Dr. Katharina Bothe
„With its innovative approaches and international networks, the German Maritime Museum offers me optimal research conditions.“
Dr. Katharina Bothe, deputy head of program and Scientific Coordinator „Economics and Social Sciences“
About the person
Dr. Katharina Bothe is deputy head of program and a Coordinator „Economics and Social Sciences“ at the German Maritime Museum. She is currently pursuing her habilitation at the University of Hamburg.
Her research focusses on migration, mobility and diversity, as well as sustainable work practices in the ‘Blue Economy’ of the twentieth and twenty-first century. Her publications on this subject have received international awards. She obtained her PhD from the University of Bremen.
Current projects
Curriculum Vitae
Since 01/2022 | Deputy Head of Program “Seafaring & Society” at the German Maritime Museum (DSM) | |
Since 01/2022 | Habilitation at the Institute for Anthropological Studies in Culture and History, University of Hamburg, Hamburg | |
01/2022 – 08/2022 | Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages and Linguistics (MMLL) and Centre for the Study of Global Human Movement, University of Cambridge | |
Seit 01/2020 | Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the German Maritime Museum (DSM) | |
11/2019 | PhD (Dr Phil) at the Department of Anthropology and Cultural Research (IFEK), University of Bremen, Bremen | |
01/2015 - 11/2020 | PhD Candidate at the German Maritime Museum (DSM) | |
09/2016 - 12/2016 | Visiting Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Delhi and Mumbai (India) | |
04/2014 - 11/2014 | Consultant at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Geneva (Switzerland) | |
05/2012 - 04/2014 | Project Manager in the governance department of the ZEIT Foundation Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius, Hamburg | |
10/2008 - 01/2010 | Project Assistant in the science department of the Körber Foundation, Hamburg | |
10/2005 – 04/2012 | M.A., Applied Cultural Studies at the Leuphana University Lüneburg
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Publications
Monographies
Bothe, Katharina 2020: Arbeitskulturen im Wandel. Werften, Migration, Globalisierung. Campus: Frankfurt A.M./New York.
Editorialships
Bothe, Katharina/Kesarkar Gavankar, Anusha (Hrsg.) 2025: The Sagarmanthan Review: Navigating the Great Oceans, New Delhi: ORF and Global Policy Journal 2025, https://www.orfonline.org/public/uploads/posts/pdf/20250502211033.pdf.
Articles
Decker-Lange, Carolin/Bothe, Katharina, Caussat, Paul/Lange, Knut S. G. 2026: Tides of Tension: Exploring the Blue Economy through Stakeholder Narrations, in: Environmental Science and Policy 178, S. 104348, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104348.
Bothe, Katharina/Wixforth, Harald: Krise und Krisenerfahrungen 2025: Unternehmensstrategien und Arbeitsverhältnisse in der deutschen Werftindustrie 1976 bis 1990, in: Vierteljahresschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte 112 (1), S. 97-124 https://biblioscout.net/content/99.140005/vswg20251.pdf.
Kesarkar Gavankar, Anusha/Bothe, Katharina 2025: Towards an Inclusive Blue Economy: Indigenous Knowledge and Community-Led Pathways, in: Bothe, Katharina und Kesarkar Gavankar, Anusha (Hrsg.): The Sagarmanthan Review: Navigating the Great Ocean, New Delhi: ORF and Global Policy Journal 2025, S. 206-218, https://www.orfonline.org/public/uploads/posts/pdf/20250502211033.pdf.
Bothe, Katharina/Decker-Lange, Carolin 2022. Globalization from Below: Labor Inequality in the German Shipbuilding Industry, 1960-2000”, Enterprise and Society, 1-26, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/eso.2022.27.
Bothe, Katharina/Wolf, Johanna 2021. „Integration durch Arbeit?”: Migranten und die Gewerkschaft am Beispiel der westdeutschen Werftindustrie, 1960-1983 In: Sozial.Geschichte Online, Nr. 30, pp 29-70, DOI: 10.17185/duepublico/74946.
Conference Proceedings
Decker-Lange, Carolin/Caussat, Paul/Bothe, Katharina/Lange, Knut 2024. What Constitutes the Blue Economy? Disentangling Placelessness, Development and Sustainability. Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. 2024, No. 1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/AMPROC.2024.15184abstract.
Bothe, Katharina/Decker-Lange, Carolin 2021. Globalization from Below: Labor Inequality at German Shipyards, 1960-2000. Academy of Management Proceedings, Vol. 2021 No. 1.DOI: https://doi.org/10.5465/AMBPP.2021.11570abstract.
Bothe, Katharina/Decker-Lange, Carolin 2021. Historiography in Management Research: Studying the German Shipbuilding from Below, British Academy of Management Conference, Track Research Methodology, 2021.
Bothe, Katharina/Decker-Lange, Carolin 2020. Technological Innovation and Globalization: Labour Inequality at German Shipyards, 1960-2000. British Academy of Management, Conference Proceedings ISBN: 978-0-9956413-3-4.
Other Articles
Bergmann Sven/Bothe, Katharina 2024: Forschungshotspots - Einblicke in die Wissenschaft, in: Schilling, Ruth und von Frankenberg, Pablo (Hrsg.): Schiffswelten - Der Ozean und wir, Bremerhaven 2024, S. 100-107.
Bothe, Katharina 2023: Von der Passagierschifffahrt zur Kreuzfahrt. Soziale Ungleichheit auf den Weltmeeren, in: Deutsche Schiffahrt 45 (2), S. 26-28, https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2510021652203.915301821780.
Bothe, Katharina 2022: Rezension. Sarah Graber Maichrak: Arbeit – Produktion – Protest. Die Leninwerft in Gdansk und die AG „Weser“ in Bremen im Vergleich (1968 – 1983). Zeischrift für Ostmitteleuropa Bd. 71 Nr. 3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25627/202271311247.
Bothe, Katharina 2021: Conference Report. Form Ship to Coast: Blue Economy and Sustainable Livelihood, https://www.dsm.museum/museum/neuigkeiten/workshop-report-from-ship-to-coast-blue-economy-and-sustainable-livelihood.
Bothe, Katharina 2020: From Ship to Coast: Blue economy and Sustianble Livelihood. In:H-Soz-Kult, 26.07.2020.
Bothe, Katharina 2020: Arbeitsmigration im Schiffbau des 20. Jahrhundert. In: Deutsche Schifffahrt 2.2020.
Exhibition Projects
- Research Hotspot "Labour Migration in Shipbuilding" in the permanent exhibition “Ship Realms: The Ocean and us” at the German Maritime Museum (2024)
- Exhibition units for the special exhibition “CHANGE NOW – Ships change the world” at the German Maritime Museum (2022)
- Exhibition module on shipbuilding as part of the exhibition "Einfach Wissenswert: Sozialwissenschaften: Ich & Die Anderen" of the House of Sciences in Bremen (2016)
Sponsorship / Honors
2023 - 2025: Selected Participant, Leibniz Mentoring for highly qualified female post-doctorate researchers
2022: Visiting Member of High Table, Newnham College, University of Cambridge
2022: Visiting Scholar and DAAD – Postdoctoral Scholarship, Faculty of MMLL, University of Cambridge
08/2021: Journal of Management History Award for Best International Paper, Academy of Management (AOM), New York, USA
09/2020: Best Developmental Paper Award, Business and Management History Track, British Academy of Management (BAM) Conference in the Cloud
10/2020: Workshop “From Ship to Coast: Blue Economy and Sustainable Livelihood”, funded by the German House DWIH New Delhi, India
09/2016 - 12/2016: DAAD – Scholarship for a research stay at ORF in Delhi and Mumbai, India
Memberships / Committees
Since 10/2024: Member of the UN Ocean Decade Network, 2021-2030
Since 08/2024: Member of the Anthropology of the Seas Network (ANTHSEAS)
Since 09/2021: Postdoctoral Representative of the German Maritime Museum (DSM)
Since 01/2015: Member of the Bremen NaturesCultures Lab, University of Bremen
01/2015 - 11/2019: Member of the Graduate School for Polar and Marine Research (POLMAR), Alfred-Wegener-Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI)
01/2016 - 01/2017: PhD Representative of the German Maritime Museum (DSM) for the Leibniz Association