(c) Maren Jeleff Photography

PD Dr.
Robert Pichler
MA

robert.pichler(at)oeaw.ac.at
+43-1-51581-7362

Robert Pichler is a research associate in the research unit Balkan Studies.

Brief Biography

Robert Pichler studied History, along with a selected combination of Philosophy, Psychology, and Art History, at the University of Graz (Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz). In 2017, he was awarded the venia docendi (teaching authorization) in Southeast European History. He deepened his expertise in historical anthropology through a postgraduate course at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and Further Education (Vienna, Klagenfurt, Graz) and through numerous field research stays in Albania, North Macedonia, and Kosovo. He is the President of the International Association for Southeast European Anthropology (InASEA) and a board member of the Center for Balkan Societies and Cultures (CSBSC). Additionally, he has been involved in various academic projects, including at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig, Humboldt University in Berlin, and the University of Graz. In 2004, he was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Prize for Political Book of the Year, together with Wolfgang Petritsch, for the book Kosovo/Kosova. Der lange Weg zum Frieden. As a photographer, he works at the intersection of documentary and art photography.

Research Interests

Period: 19th to 21st centuries.
Area: Southeast Europe, Balkans, especially Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo/a
Topics: migration studies, social history with a focus on family and kinship, formation of nation-states, visual studies

Selected Publications

  • Albania’s 90s. Photographs and Narratives / Fotografi dhe Tregime, mit Edit Pula(j), Wien: bahoe 2020, ISBN 978-3-903290-28-0, 336pp.
  • Remigration to post-socialist Europe. Hopes and realities of return, hgg. mit Caroline Hornstein-Tomic und Sarah Scholl Schneider (Berlin: LIT 2018), ISBN: 978-3643910257, 376pp.
  • Kosovo/Kosova. Der lange Weg zum Frieden, mit Wolfgang Petritsch (Klagenfurt 2004), ISBN: 978-3851295986, 411pp. (Übersetzungen ins Albanische und ins Serbische)
  • Conflicting Loyalties. Social (Dis)Integration in the Balkans, 1839-1914, hgg. mit Nathalie Clayer und Hannes Grandits (London-New York 2011), ISBN: 9781848854772, 368pp.
  • “Migration, Architecture and the Imagination of Home(land). An Albanian-Macedonian Case Study”, in Transnational Societies, Transterritorial Politics. Migrations from the (Post-)Yugoslav Area hrg. von Ulf Brunnbauer (München 2010): 213-236.

Books

  • Kioske / Kiska / Kiosks: Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste / Arkitektura e perkohshme dhe botet e gjalla sociale ne bregdetin shqiptar / Temporary Architecture and Social Living Environments on the Albanian Coast . / Pichler, Robert (Editor).
    Wien : bahoe, 2025. 287 p.
    RISENWBIB
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Editions and Collections

  • Themenschwerpunkt: Towards a social history of Albanians in Socialist Yugoslavia. / Pichler, Robert; Archer , Rory (Editor); Zobec , Mladen (Editor).
    2026. 121 p. (Südost-Forschungen; Vol. 83, No. 1).
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Special issue Visual Studies in and on Southeast Europe: Representation, Power, Memory and Gender in Photography and Film / Ethnologia Balkanica, Vol. 24. / Pichler, Robert (Editor); Krasniqi, Elife (Editor).
    Graz, 2024.
    WebsiteDownloadRISENWBIB
  • Kosovo in the Yugoslav 1980s – Yugoslav Perspectives and Interpretations (Comparative Southeast European Studies 69/2-3). / Pichler, Robert (Editor); Grandits, Hannes (Editor); Fotiadis, Ruža (Editor).
    Oldenbourg: De Gruyter, 2021.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Albania’s 90s. Photographs and Narratives / Fotografi dhe Tregime. / Pichler, Robert; Pulaj, Edit (Editor).
    Wien: bahoe, 2020. 336 p.
    RISENWBIB
  • From the Highlands to Hollywood. Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Southeast Europe (Studies on Southeast Europe, Vol. 25). / Gruber, Siegfried (Editor); Gutmeyr, Dominik (Editor); Jesner, Sabine (Editor) et al.
    Wien: Lit, 2020. 436 p. (Studies on Southeast Europe).
    RISENWBIB
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Articles

  • Towards a social history of Albanians in Socialist Yugoslavia: An Introduction . / Pichler, Robert; Archer , Rory ; Zobec, Mladen .
    In: Südost-Forschungen, Vol. 83, No. 1, 2026, p. 1-9.
    DOIRISENWBIB
  • Albanien und die Kunst der Autoreparatur: Shqiperia dhe arti per te ripariar makinen . / Pichler, Robert.
    Kioske : Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste . ed. / Robert Pichler . Wien , 2025. p. 278-281.
    RISENWBIB
  • Überfischung an der Vjosamündung. / Pichler, Robert.
    Kioske : Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste . ed. / Robert Pichler . Wien , 2025. p. 274-277.
    RISENWBIB
  • Umweltverschmutzung in den Küstengebieten. / Pichler, Robert.
    Kioske : Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste . ed. / Robert Pichler . Wien , 2025. p. 264-273.
    RISENWBIB
  • Begegnungen entlang der Küste. / Pichler, Robert.
    Kioske : Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste . ed. / Robert Pichler . Wien , 2025. p. 194-225.
    RISENWBIB
  • Die Veränderungen der Kioske im Laufe der Jahre. / Pichler, Robert.
    Kioske : Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste . ed. / Robert Pichler . Wien , 2025. p. 158-173.
    RISENWBIB
  • Kioske - temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste. / Pichler, Robert.
    Kioske : Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste . ed. / Robert Pichler . Wien , 2025. p. 16-81.
    RISENWBIB
  • Wie wichtig ist die Feldforschung (noch) für die historisch anthropologische Balkanforschung? / Pichler, Robert; Wolf, Michaela (Editor).
    Visionen Historischer Anthropologie im südöstlichen Europa. Karl Kaser - die Die Diskussion weiterführen. Wien: Lit, 2024. p. 163-170 (Studies on South East Europe).
    RISENWBIB
  • Photography and the Gravity of Context. On Readings of Images of Albania's 90s. / Pichler, Robert; Weiss, Agata Rogos (Editor).
    Borderscape. Research representation and spatiality in the borders. Vernacular Forms, 2024. p. 164-177.
    RISENWBIB
  • Visual Studies in and on Southeastern Europe. An Introduction. / Krasniqi, Elife; Pichler, Robert.
    In: Contemporary Southeastern Europe, No. 2024, 12/1, 13.09.2024, p. 1-13.
    DOIDownloadRISENWBIB
  • Über die Dynamik verwandtschaftlicher Beziehungen im Rückkehrprozess: Positionen kosovoalbanischer Remigrant*innen im Spannungsfeld von Anpassung und Widerstand. / Pichler, Robert.
    Drawing Boundaries and Crossing Borders : Migration in Theorie und Praxis . ed. / Wiebke Sievers; Rainer Bauböck; Mathias Czaika; Albert Kraler. Wien : Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wisssenschaften, 2024. p. 299-317 (JAhrbuch für Migrationsforschung ; Vol. 7).
    RISENWBIB
  • On the Dynamics of Kinship in Migration Processes: Some Perspectives from Historical-Anthropological Studies on North Macedonian Migrants in Austria. / Leitner-Stojanov, Darko; Pichler, Robert.
    In: Journal of Austrian Studies, Vol. Vol. 56, No. Number 4, Winter 2023, 15.12.2023, p. 65-75.
    DOIDownloadRISENWBIB
  • In the Shadow of Kosovo. Divergent National Pathways and the Politics of Differentiation in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. / Pichler, Robert.
    In: Comparative Southeast European Studies, Vol. 69, No. 2-3, 17.11.2021, p. 289-311.
    DOIWebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Kosovo in the 1980s – Yugoslav Perspectives and Interpretations. / Pichler, Robert; Grandits, Hannes; Fotiadis, Ruža.
    In: Comparative Southeast European Studies, Vol. 69, No. 2-3, 17.11.2021, p. 171-182.
    DOIDownloadRISENWBIB
  • Photography, representation, and memory: Observations from presentations, exhibitions and from the field / Fotografia, paraqitja dhe kujtesa: vëzhgime nga prezantime, ekspozita dhe nga terreni. / Pichler, Robert; Pichler, Robert (Editor).
    Albania’s 90s. Albania’s 90s. Photographs and Narratives /Fotografi dhe Tregime. Wien: bahoe, 2020. p. 18-63.
    RISENWBIB
  • Social Cleavages and interethnic conflict in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia: Findings from two villages in Western Macedonia. / Gruber, Siegfried; Pichler, Robert; Gruber, Siegfried (Editor) et al.
    N/A. Wien: Lit, 2020. p. 287-308 (Studies on Southeast Europe).
    RISENWBIB
  • Kioske - temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste / Kiosks - temporary architecture and social living environments on the Albanian coast. / Pichler, Robert; Stiller, Adolph (Editor).
    Albanien. Bauen im Politischen Kontext der Jahrzehnte / Albania. Decades of Architecture in Political Context. Wien: müry salzmann, 2019. p. 220-231 (Architektur im Ringturm).
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Albanian Studies in Graz. Historical Anthropological Approaches to Family, Kinship and Migration – A Brief Overview. / Pichler, Robert; Ismajli, Rexhep (Editor); KOSOVËS, AKADEMIA E SHKENCAVE DHE E ARTEVE E (Editor of Series).
    STUDIMET ALBANISTIKE NË VENDET KU FLITET GJERMANISHT (Albanische Forschungen in den deutschsprachigen Ländern). Prishtina: ASHAK, 2018. p. 329-344 (ASHSH : Seksioni i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë).
    RISENWBIB
  • The fading power of kurbet: A case study of Albanian remigrants to a Macedonian village. / Pichler, Robert; Tomic, Caroline Hornstein (Editor); Pichler, Robert (Editor) et al.
    Remigration and Transformation in Post-socialist European Regions. Wien, Berlin: Lit, 2018. p. 22 (Erste Foundation Series).
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Remigration to Post-socialist Europe. Introduction. / Tomic, Hornstein; Pichler, Robert; Scholl-Schneider, Sarah et al.
    Remigration to Post-socialist Europe. Hopes and Realities of Return. Wien, Berlin: Lit, 2018. (Erste Foundation Series).
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Projektionsfläche Nordalbanien: Bildmächtigkeit und Deutung der Kultur der Berge in Albanien und Österreich in den 1990er Jahren (und heute). / Pichler, Robert; Europe, Bundesministerium (Editor); Äußeres, Integration und (Editor).
    Gemeinsames NeuEntdecken. Ein Kaleidoskop zur Geschichte und Gegenwart der österreichisch-albanischen Beziehungen. Wien: Eigenverlag des Bundesministeriums Europa, Integration und Äußeres, 2018. p. 143-159.
    RISENWBIB
  • Travelling pictures: Remnants of Albanian mountain culture and their changing perception by different audiences. / Pichler, Robert.
    In: Science and Video. Des écriture multimedia en science humaines, No. N° 6, 16.10.2017, p. kein "S.".
    WebsiteDownloadRISENWBIB
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Other Publications

  • Hand in Hand: Albanische Communities in Österreich . / Pichler, Robert.
    In: Rotary, 08.2025, p. 48-49.
    RISENWBIB
  • Die Rückkehr des Königs aus dem Exil: Simeon Sakskoburggotskis Aufstieg und Fall im postsozialistischen Bulgarien .Pichler, Robert (Author). 2025.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Gewaltfreier Widerstand und Staatsbildung in Kosovo 1988—1998. / Pichler, Robert; Brestovci, Shkumbin; Clewing, Konrad.
    Berlin. 2024.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Lasgush Poradeci. Stationen eines Lebens. / Pichler, Robert.
    In: Edition Lichtungen, No. #1, 08.01.2024, p. 8-15.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Kioska - temporary architecture and social living environments on the Albanian coast / Kioska - arkitekturë e përkohshme dhe mjedise të jetesës sociale në bregdetin shqiptar. / Pichler, Robert.
    Shkodra. 2023.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Kioska - arkitekturë e përkohshme dhe mjedise të jetesës sociale në bregdetin shqiptar. / Pichler, Robert.
    Tirana. 2022.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Kioske. Temporäre Architektur und soziale Lebenswelten an der albanischen Küste. / Pichler, Robert.
    Graz. 2022.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Religiöse Erneuerung: Islam bei den Albanern Nordmakedoniens. / Pichler, Robert.
    In: Religion und Gesellschaft in Ost und West, No. 49. Jahrgang, 15.11.2021, p. 7-10.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Exploring Kurvelesh and Himara / Në zbulim të Kurveleshit dhe Himarës. / Pichler, Robert; Pichler, Robert (Editor).
    Wien: bahoe. 2020.
    RISENWBIB
  • Albdorado—Land of blood and honey / Albdorado – Vend prej gjaku dhe mjalti. / Pichler, Robert; Pichler, Robert (Editor).
    Wien: bahoe. 2020.
    RISENWBIB
  • In search of the remnants of the kanun 7 Në kërkim të mbetjeve zakonore të kanunit. / Pichler, Robert; Pichler, Robert (Editor); Pula, Edit (Editor).
    Wien: bahoe. 2020. (Albania’s 90s. Photographs and Narratives /Fotografi dhe Tregime).
    RISENWBIB
  • Ernesto Troshani—the priest committed to pacifying blood feuds / Ernesto Troshani – Prifti I përkushtuar në pajtimin e gjakmarrjes. / Pichler, Robert; Pichler, Robert (Editor).
    Wien: bahoe. 2020.
    RISENWBIB
  • ”Good for those who already died, we could still bury them”—About the disintegration of village communities in the southern Albanian highlands / “Lum ata që vdiqën, sa na kishin neve për t’i varrosur!” – Mbi shpërbërjen e bashkësive të fshatrave në malësitë e Shqipërisë së Jugut. / Pichler, Robert; Pichler, Robert (Editor).
    Wien: bahoe. 2020.
    RISENWBIB
  • First encounters with Albania in 1989 / Takimet e para me Shqipërinë në 1989. / Pichler, Robert.
    Wien: bahoe. 2020.
    RISENWBIB
  • Return to a different country / Kthim në një vendtë ndryshuar. / Pichler, Robert; Pichler, Robert (Editor).
    Wien: bahoe. 2020.
    RISENWBIB
  • FAMILJA DHE FAREFISNIA NDËR SHQIPTARËT: KRAHASIME RAJONALE DHE NDËRKULTURORE. / Pichler, Robert; Shqiptarëve, Instituti i Trashëgimisë Shpirtërore e Kulturore të (Editor).
    Ballkanologjia sot dhe komunikime ndërballkanike (Komunikime historike, gjuhësore dhe etnokulturore). Shkup: Biblioteka: Ballkanologji, 2019. p. 335-354 (BALLKANOLOGJIA - 1 -).
    RISENWBIB
  • Remigration and Transformation in Post-socialist European Regions. / Tomic, Hornstein (Editor); Pichler, Robert (Editor); Scholl-Schneider, Sarah (Editor) et al.
    Wien, Berlin: Lit. 2018.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • 'Lebendige Architektur'. Die Strandbuden an Albaniens Küste. / Pichler, Robert.
    In: Der Standard, 16.05.2018.
    WebsiteRISENWBIB
  • Migration, Lokalität und ethnischer Konflikt. Eine albanisch-makedonische Fallstudie. / Pichler, Robert.
    Graz: Karl Franzens Universität Graz, 2017.
    RISENWBIB
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Links

Cargocollective

Research

Mobility

Ongoing Projects

Remigrations and Transformations in post-socialist European Regions

The Visual Memory Archive Aoos/Vjosa Valley

Kioske

Completed Projects

North Macedonians in Vienna

Die Wiener Friedhofsgärtner aus Veleshta

'Flashback'

Participatory

Exhibitions

Publications

Contemporary Southeastern Europe 2024, 11 (2) (ed. by Robert Pichler and Elife Krasniqi) | Special issue: Visual Studies in and on Southeast Europe

Albania’s 90s

Remigration to post-socialist Europe