Isabel Pires
PhD in Anthropology
Exploring the intersections of culture, identity, and belonging through anthropological research.
Bridging Cultures Through Research
My work sits at the intersection of medical anthropology, feminist theory and the anthropology of the body. I study the processes through which social inequalities — of gender, class, racialisation and migrant status — become inscribed in bodies and are then read, by biomedicine and by common sense, as those bodies' natural properties. I am particularly concerned with how bodily norms operate as forms of citizenship: who is recognised as a legitimate, healthy or desirable body, who falls outside that definition, and at what cost. Drawing on sustained ethnographic fieldwork in Portugal and other European contexts, I have worked on aesthetic practices and cosmetic medicine, migration and racialisation, and more recently on diagnostic uncertainty and reproductive governance. A consistent feminist commitment runs through this trajectory: to understand why women's bodies remain the privileged site of medical intervention, moral surveillance and economic investment — and to grant the practices I study, so often dismissed as vanity, irrationality or desperation, the analytical seriousness they are owed.
Research Focus
My doctoral research examines the intersection of beauty practices, migration patterns, and identity construction within Chinese communities in Portugal. This work reveals how aesthetic choices become vehicles for negotiating belonging and citizenship in transnational contexts.
Drawing inspiration from diverse cultural traditions, including Native American approaches to harmony and connection, my research methodology emphasizes respectful cross-cultural dialogue and community-centered scholarship.
Through ethnographic fieldwork and collaborative research practices, I investigate how communities adapt, preserve, and transform cultural practices in the face of migration and globalization.
PhD in Medical Anthropology
Advanced research in anthropological approaches to health, beauty, and cultural practices
Chinese Migration Studies
Specialized research on Chinese communities in Portugal and transnational identities
Flexible Citizenship
Examining how communities construct and negotiate belonging across borders
Beauty & Culture
Exploring the cultural dimensions of beauty practices and their social significance
Academic Work
Explore my research contributions to medical anthropology, migration studies, and cross-cultural understanding.
Recent Publications
Chinese women constructing and negotiating an ‘ideal’ beauty in Lisbon, or how women and aesthetical medical practitioners materialise ‘race’
Ethnographic article on how Chinese women in Lisbon and aesthetic medical practitioners negotiate ideals of beauty, and how ‘race’ is materialised through those encounters.
Branqueamento de pele
Chapter in the catalogue of the exhibition Be F**king Perfect – The Pursuit of Excellence. Co-authored with Chiara Pussetti.
The chimera manifesto: ‘the animalization of the female body’. An essay about aesthetic medicine
An essay on aesthetic medicine and the animalization of the female body.
A Lotus or a Dragon? – The orientalization and fetishization of Asian women’s bodies
On the orientalization and fetishization of Asian women’s bodies. An official English translation was published alongside the Portuguese original.
Sem este mestrado a minha história seria certamente diferente
Contribution to the volume marking twenty years of the master’s programme in migration, inter-ethnicities and transnationalism.
“Envelhecer hoje, é uma escolha”. Responsabilidades, obrigações e promessas de juventude eterna
On responsibility, obligation and the promise of eternal youth in anti-ageing practices. Co-authored with Chiara Pussetti.
Projects
Be Fu**ing Perfect: À Procura da Perfeição
Chapter on skin whitening, co-authored with Chiara Pussetti, in the catalogue of the exhibition Be F**king Perfect – The Pursuit of Excellence.
View projectEXCEL: The Pursuit of Excellence — Biotechnologies, Enhancement and Bodycapital in Portugal (PTDC/SOC-ANT/30572/2017)
The EXCEL project approaches enhancement technologies as forms of bio-investment aimed at promoting personal competitiveness, in line with a philosophy of excellence, interpreting physical and cognitive changes as voluntary processes of self-construction.
View projectCurriculum Vitae
Academic background, research experience, and professional accomplishments
Download Full CV (PDF)Education
PhD in Anthropology
Instituto de Ciências Sociais, Universidade de Lisboa
Dissertation: “Being Mei Mei is being rich: a procura da beleza e da modernidade entre mulheres chinesas em Lisboa”. Supervisors: Chiara Pussetti and Irene Rodrigues.
MA in Migration, Inter-ethnicities and Transnationalism
NOVA FCSH
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Let's Collaborate
Interested in my research or looking to collaborate? I'd love to hear from you.
Contact Information
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Lisbon, Portugal
Available for local meetings and conferences
Within 48 hours
I respond to all inquiries personally
Areas of Interest
• Research collaborations in medical anthropology
• Cross-cultural beauty and aesthetic studies
• Migration and diaspora community research
• Academic speaking engagements
• Interdisciplinary dialogue opportunities