Lea Zentgraf

Freie Universität Berlin
ZI Lateinamerika-Institut
Doctoral Researcher
Feminist food movements, digital activism and intersectional discourse analysis - Case Study Germany/Brazil
Geschäftsstelle: Boltzmannstr. 1
Room 106
14195 Berlin
Academic Experience
- 2021-2024: Doctoral Researcher BMBF Junior Research Group Food for Justice | FU Berlin.
- 2019-2021: Research Assistant BMBF Junior Research Group Food for Justice | FU Berlin.
- 2019: Student Researcher Monitoring Human Rights and Democracy in Brazil | FU Berlin.
Education
- 2018-2021: Master | Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies | Freie Universität Berlin. Institute for Latin American Studies (LAI), Profile Political and Social Sciences (B). Thesis: „Women disputing the Brazilian public sphere: #Elenão vs. #Elesim. A critical feminist discourse analysis of the polarization during the 2018 presidential campaign“.
- 2015-2016: Academic Year Abroad | Letras & Ciências Humanas | Universidade de São Paulo.
- 2014-2017: Bachelor | Translation Studies | Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg. Thesis: “‘Plastische Mammachirurgie‘. Eine Terminologiearbeit zum Sprachenpaar Deutsch-Portugiesisch unter Betrachtung der soziokulturellen Hintergründe der brasilianischen Schönheitschirurgie“
Other Work Experience
- 2018-2021: Assistant Dep. Literatures and Cultures of Latin America | FU Berlin.
- 2018: Internship in Journalism | Schwäbisches Tagblatt Tübingen.
- 2017-2018: Trainee in PR and Communication | German-Brazilian Chamber of Industry and Commerce São Paulo (AHK São Paulo).
- 2017: Internship in Translation | Brazilian Editor Vermelho Marinho.
- 2013: Internship as Assistant Director | Studio Theater Stuttgart.
- 2012: Internship as Assistant Stage Designer | Staatsoper Stuttgart.
Editorial Experience
- Since 2019: Editorial Assistant, Food for Justice Working Paper Serie
- 2017-2018: Editor, Revista Brasil Alemanha (AHK São Paulo)
- 2017-2019: Editorial Assistant, Wochenbericht Brasilien
- 2018: Editorial Assistant, Willkommen in Brasilien
Languages
- German (native speaker)
- Portuguese (advanced - C1/C2)
- English (advanced - C1)
- French (intermediate - B2)
- Spanish (intermediate - B2)
Research Interests
Gender Studies, feminist theories, intersectionality, ecofeminism, social movement studies, environmental studies, food studies, digital food activism, digital media studies, postcolonialism, critical whiteness, social media content analysis, digital ethnography, discourse analysis.
PhD-Project
Gender. Power. Food: women's claims and repertoires in Food Movements in Germany
The modern food system plays a significant role in today's global crisis. Food movements question the current food politics and claim a more democratic, just, and sustainable system by advocating for a significant socio-ecological transformation. Consequently, food activists are agents of change and mobilize not only around the right to food and more sustainability but demand a shift in how food is produced, distributed, and consumed. There is a growing awareness of feminism and gender inequalities within food movements, which shows in recent social innovations taking up the gender question.
My Ph.D. project wants to identify how the category of gender is mobilized in food movements and which different demands and repertoires are disputed in the public sphere. Women play a significant role in the socio-ecological transformation and are often pioneers for innovation and change in food production and consumption.
To analyze women's claims and repertoires in food movements, I work on two case studies: the Berliner Ernährungsrat [Berlin Food Council] and the LandFrauenVerband. Both initiatives are important actors in the current food politics in Germany, making them the ideal cases for comparative analysis. They articulate collective action on a local, regional, and national scale and participate actively in the debate about problems and alternatives for the food system's future. Especially the differences between the political subjects, demands, and repertoires regarding scales (urbanity and rurality/local and regional), spheres (digital and analog), structural forces (economic, political, ecological, cultural, etc.), and intersectionality (class, race, gender, more-than-humans, etc.) are relevant for the research. The project applies a mixed-method design. It combines quantitative and qualitative methods; digital ethnography, content analysis, and semi-structured interviews.
Presentations given
- Zentgraf, Lea (2021): “Women Disrupting the Brazilian Public Sphere: #elenão vs. #elesim.” Digital Americas Conference, Austria, October 21-29.
- Zentgraf, Lea, Sávio, Karina (2021): “The Brazilian Backlash: Social Movements, Digital and Mass Media, and the Public Sphere.”, Digital Americas Conference, Austria, October 21-29.
- Zentgraf, Lea, Sávio, Karina (2021): “Media and Public Sphere in Dispute: Monitoring human rights and democracy in Brazil”. Panel 1, Poster Session Junior Researchers. Munich: ADLAF, July 2.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2020): “Women disputing the Brazilian public sphere: #Elenão vs. #Elesim. A critical feminist discourse analysis of the polarization during the 2018 presidential campaign“. Colloquium Sociology Institute for Latin American Studies, June 29.
- Zentgraf, Lea, Sávio Karina (2020): Monitoring human rights and democracy in Brazil - Media and Public Sphere”. Poster Session. International Symposium The Conservative Backlash: Brazil in Comparative Perspective, February 17/18.
Research Reports
- Teixeira, Marco Antonio, Motta, Renata, Rennó, Lúcio, Galiza Pereira de Souza, Marcelo, Zentgraf, Lea (2021): Marcha das Margaridas 2019: alimentação, mobilização social e gênero. Food for Justice Working Paper Series, no 2. Berlin: Food for Justice: Power, Politics, and Food Inequalities in a Bioeconomy.
Articles
- Zentgraf, Lea (2022): "#EleNão #NotHim – a feminist strike". In: FKW Zeitschrift für Geschlechterforschung und visuelle Kultur, special issue: "how :// do we speak #feminism? // new global challenges“, Berlin. Link: https://www.fkw-journal.de/index.php/fkw/issue/view/85
- Suarez, Marcela, Zentgraf, Lea (forthcoming): "The vicious spiral of violence and resistance: hate speech and feminist protests in Brazil and Mexico." In: CLACSO, special issue.
- Zentgraf, Lea (under revision): "Essen. Macht. Frauen. – Die Rolle von Gender und Care in Food Movements in Deutschland“. In: Rückert-John, J.; Wember, C.: Geschlecht und Ernährung: Perspektiven sozialen Wandels, Reihe des Gender- und Frauenforschungszentrum der Hessischen Hochschulen, Verlag Barbara Budrich.
Publications in Newspapers, Magazines and Websites
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): „Wettrennen im Rollstuhl“. Schwäbisches Tagblatt, August 23, 2018.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): „Ein Sommertag in der Steinzeit“. Schwäbisches Tagblatt, August 17, 2018.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): “Câmera apoia Prêmio Melhores Empresas para Trabalhadores com Deficiência 2018”. Brasil Alemanha News, March 15.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): “Baden-Württemberg vem para o Brasil para promover oportunidades para startups”. Brasil Alemanha News, March 5.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): “Delegação brasileira visita Didacta em Hannover”. Brasil Alemanha News, February 19.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): “Segurança de Dados: um novo cenário. Datenschutz: neue Gesetzgebung”. Revista Brasil Alemanha, AHK São Paulo, ANO 26, N° 1, p. 44-51.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): „Prêmio Personalidade Brasil-Alemanha. Deutsch-Brasilianische Persönlichkeitsehrung”. Revista Brasil Alemanha, AHK São Paulo, ANO 26, N° 1, p. 54-58.
- Zentgraf, Lea (2018): „Diversidade tem rosto, tem corpo e, principalmente, opinião. Diversität hat ein Gesicht, einen Körper und vor allem eine Meinung“. Revista Brasil Alemanha, AHK São Paulo, ANO 26, N° 1, p. 68-77.
Interviews
- Zentgraf, Lea, Masson, Federico (2022): „First 100 Days of Government: Agrarian politics and the impact of the war in Ukraine“. In: Featured Stories//Campus.leben, FU Berlin.