Thassilo Hazod

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I am employed as university assistant at the Doctoral School of Cultural and Historical Studies.
Prior to my Master’s Studies in European Ethnology, I studied History (BA, University of Vienna) and Language Arts/Creative Writing (BA, University of Applied Arts Vienna).
During my Erasmus semester in Budapest I developed a particular interest in the situation of Romani People in Europe. In my Master's Thesis I analyzed the performative negotiation of family during photo interviews I conducted with Viennese Romnija and Roma.
After my Master’s Degree I gathered experiences in different fields: journalism and public relations, editing, language teaching and scientific activities as well as curatorial tasks at Volkskundemuseum Wien.
In October 2021 I commenced my doctoral research on family farming (see below) before I was granted my current pre-doc scholarship at the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies. I am active in the school’s “Economic and Social Spaces” research cluster.

Research interests: Kinship, Economic Anthropology, Rurality, Historical anthropology, Gender studies, Ethnographic methods

Current research project: Family Farming: Verschränkungen von Ökonomie und Verwandtschaft am Beispiel einer Ethnographie zu Direktvermarktungs-Betrieben
Family Farming: entanglements of economy and kinship exemplified by an ethnography on direct marketing farms
Because of the climate crisis and the boom of value concepts such as sustainability and regionality, agriculture and food production seem to have become more of a focus in our everyday lives. Advertisements promote regional products and climate-friendly transport routes, new organic brands appear and online platforms, which mediate between agricultural businesses and consumers, are being created.
What I found remarkable on my visits at farmers markets, as well as in analyzing advertisements or online appearances, is the reference to family and the self-designation as a family business. In the current hype about the direct marketing of agricultural products, reference to family and its associated values seem to play an important role. But what structure is to be found behind the concept of these proclaimed family run businesses?
In my study, I ask why young people choose to run an agricultural family business nowadays. What makes this specific way of living and working attractive to them? I would like to understand the logic of this form of economy and use current examples as well as a historical perspective to investigate changes in the relationship between kinship and economy.
In order to find answers to my questions, my study on "family farming" will be conducted by means of ethnographic research (primarily participatory observation, narrative interviews), which aims to connect people's everyday lives with larger social and economic contexts. The study will be conducted at several farms in Upper and Lower Austria. I see my project as a contribution that should stimulate and enrich discussions about today's rural ways of life and connections between economies and kinship in the field of European Ethnology and beyond.

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