Research focus
- Everyday life
- Cultural history of working-class culture, labor migration
- Queer culture, popular music
- Consumer culture and popular commemorative practices
Biography
Mišo Kapetanović is a Marie Skłodowska Curie postdoctoral researcher at the Austrian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Habsburg and Balkan Studies. He obtained his doctoral degree in Balkan studies from the University of Ljubljana (2017) and has since held research fellow positions at the University of Rijeka, the Institute for Advanced Studies Kőszeg, The Center for Urban History of East-Central Europe in Lviv, and the University of St. Gallen.
Kapetanović's research centers on the working class cultural in Southeast Europe, covering topics such as everyday life, working-class culture, labor migration, queer culture, popular music, and consumer culture. His work examines the complexities and power dynamics within the region, with a keen focus on the pursuit of a good life by individuals of diverse social statuses.
Currently, Kapetanović is engaged in the DINARKVIR project, supported by Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions and Horizon Europe. This research looks at gender and sexual diversity in the Western Balkans prior to the twentieth century's intense modernization. By investigating early South Slavic and German language ethnographic materials, the project identifies cases of tobelijas (so-called “sworn virgins”) and pobratimi/posestrime (ritual brotherhood/sisterhood), providing insights into the lives and daily practices of regional gender non-binary people and same-sex-loving individuals. The project's findings will be disseminated through academic and local community channels in order to inform and educate on this overlooked aspect of the region's history.
In the 2023 summer semester, Kapetanović taught two courses for bachelor- (“Wild Peoples: Gender, Race, and Desire in Colonial Gaze of European Ethnology and Beyond”) and master-level students (“Feminist Approaches to Porn: Abuse, Liberation, and Commodification of Image”). These courses are designed to help students gain a better understanding of the historical contexts and contemporary issues surrounding gender, race, and sexual identity.
Research projects
“DINARKVIR – Looking for Historical Queerness in the Slavic-Speaking Dinaric Mountains,” funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 101032413) (2022-2025)
“The Politics of Migration and Identity in an Era of Rising Mobilities – Post-Yugoslav Communities in Switzerland,” funded by the GFF IPF, the University of St. Gallen (2019–2022).