September 20, 2024

Sabrina Axster is a postdoc for the Migrations Program in the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies from Dusseldorf, Germany, who has called New York City home since 2011. She holds a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University, and her research focuses on the colonial and racial logics of contemporary border controls and policing in Western Europe and the U.S. She is a recipient of a Postdoc Achievement Award for Excellence in Leadership as part of Cornell’s celebration of National Postdoc Appreciation Week 2024.

What is your area of research, scholarship, or work and why is it important?

My work is focused on revealing the colonial and racial logics of contemporary border controls and policing in Western Europe and the United States. I try to understand how and why states try to control migrants and racialized minorities and what the economic, social, and political drivers of these processes are. For example, my first book project examines the interlinkages between colonial and subnational histories of migration control in Germany. It shows how the current German migration control system was inspired by vagrancy laws at the local level, the management of foreign workers in the German Eastern provinces and the German colonies in the Pacific in the early 20^th century, the making of Germany’s first citizenship law in 1913, the use of foreign labor during World War I, and the emergence of the figure of the illegal migrant in the 1920s when Germany began to target Jewish migrants fleeing the pogroms in Eastern Europe.

What are the broader implications of this research, scholarship, or work?

There are lots of debates around the apparent newness and exceptionalism of migration controls. Digging deeper into these histories like I do shows that these forms of racialized policing have been central tools of capitalism and the demarcation of communities for much longer. They also show how criminal legal systems like policing and imprisonment and border control systems are much more closely linked than an analysis focused on the present would reveal. This ultimately offers new opportunities for activist engagement around these topics.

What does receiving a Postdoc Achievement Award mean to you?

I was so happy to receive the award. It has been such a pleasure working at Cornell this past year and I am part of a team with amazing faculty leadership and program management staff who have given me the space to show initiative and suggest and explore new ideas, and have supported me in my academic career. Receiving the award was a wonderful way of finding out they appreciate me as much as I appreciate them.

What hobbies or activities do you enjoy in your spare time?

I am an avid reader and traveler and love to hike, bike, and ski whenever I can.

Why did you choose Cornell?

I first learned about the Migrations Program during my PhD and was drawn to its interdisciplinary lens and the openness to critical research, which can be hard to find, as well as the amazing faculty it brings together. When I saw the job ad I immediately applied, telling everyone that this was the position that I wanted the most. I was actually working at the United Nations at the time, but left that position because I realized that doing the post doc at Cornell would be a fantastic opportunity to advance my research agenda and build my academic profile.

What is next for you?

I am applying for academic jobs at the moment, so we’ll see what happens next.

Do you have any advice for current graduate students?

Find a topic you are really passionate about, trust your gut, start working on your job market paper early, and don’t let the rejections get to you.