Higher education and professional career

Since 10/2024 Postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Geographical Sciences, Free University of Berlin

09/2024 PhD at the Institute of Geographical Sciences, Free University of Berlin, with the topic "Solidarity Cities and political organisation. Struggles to build emancipatory alternatives to state migration policies in Europe."

08-10/2022 Research stay at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster

02/2021 and 08/2021 parental leave

10/2019-09/2024 Doctoral Research and Teaching Assistant at the Institute of Geographical Sciences, Free University of Berlin

12/2018-10/2019 Research Associate at the Institute of European Studies, Technical University of Chemnitz

04/2010-04/2016 Studies in Human Geography, Migration Studies and European Studies at the University of Passau, the Universidad de Granada (Spain) and the University of Osnabrück

I have also worked for Rosa Luxemburg Foundation; Berlin Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family; German Children and Youth Foundation; University of Osnabrück; German Federal Agency for Civic Education; German Expert Council on Migration and Integration; Universidad de Granada; University of Passau.

My courses can be found in the course catalogue.

Research Interests

Labour Geography
Critical Migration and Border Regime research
Socio-Ecological Transformation
Political Organisation
Qualitative and Discourse Methods

Research projects

"Migrant Labour in Green Industries", in progress since 2025.

Network "Global Transformation and Socio-ecological Reproduction: Perspectives of Labour Geography (in German-speaking countries)", funde by German Research Association (DFG), member 2023-2025.

Student-led research project "Labour Geographies in the Context of Academic Research and Teaching", X-Student Research Group funded by the Berlin University Alliance, 2022.

PhD project "Solidarity Cities and Political Organisation. Struggles to build emancipatory alternatives to state migration policies in Europe", 2020-2024.

Memberships

Labour Geography Working Group of VGDH, co-spokesperson (since 2024)
Network for Critical Migration and Border Regime Research (kritnet)
Geographies of Migration Working Group of VGDH
Associaction of Geography at German-speaking Universities (VGDH)
Labour Union for Education and Science (GEW)
Network for Decent Work in Academia (NGAWiss)

Articles in academic journals and anthologies

Liebscher, Stephan (2025): Solidarische Städte in Europa. Eine progressive Alternative zu staatlicher Migrationskontrollpolitik zwischen Realpolitik und transformativen Ambitionen. In: Eckardt, Franck (Hg.): Handbuch Stadtsoziologie. Springer VS, Wiesbaden (online first, Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2024): Solidary Municipalism in the European Border Regime. From Urban Citizenship to the Counter-Hegemonic Project. In: Moving the Social 72(1), 35–60 (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2024): Organising for System Change: “From the Sea to the City” and the Movement Ecology of Migrant Solidarity in Europe. In: Antipode 56(5), 1714-1733 (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2023): Strategische Interventionen im europäischen Grenzregime. Realpolitisches Vorgehen und radikale Ambitionen in Kämpfen um Gesundheitsversorgung für Illegalisierte in Bremen und Leipzig. In: Zeitschrift für Migrationsforschung, 3(2), 53-82 (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2023): Slow violence in the UK asylum system. An interview with Jonathan Darling on his book 'Systems of Suffering: dispersal and the denial of asylum'. In: movements. Journal for Critical Migration and Border Regime Studies 7(2) (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan / Corvino, Juliana / Hetmank, Lisa (2020): Solidarität statt Rassismus in Chemnitz. Transformative Krisenbearbeitung in reflexiven Kollaborationen. In: Standort 44, 248-254 (Link).

Domann, Valentin / Liebscher, Stephan (2020): Forschende Lehre in einer polarisierten Gesellschaft – Perspektiven aus einer angewandten kritischen Geographie. In: GW Unterricht, 157(1) (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2012): ‚Menschenrechte‘ – ein entscheidender Integrationsfaktor der EU. In: Passauer Journal für Sozialwissenschaften, 3/2012, 36-49 (Link).

Book reviews

Liebscher, Stephan (2021): Rezension zu 'Grenzforschung. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium', hrsg. von Gerst, Dominik / Klessmann, Maria / Krämer, Hannes. In: Wissenschaft und Frieden 3/2021, 62-63.

Other publications

Schmiz, Antonie / Liebscher, Stephan / Orth, Barbara (2022): Karten: Im Dienste der Mächtigen. In: Atlas der Migration 2022. Neue Daten und Fakten über Menschen in Bewegung, 26-27 (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2021): Der solidarische Umbau des europäischen Grenzregimes. Eine Baustellenbesichtigung. In: Hinterland 50: Utopien, 39-43 (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2020): Labore als Katalysator für die postmigrantische Gesellschaft? Drei Thesen zum Erfahrungsaustausch unter Laborformaten. In: Hess, Sabine (Hg.): Was macht eine Stadt für alle aus? Impulse und Empfehlungen für ein solidarisches Göttingen. 12–15 (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2018): Mapping safe passages: Real-Time interventions at the maritime borders of Europe. In: kollektiv orangotango+ (Hg.): THIS IS NOT AN ATLAS. A global collection of counter-cartographies. Bielefeld: transcript, 60-65 (Link).

Liebscher, Stephan (2015): Mit Karten argumentieren: Ein machtvolles Instrument der Migrationskontrolle - und für den Widerstand dagegen. In: Newsletter Migration und Bevölkerung, 4/15 (Link).