Dr. T. (Tanja) Ahlin
Post-doctoral researcher
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Programme group: Anthropology of Health, Care and the Body
Area of expertise: Digital technologies, Robotics, Artificial intelligence, Data, Care, Aging, Gender, Migration
Photographer: StudioEmblanco
Visiting address
- Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
Postal address
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Postbus 15509
1001 NA Amsterdam
Contact details
Social media
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Profile
Tanja Ahlin is a post-doctoral researcher on the Anthropology of Data within the Research Priority Area "Human(e) AI" and a member of the AI4Society Sandbox of the Responsible Digital Transformations initiative. After obtaining her PhD from the University of Amsterdam (2020), she worked as a lecturer at UvA and was a visiting fellow at the Amsterdam University Medical Center (AUMC).
As an Anthropology and Science and Technology Studies researcher, Tanja uses ethnographic methods to explore how everyday digital and specialized health technologies participate in social relations. In her research, writing and teaching she deals with pragmatic questions of technology for health and care as well as what it means to be human in a technologically enhanced world.
Tanja’s monograph, Calling Family: Digital Technologies and the Making of Transnational Care Collectives, will be published by Rutgers University Press in August 2023.
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Research
Research methods
- Ethnography / Participant observation
- Remote and digital fieldwork
- Focus groups
- Visual methods
- Inter- and transdisciplinary approach
Current research projects
Animal Cares: A comparative ethnography of animals and social robots in elder care
Research grants & honours
Grants (selection)
- 2022 Seed grant, AI4Society Sandbox, Responsible Digital Transformations, Faculty of Humanities, AISSR, University of Amsterdam.
- 2021 Seed grant, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Department of Ethics, Law and Humanities, Amsterdam.
- 2013 TransGlobalHealth, Erasmus Mundus Program, Educational, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) of the European Commission, PhD Grant
- 2013 NWO Open Access Grant
Honours
- Excellence in Exemplary Cross-Field Scholarship, Honorable mention, General Anthropology Division (GAD), American Anthropological Association (2021)
- The Jacob Climo Award, Association of Anthropology, Gerontology and the Life Course (2019).
- Best PhD pitch award, Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research (2019). Produced video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWQ1FxYjQMQ&feature=emb_logo
- Graduate Student Paper Prize, Science, Technology and Medicine, AAA (2016).
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Publications
- refereed (18)
- academic (8)
- professional (6)
- popular scientific (6)
- recognitions (25)
- doctoral thesis (1)
2024
- Ahlin, T., Sen, K., & Pols, A. J. (2024). Telecare that works: lessons on integrating digital technologies in elder care from Indian transnational families. Anthropology & Medicine. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13648470.2024.2378726
2023
Ahlin, T. (2023). Calling Family: Digital Technologies and the Making of Transnational Care Collectives. (Medical anthropology: health, inequality, and social justice). Rutgers University Press. https://doi.org/10.36019/9781978834354 [details]- Ahlin, T. (2023). Care at a Distance: Digital Technologies and Ageing in Transnational Families . In S. Irudaya Rajan (Ed.), Handbook of Aging, Health and Public Policy : Perspectives from Asia (pp. 1-20). Springer. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1914-4_224-1
- Ahlin, T., & Hiddinga, A. (2023). Technological socialities: The impact of information and communication technologies on belonging among deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Sociology Compass, 17(5), Article e13068. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13068 [details]
- Cabalquinto, E., & Ahlin, T. (2023). Researching (im)mobile lives during a lockdown: Reconceptualizing remote interviews as field events. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 26(6), 802-821. https://doi.org/10.1177/13678779231157428 [details]
2021
- Cabalquinto, E. C., & Ahlin, T. (2021). Care within or out of reach: Fantasies of care and connectivity in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. In L. Manderson, N. J. Burke, & A. Wahlberg (Eds.), Viral Loads: Anthropologies of urgency in the time of COVID-19 (pp. 344-361). (Embodying Inequalities: Perspectives from Medical Anthropology). UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1j13zb3.24 [details]
2020
- Ahlin, T. (2020). Eldercare at a Distance: On Remittances and Everyday Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Indian Transnational Families. In C. Brosius, & R. Mandoki (Eds.), Caring for Old Age: Perspectives from South Asia (pp. 213-235). (Heidelberg Studies on Transculturality; Vol. 8). Heidelberg University Publishing. https://doi.org/10.17885/heiup.597 [details]
- Ahlin, T. (2020). Frequent Callers: “Good Care” with ICTs in Indian Transnational Families. Medical Anthropology, 39(1), 69–82. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2018.1532424 [details]
- Ahlin, T., & Sen, K. (2020). Shifting duties: becoming ‘good daughters’ through elder care practices in transnational families from Kerala, India. Gender, Place and Culture, 27(10), 1395-1414 . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/0966369X.2019.1681368 [details]
2019
- Ahlin, T. (2019). 'Repaying the Suffering' in Transnational Families from Kerala, South India. In P. Simonič (Ed.), Anthropological Perspectives of Solidarity and Reciprocity (pp. 145-157). (Zupaničeva knjižnica; Vol. 47). Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani. https://e-knjige.ff.uni-lj.si/znanstvena-zalozba/catalog/book/134 [details]
- Ahlin, T., & LI, F. (2019). From field sites to field events: Creating the field with information and communication technologies (ICTs). Medicine Anthropology Theory, 6(2), 1-24. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.17157/mat.6.2.655 [details]
2018
- Ahlin, T. (2018). Only near is dear? Doing elderly care with everyday ICTs in Indian transnational families. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 32(1), 85-102. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/maq.12404 [details]
- Ahlin, T. (2018). What keeps Maya from eating? A case study of disordered eating from North India. Transcultural Psychiatry, 55(4), 551-571. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461518762275 [details]
2016
- Ahlin, T., Nichter, M., & Pillai, G. (2016). Health insurance in India: what do we know and why is ethnographic research needed. Anthropology & Medicine, 23(1), 102-124. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13648470.2015.1135787 [details]
2015
- Manderson, L., Davis, M., Colwell, C., & Ahlin, T. (2015). On Secrecy, Disclosure, the Public, and the Private in Anthropology: An introduction to Supplement 12. Current Anthropology, 56(12), S183-S190. https://doi.org/10.1086/683302 [details]
2013
- Ahlin, T. (2013). Prehajanje praks zdravljenja in z zdravjem povezanih konceptov med kontinenti in kulturami: Joga v Evropi, anoreksija v Aziji. Glasnik SED, 53(1-2), 25-31. http://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-D69Z3J28/89eabd02-d3c5-487f-a1ec-1f8ef2f80cb5/PDF [details]
2012
- Ahlin, T. (2012). Of Food and Friendship: The Methods to Understanding Eating Disorders in India. Medische Antropologie, 24(1), 41-56. http://tma.socsci.uva.nl/24_1/ahlin.pdf
2011
- Ahlin, T. (2011). Technology and Cultural (R)evolution: Can Telemedicine Give Power to the Patients? Curare, 34(3), 165-172.
2024
- van Voorst, R., & Ahlin, T. (2024). Key points for an ethnography of AI: an approach towards crucial data. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, Article 337. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02854-4 [details]
2023
- Ahlin, T. (2023). Calling Kerala: The Invisible Care Work of Nurses within their Transnational Families. In C. Wichterich, & M. John (Eds.), Who Cares?: Care Extraction and the Struggles of Indian Health Workers Zubaan.
2019
- Ahlin, T. (2019). Disrupted connections: On participation in caring for a mother with dementia. Web publication or website, Somatosphere. https://somatosphere.com/2019/disrupted-connections-on-participation-in-caring-for-a-mother-with-dementia.html/ [details]
2016
- Ahlin, T. (2016). Ageing and technology: Whose concerns?. Web publication or website, Allegra Lab. https://allegralaboratory.net/ageing-and-technology-whose-concerns/
- Ahlin, T. (2016). E-care in Kerala. In L. Manderson, E. Cartwright, & A. Hardon (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Medical Anthropology (pp. 171-175). (Routledge handbooks). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315794198 [details]
- Ahlin, T. (Author). (2016). Anthropology of e/m-health and telemedicine: Time to pay attention. Web publication or website, Anthropology News.
2015
- Raffaetà, R., & Ahlin, T. (2015). The politics of publishing: debating the value of impact factor in medical anthropology. Anthropology & Medicine, 22(2), 202-205. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13648470.2015.1072301 [details]
2012
- Ahlin, T., & Brijnath, B. R. (2012). Telemental Health in Biomedicine and Ayurveda: An Analysis of Online Health Forums in Slovenia and India. In M. Jordanova, & F. Lievens (Eds.), Proceedings of the International eHealth, Telemedicine and Health ICT Forum for Education, Networking and Business (pp. 365-379). Luxembourg: International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH).
2016
- Ahlin, T. (Author), Moyer, E. (Author), & Hoppe, S. (Author). (2016). Slam that #ethnography!. Web publication or website http://allegralaboratory.net/slam-that-ethnography-introduction/ [details]
2015
- Ahlin, T. (2015). [Review of: L. Baldassar, L. Merla (2014) Transnational families, migration, and the circulation of care: understanding mobility and absence in family life]. Medicine Anthropology Theory, 2(1), 200-203. http://www.medanthrotheory.org/read/4785/transnational-families [details]
- Ahlin, T. (Author), Driessen, A. (Author), Lemos Dekker, N. (Author), & Schühle, J. (Author). (2015). 6th Medical Anthropology Young Scholars (MAYS) annual conference. Web publication or website, Medicine Anthropology Theory. http://medanthrotheory.org/read/5508/6th-mays-annual-conference [details]
- Ahlin, T. (Author). (2015). Bianca Brijnath’s “Unforgotten: Love and the Culture of Dementia Care in India”: [Review of: B. Brijnath (2014) Unforgotten: love and the culture of dementia care in India]. Web publication or website, Somatosphere. http://somatosphere.net/2015/12/bianca-brijnaths-unforgotten-love-and-the-culture-of-dementia-care-in-india.html [details]
2014
- Ahlin, T. (Author). (2014). Ontology as an analytical approach to concerns of medical anthropology. Web publication or website, Somatosphere. http://somatosphere.net/2014/09/ontology-asa-panel.html [details]
2013
- Ahlin, T. (2013). Is there an app for that? Anthropology takes the pulse of e-health. Second Opinion - Society for Medical Anthropology, 1(4), 7-8. http://www.medanthro.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/SMA-Newsletter-October-2013.pdf [details]
2019
- Ahlin, T. (Author). (2019). Digital Elder Care: On mobile phones and webcams in Indian transnational families . Web publication or website, Anthropology News. http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2019/06/10/digital-elder-care/
- Ahlin, T. (Author). (2019). How Indians Who Migrate Abroad Take Care of Their Ageing Parents. Web publication or website, Madras Courier. https://madrascourier.com/opinion/how-indians-who-migrate-abroad-care-for-their-ageing-parents/
2015
- Ahlin, T. (2015). The Gift of Panties: Protecting One Woman at a Time. The Huffington Post.
2014
- Ahlin, T. (2014). Hoe krijg je vrouwen aan de top? Vrij Nederland. http://www.deoplossers.nl/?p=69
- Ahlin, T. (2014). Wat zou ouderenzorg moeten opleveren? Vrij Nederland. http://www.vn.nl/wat-zou-ouderenzorg-moeten-opleveren/
2012
- Ahlin, T. (2012). Stronger than Weapons: The Creative Rise of the Slovenian Citizens. News: A Publication of the Society for Applied Anthropology. http://sfaanews.sfaa.net/2012/11/01/stronger-than-weapons-the-creative-rise-of-slovenian-citizens/
Prize / grant
- Ahlin, T. (2021). Excellence in Exemplary Cross-Field Scholarship (Honorable mention).
- Ahlin, T. (2016). Graduate student paper prize for paper 'only near is dear?'. http://aissr.uva.nl/news/content/2016/11/tanja-ahlin-won-the-graduate-student-paper-prize.html
Membership / relevant position
- Ahlin, T. & LI, F. (2016). What is the future of the field-site? Multi-sited and digital fieldwork. Panel co-organizer., Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and the Commonwealth (ASA), Durham.
- Ahlin, T. & Braitberg, V. (2012). The (In)equalities of global health: E-health and Telemedicine through the Lens of Critical Medical Anthropology. Panel co-organizer., Annual Meeting of American Anthropological Association (AAA), San Francisco.
- Ahlin, T. & Brijnath, B. R. (2011). Moving Beyond the Clinic: Tracing the Tidemarks of Technology in Medicine. Chair and panel co-organizer., AAA Annual meeting, Montreal.
Media appearance
- Ahlin, T. (06-11-2023). Care and Technology: Empowering Families as Collaborators in Healthcare (Tanja Ahlin, Ep 32) [Other] Healthcare for Humans. Care and Technology: Empowering Families as Collaborators in Healthcare (Tanja Ahlin, Ep 32). https://www.healthcareforhumans.org/tanja-ahlin-empowering-families-healthcare/
- Ahlin, T. (24-10-2023). Caring Across Borders: Navigating the Complexities of Transnational Care Collectives (Ep 31, Tanja Ahlin) [Other] Healthcare for Humans. Caring Across Borders: Navigating the Complexities of Transnational Care Collectives (Ep 31, Tanja Ahlin). https://www.healthcareforhumans.org/tanja-ahlin/
- Ahlin, T. (13-06-2023). Platypod, Episode Seven: An Anthropology of Data, AI, and Much More [Other] Platypod. Platypod, Episode Seven: An Anthropology of Data, AI, and Much More. https://blog.castac.org/2023/06/platypod-ep-seven-an-anthropology-of-data-ai-and-much-more/
- Ahlin, T. (20-03-2015). Tanja Ahlin, antropologinja: Ko vidijo, da nisi vzvišen, si oddahnejo (Tanja Ahlin, anthropologist: When they see you are not arrogant, they are relieved). Interview door Vidner Ferkov, Katerina. [Print] NeDelo. Tanja Ahlin, antropologinja: Ko vidijo, da nisi vzvišen, si oddahnejo (Tanja Ahlin, anthropologist: When they see you are not arrogant, they are relieved). Interview door Vidner Ferkov, Katerina.. http://www.delo.si/nedelo/tanja-ahlin-antropologinja-ko-vidijo-da-nisi-vzvisen-si-oddahnejo.html
Talk / presentation
- Ahlin, T. (speaker) (27-2-2024). Seminar: Transnational Care Collectives: Digital technologies for elder care in Indian nurse families, ERSC Centre of Care Seminar, University of Sheffield, UK. https://centreforcare.ac.uk/updates/2024/01/seminar-transnational-care-collectives/
- Ahlin, T. (keynote speaker) (6-12-2023). ECRA Young Scholars Workshop: Diaspora, Migration and the Media and International and Intercultural Communication, European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). https://www.ecrea.eu/event-5180750
- Ahlin, T. (invited speaker) (5-12-2016). Transnational care, Leiden University College.
- Ahlin, T. (speaker) & Pols, A. J. (speaker) (18-5-2016). Technologie in de zorg: tussen hype en nachtmerrie, Ben Sajet Centrum.
- Ahlin, T. (invited speaker) (20-4-2015). "Ker so moji otroci v tujini, lahko živim": Ekonomije skrbi v indijskih transnacionalnih družinah ("Because my children are abroad, I am living happily here": Economies of Care in Indian Transnational Families), Invited lecture, Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana.
- Ahlin, T. (speaker) (22-6-2014). Connected care: Everyday ICT use in elderly care provision in Indian transnational families, Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth (ASA) conference, Edinburgh.
- Ahlin, T. (speaker) & Nichter, M. (speaker) (24-11-2013). The doctor-patient relationship in the Internet age: Health Practitioners’ Perspective., Annual Meeting of American Anthropological Association (AAA), Chicago.
- Ahlin, T. (speaker) (13-6-2013). Disrupted Connections: Aging Alone in a World of Networks?, Society of Medical Anthropology and European Society of Social Anthropologists (SMA-EASA), Tarragona, Spain.
- Ahlin, T. (speaker) (10-6-2013). Informants and/or Friends? Friendship as Method in Medical Anthropology, Medical Anthropology Young Scholars (MAYS), Tarragona, Spain.
Others
- Ahlin, T. (organiser) & Glabau, D. (organiser) (3-12-2017). Panel "Value and valuation in biomedicine" in Annual Meeting of American Anthropological Association (AAA), Washington DC. Organized panel: "Value and valuation in biomedicine" (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Ahlin, T. (organiser), Glabau, D. (organiser) & Sokolova, E. (organiser) (30-8-2017). Panel "Making Medical Innovation Ethical" at Meeting of the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S), Boston (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Ahlin, T. (organiser) & LI, F. (organiser) (4-7-2016 - 7-7-2016). Panel "What is the future of the field-site? Multi-sited and digital fieldwork" at Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and the Commonwealth (ASA)., Durham (organising a conference, workshop, ...).
- Ahlin, T. (participant) (14-3-2014 - 20-3-2014). Wenner-Gren Foundation symposium, Tivoli Palácio de Seteais, Sintra, Portugal. The Death of the Secret: The Public and Private in Anthropology (conference monitor) (participating in a conference, workshop, ...).
- Ahlin, T. (participant) (25-2-2014 - 26-2-2014). International conference on Neglected Tropical Diseases (invited discussant), Kochi (Kerala), India (participating in a conference, workshop, ...).
- Ahlin, T. (participant) (24-11-2013). Annual Meeting of American Anthropological Association (AAA), Chicago. Emergent Technologies, Future Publics (panel co-organizor) (participating in a conference, workshop, ...).
- Ahlin, T. (participant) & Raffaetà, R. (participant) (13-6-2013). Society of Medical Anthropology and European Society of Social Anthropologists (SMA-EASA), Tarragona, Spain. The Politics of Publishing (organizor and moderator) (participating in a conference, workshop, ...).
2020
- Ahlin, T. (2020). Care through digital connections: Enacting elder care through everyday information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Indian transnational families. [Thesis, fully internal, Universiteit van Amsterdam]. [details]
- Downloads
- Thesis (complete)
- Front matter
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Only near is dear?
- Chapter 3: Frequent callers
- Chapter 4: Shifting duties
- Chapter 5: Disrupted connections
- Chapter 6: From field sites to field events
- Chapter 7: Conclusion
- Epilogue; Summary; Samenvatting; References; List of thesis-based publications
- Downloads
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Ancillary activities
No ancillary activities
Ahlin, T. (2023). Calling Family: Digital Technologies and the Making of Transnational Care Collectives. (Medical anthropology: health, inequality, and social justice). Rutgers University Press.