Göttingen Diversity Research Institute

Dr. Julia Gruhlich

Dr. Julia Gruhlich is the project leader for the EU-funded project "SMARTUP" at the Göttingen Diversity Research Institute. The joint project “Smart(ening up the modern) home: Redesigning power dynamics through domestic space digitalization” (SMARTUP) explores how digitalization impacts power dynamics within households and living spaces, focusing on Smart Homes. The project aims to gain insight into digital transformation’s cultural and social effects in Smart Home contexts by analyzing (1) the cultural notions of digitalized living at the conceptual level, (2) the production conditions of Smart Homes at the production level, and (3) their perception and use at the consumption level from an intersectional perspective. These research questions are being addressed through an interdisciplinary and Europe-wide collaboration consisting of four subprojects. Researchers from anthropology, social geography, gender studies, sociology, and science and technology-related studies based in Germany, the Czech Republic, Finland, and the United Kingdom are involved.

Dr. Julia Gruhlich studied, researched, and worked at various universities in Germany and abroad. Most recently, she was an interim professor of Work, Economy and Ecology at the Philipps University of Marburg and an interim professor of Sociology at the University of Paderborn. Since October 2024, Julia Gruhlich has been working in Gender Studies at the University of Göttingen.



Research Interests:

  • Sociology of gender and feminist theory (esp. feminist social theory, gender relations, critical masculinity studies)
  • Sociology of work, organization and technology (esp. digitalization of work, feminist organizational theory, feminist science and technology studies)
  • Intersectionality and Diversity Research (esp. transnational intersectionality, equal opportunity/equality policies, diversity management in organizations)
  • Qualitative methods in empirical social science (esp. feminist methodology, qualitative interviews, organizational case studies, objective hermeneutics, documentary research)



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