Wisconsin, speaker.
- 2024 “Jewish Space"