Dr. Natalie Welfens

Since 12/2023: University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Sociology, Duisburg
Postdoctoral Researcher at the Chair for Macro-Sociology and Transnational Processes, Prof. Dr. Anja Weiß

08/2021-11/2023 Hertie School, Centre for Fundamental Rights, Berlin
Postdoctoral Researcher in the ERC project ‘Refugees are Migrants (RefMig): Refugee Mobility, Recognition and Rights’, principal investigator Prof. Cathryn Costello

12/2020-06/2021 University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, Amsterdam
Postdoctoral Researcher in the project ‘Outsourcing Migration Control: Externalizing European Borders to Africa’, principal investigator Dr. Joakim Berndtsson, University of Gothenburg

06/2021 PhD in Political Science, passed with distinctions ‘Cum Laude’ (top 5 percent of all dissertations defended in the Netherlands), University of Amsterdam

Title: ‘Categories on the Move. Governing Refugees in Transnational Refugee Admission Programmes’
Supervisors: Prof. Marieke de Goede and Dr. Liza Mügge (University of Amsterdam)
Examiners: Prof. Claudia Aradau (King’s College London), Prof. Luiza Bialasiewicz (University of Amsterdam), Dr. Saskia Bonjour (University of Amsterdam), Prof. Gülay Çağlar (Freie Universität Berlin), Prof. Anna Korteweg (University of Toronto) and Dr. Beste Ĭşleyen (University of Amsterdam)

09/2021-09/2020 University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research, Amsterdam
PhD Researcher at the Department of Political Science, funded by an individual ‘Research Talent’ grant of the Dutch Research Council NWO

02/2015-08/2016 Freie Universität Berlin, Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Sciences, Berlin
Research Associate (‘Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin’) at the Chair of European Integration Prof. Tania Börzel, office of Dr. Sabine von Oppeln, responsible for German-French study programmes

Current Research Projects

Research Group: Technological Transformations in Migration and Asylum Governance (TETRAMAG) funded by a Change! Fellowship of the Volkswagen Foundation

Role: Principal Investigator

Technological transformations are radically changing social and political processes, including in migration and asylum governance (MAG). While technological advancements promise enhanced efficiency in public administration and improved access to services for migrants, concerns about data protection, discrimination and inequalities persist. Private companies' dominance complicates transparency and accountability issues. Moreover, existing digitalisation initiatives often overlook the perspectives of frontline bureaucrats and migrants, hindering inclusive change. With a transdisciplinary team of social scientists and experts on participatory tech-development, TETRAMAG seeks to generate cutting-edge scholarly knowledge and concrete solutions for inclusive technological transformations in MAG. Combining insights from Political Sociology, Science and Technology Studies and interdisciplinary Migration Studies, it investigates digitalisation projects in governing migration pathways, reception and placement with a focus on co-creation and co-development of new technologies. Rooted in qualitative participatory action research, TETRAMAG aims to (1) examine current and future uses of technology in MAG with a focus on inclusivity, (2) analyse stakeholders' perspectives on inclusive technological change, and (3) disseminate actionable knowledge on participatory digitalization and technological change. Ultimately, TETRAMAG seeks to deliver tangible solutions for MAG across Germany and the wider European Union, fostering equitable distribution of technological advancements and addressing the concerns of marginalized groups.

Speculative Futures: Examining Data-Driven Models in European Security Policies (FUTURESEC)

Aurora Seed-Funding, together with Dr. Tasniem Anwar (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) and Prof. Dr. Andreas Oberprantacher (University of Innsbruck)

New technologies, including generative AI, are radically reshaping security governance in Europe. In particular, data-driven information systems promise to better calculate security risks and anticipate future security challenges such as terrorist attacks, climate catastrophes, global pandemics, armed conflicts, or large-scale migratory movements. FUTURESEC focusses on data-driven prognostic models as a new form of knowledge at the centre of European security governance. Within this project we conduct exploratory research into three security domains, namely: (a) terrorism (b) migration and (c) armed conflict. Despite the novel EU AI Act, such practices remain largely opaque and uninterrogated. Using a triangulated qualitative research approach, the goal of this project is to scrutinise how these technologies impact the design of future security scenarios, to better understand how our policies are shaped by data-driven prognostic models and how to formulate critique against the lack of transparency.

Publications

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Monograph

Welfens, Natalie. 2025 (forthcoming). Unequal Access. Categorising Refugees in European Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Programmes. McGill Queens University Press. https://www.mqup.ca/unequal-access-products-9780228024606.php?page_id=122035&

Editorial Work

Hoijtink, Marijn, Hanna Muehlenhoff, and Natalie Welfens (eds.) (2023). Whose (In)Security? Gender, Race and Coloniality in European Security Policies. Special issue in European Security 32 (3).

Muehlenhoff, Hanna, van der Vleuten, Anna, and Natalie Welfens (eds.) (2020). Slipping Off or Turning the Tide? The EU’s Gender Equality Promotion Abroad in Times of Crisis, Special Issue in Political Studies Review 18 (3).

Peer-reviewed Articles

2024
Welfens, Natalie. 2024. “The EU’s Normative Justifications of Refugee Resettlement.” Journal of Refugee Studies 37 (2): 552-569. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feae015

Natter, Katharina, and Natalie Welfens. 2024. “Why Has Migration Research So Little Impact? Examining Knowledge Practices in Migration Policies and Migration Studies.” International Migration Review 58 (4): 1669-1700. https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183241271683

Ozkul, Derya, and Natalie Welfens. 2024. “The Politics of Refugee Recognition: UNHCR and State Practices in Turkey.” Journal of Refugee Studies. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/feae080

Sosa Popovic, Lara, and Natalie Welfens. 2024. “Same, Same but Different? The EU’s Framing of Refugee Arrivals in 2015 and 2022 Compared.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 51 (3): 609-632. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2431053

Darshan, Vigneswaran, Nora Söderberg, Natalie Welfens, and Saskia Bonjour. 2024. “Capitalizing on a Crisis: The Example of the European Trust Fund for Africa.” European Journal of International Relations. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540661241260606

2023
Hoijtink, Marijn, Hanna Muehlenhoff, and Natalie Welfens. 2023. “Whose (In)Security? Gender, Race, and Coloniality in European Security Policies: Introduction to the Special Issue.” European Security 32 (3): 335–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/09662839.2023.2235286

Welfens, Natalie. 2023. “Promising Victimhood: Contrasting Deservingness Requirements in Refugee Resettlement.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 49 (5): 1103–1124. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2022.2117686

Pijneburg-Mueller, Lilly, and Natalie Welfens. 2023. “(Not) Accessing the Castle: Grappling with Secrecy in Research on Security Practices.” Secrecy and Society 3 (1): 1–44. https://doi.org/10.55917/2377-6188.1073

Welfens, Natalie, and Saskia Bonjour. 2023. “Seeking Legitimacy through Knowledge Production: The Politics of Monitoring and Evaluation of the EU Trust Fund for Africa.” Journal of Common Market Studies 61 (4): 951–969. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13434

2022
Welfens, Natalie. 2022. “Ungleicher Zugang: Kategorisierungspraktiken in deutschen humanitären Aufnahmeprogrammen für syrische Geflüchtete.” Z’Flucht – Zeitschrift für Flucht- und Flüchtlingsforschung 6 (2): 249–265. https://doi.org/10.48462/opus4-4719

Welfens, Natalie. 2022. “Whose (In)Security Counts in Crisis? Selection Categories in Germany’s Humanitarian Admission Programmes Before and After 2015.” International Politics 59: 505–524. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-021-00311-6

2021
Welfens, Natalie, and Yasemin Bekyol. 2021. “The Politics of Vulnerability in European Refugee Admission Programmes.” Research note for a Special Issue on “Resettlement and Complementary Pathways.” Frontiers in Human Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.622921

Welfens, Natalie, and Saskia Bonjour. 2021. “Families First? The Mobilization of Family Norms in Refugee Resettlement.” International Political Sociology 15 (2): 212–231. https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olaa022

2020
Muehlenhoff, Hanna, Anna van der Vleuten, and Natalie Welfens. 2020. “Slipping Off or Turning the Tide? The EU’s Gender Equality Promotion Abroad in Times of Crisis: Introduction to the Special Issue.” Political Studies Review 18 (3): 322–328. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929920929624

Welfens, Natalie. 2020. “Protecting Refugees Inside, Protecting Borders Abroad? Gender in the EU Refugee Crisis.” Political Studies Review 18 (3): 378–392. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478929919887349

2016
Welfens, Natalie. 2016. “‘This Module Is Not Only about Women and Gay People’: Gender Mainstreaming in der Europäischen Asylpolitik: Von einem essentialisierenden zu einem intersektionalen Genderverständnis?” Femina Politica 25 (2): 77–92. https://doi.org/10.3224/feminapolitica.v25i2.25354

Book Chapters (editor-reviewed)

Welfens, Natalie, and Lucy Hall. 2025, forthcoming. “Gender and Forced Displacement.” In Routledge Handbook of Feminism and International Relations, Catherine Goetze und Khushi Singrathore (Hrsg.). London: Routledge.

Welfens, Natalie. 2023. “Resettlement.” In Flucht und Flüchtlingsforschung. Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium (English: Forced Migration and Forced Migration Research: Handbook for Research and Studies), Marcel Berlinghoff, Birgit Glorius, Olaf Kleist, and Tabea Scharrer (Hrsg.). Baden-Baden: Nomos.

Welfens, Natalie, and Asya Pisarevskaya. 2020. “The ‘Others’ amongst ‘Them’: Selection Categories in European Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Programmes.” In European Societies, Migration and the Law: The ‘Others’ amongst ‘Us’, Moritz Jesse (Hrsg.), 81–103. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Welfens, Natalie. 2016. “Transfer durch Krise? – Frankreichs Berufsbildungssystem zwischen Pfadabhängigkeit und deutschem Modell.” In Internationalisierte Welten der Bildung: Bildung und Bildungspolitik im globalen Vergleich, Joseph Schmid, Karin Amos, Josef Schrader, and Ansgar Thiel (Hrsg.), 97–120. Baden-Baden: Nomos.

Blogs

Lehmann, Janina und Natalie Welfens. 2024. “Germany’s Federal Admission Program for People from Afghanistan. The Role of Civil Society in Policy Making and Implementation.” Refugee Law Initiative Blog, October 9. Verfügbar: https://rli.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2024/10/09/germanys-federal-admissions-program-for-people-from-afghanistan-the-role-of-civil-society-in-policy-making-and-implementation/. Auch verfügbar über: https://fluchtforschung.net/germanys-federal-admissions-program-for-people-from-afghanistan-the-role-of-civil-society-in-policy-making-and-implementation/.

Baranowska, Grażyna, Begüm Başdaş, and Natalie Welfens. 2021. “The Dangerous Politics of Framing: The Situation at the Polish-Belarusian Border.” Fluchtforschung Blog, November 25. Available at: https://blog.fluchtforschung.net/the-dangerous-politics-of-framing/. Also available on Border Criminologies: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-criminology/centreborder-criminologies/blog/2021/11/dangerous.

Welfens, Natalie. 2021. “Why Europe Could Be Denying the ‘Most Vulnerable’ Refugees Access to Safe, Legal Routes to Protection.” The Loop, August. Available at: https://theloop.ecpr.eu/why-europe-could-be-denying-the-most-vulnerable-refugees-safe-legal-routes-to-protection/.

Welfens, Natalie, et al. 2019. “Active Refugee Admission Policies in Europe: Exploring an Emerging Research Field.” Fluchtforschung Blog, May 13. Available at: https://blog.fluchtforschung.net/active-refugee-admission-policies-in-europe-exploring-an-emerging-research-field/.

Welfens, Natalie, et al. 2019. “Aktive Flüchtlingsaufnahme in Europa: Ein Forschungsfeld im Entstehen.” Fluchtforschung Blog, May 13. Available at: https://blog.fluchtforschung.net/aktive-fluchtlingsaufnahme-in-europa-ein-forschungsfeld-im-entstehen/.

Welfens, Natalie. 2018. “Setting the Trends for Resettlement in Europe? Germany’s New Avenues for Refugee Protection.” Refugee Law Initiative Blog, October 9. Available at: https://rli.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2018/10/09/setting-the-trends-for-resettlement-in-europe-germanys-new-avenues-for-refugee-protection/.

Welfens, Natalie, et al. 2017. “Flüchtlingspolitik in Wahlprogrammen zur Bundestagswahl 2017.” Netzwerk Fluchtforschung Blog, September 20. Available at: https://blog.fluchtforschung.net/fluchtlingspolitik-in-wahlprogrammen-zur-bundestagswahl-2017/.

Welfens, Natalie. 2017. “Gender in the European Union’s External Relations: The EU as a Merchant and a Teacher.” Amsterdam Research Center for Gender and Sexuality (ARCGS) Blog, June. Available at: http://arcgs.uva.nl/content/blog/arc-gs-events-blog/blog-van-der-vleuten.html.

Welfens, Natalie. 2016. “Auf ein Gespräch mit Schengen.” Polis Blog, January 18. Available at: https://polis180.org/polisblog/2016/01/18/schengen-serie-i-auf-ein-gespraech-mit-schengen. Also available in English, Spanish, French, and Italian translation by Café Babel: https://cafebabel.com/pl/article/zdaniem-schengen-rocznicowy-wywiad-5ae00ac2f723b35a145e6ba7/.

Reports

Rasche, Lucas, Natalie Welfens und Marcus Engler. September 2022. The Migration Pact at Two. What Remains of the Fresh Start? Jacques Delors Centre, https://www.delorscentre.eu/de/publikationen/zwei-jahre-eu-migrationspakt.

Welfens, Natalie, Julian Lehmann und Marie Wagner (December 2021). Towards a Global Resettlement Alliance. Friedrich Ebert Foundation, http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/18647-20211215.pdf.

Freist-Held, Jonas, Hagemann, Thore, Rasche, Lucas und Welfens, Natalie. 2017. Quo-Vadis Migrationspolitik? Die Wahlprogramme Deutscher Parteien unter der Lupe, Polis Paper No 6, Polis180. https://polis180.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/PolisPaper_N6_QuoVadisMigrationspolitik.pdf/.

Dr. Natalie Welfens