I am a social anthropologist. Since 2006, I have conducted field research in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and most recently, Georgia. I have also worked as a project coordinator and consultant for international organizations and conducted project evaluations in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Ukraine.  I am currently a principal investigator of the project "Religious Domains of Infrastructure and its Role among Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia." I also work on migrants from Central Asia in Poland and the EU.

My research interests include Islam in the post-Soviet space, sociopolitical problems of Central Asia and the Caucasus, migration and interethnic relations, development, and humanitarian aid. I am also interested in the post-colonial perspective in field research and social anthropology. 

Research projects

2024-present -  Principal Investigator of the project "Religious Domains of Infrastructure and its Role among Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia.", OPUS 26, NCN.

2021-2022 - Principal Investigator of the research project - Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Georgia, uncertain peace and conflict mobility in the context of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the Institute of Slavic Studies, the Polish Academy of Sciences (fieldwork in Georgia)

2021 - a researcher for the preliminary research project of the archive of Professor Antonina Pisarczyk, a Soviet ethnographer of Central Asia, Department of Iranian Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies , Jagiellonian University

2017-2019, Assistant Professor, Department of Iranian Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies , Jagiellonian University, Principal Investigator of the research project - Changes in Spiritual Tradition of Migrants from Tajikistan in the Russian Federation (fieldwork in Moscow).

2013-2016, a researcher (post-doc), Department of Iranian Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies , Jagiellonian University (fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan).Principal Investigator of the research project - A Social Role of Female Religious Leaders in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (fieldwork in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan).

2008-2013, Ph.D. student, a researcher, Institute of Applied Social Sciences, University of Warsaw (fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). The research project - The Relationship between Self-governments and Informal, Traditional Institutions, and International and Local Non-governmental Organizations in Tajikistan

2006 , research for MSc dissertation, SOAS (fieldwork in Kyrgyzstan)a research project: The Informal Economy and Women’s involvement in The Bazaar trade after the Collapse of the USSR

Selected publications:

ARTICLES

2026

Cieślewska, Anna. (2026). “Religious ‘things’ and memories of the Nagorno-Karabakh: ethnographic cases from Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in Georgia”. Culture and Religion, 1–20. doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2026.2628670

2025

Cieślewska, Anna, and Ketevan Khutsishvili. 2025. “In the Karabakh Conflict’s Shadow: Ethnic Divides and the Challenges of Social Cohesion in Georgia (Report from the Project).” Zeszyty Wiejskie . DOI: 10.18778/1506-6541.31.03.

2023

Cieślewska, Anna. 2023. “Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia: The Role of Religion and Religious Leaders in the Second Karabakh War.” Caucasus Analytical Digest 134.

2021

Cieślewska, Anna. 2021. “Second Wife, Second Life: Polygyny among Migrants from Central Asia in Moscow.” Oriente Moderno 100(2): 225–247.
Cieślewska, Anna. 2021. Review of Islam in Central Asia and the Caucasus Since the Fall of the Soviet Union by Bayram Balchi. Journal of Religion in Europe 14(3–4).

2020

Cieślewska, Anna, and Zbigniew Błajet. 2020. “The Spiritual Industry of Central Asian Migrants in Moscow.” Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Research 12(1): 106–126.

2017

Cieślewska, Anna. 2017. “Local Development in Practice: A Case Study – Mahalla Committees in Their Interaction with a Foreign NGO in the Vakhsh Valley in Tajikistan.” Antropologicheskii Forum 35: 169–188.

2016

Cieślewska, Anna. 2016. “Transforming the Social Role of Female Religious Professionals in Tajikistan.” Asian Studies Review 40(4): 510–526.
Cieślewska, Anna. 2016. “Islamskii Faktor.” Antropologicheskii Forum 28: 118–120.

BOOK CHAPTERS

2025 

Cieślewska, Anna, and Klaudia Kosicińska. 2025. “Navigating Turbulence: Azerbaijani-Armenian Relations in Georgia Post-2020 Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict” In Fiction, Memory, and Ethnic Politics in the South Caucasus, edited by Mikhail Mamedov, Nona Shahnazarian, Peter Orte, and Ulvi Ismail. Routledge.

2021

Cieślewska, Anna. 2021. “Spiritual Mobility: Alternative Practices of Healing among Migrants from Central Asia in Moscow.” In Labour, Mobilities and Informal Practices, edited by Rano Turaeva and Rustam Urinboyev, 133–148. Routledge.

Cieślewska, Anna. 2021. “Praying in Moscow – Migrants’ City: A Religious Experience of Female Migrants from Central Asia.” In Cultures of Islam: Vernacular Traditions and Revisionist Interpretations across Russia, edited by Marlene Laruelle and J. Schmoller, 113–128. Central Asia Program.

2018

Cieślewska, Anna. 2018. “Bibi Otun – Traditional Female Religious Leaders in Tajikistan.” In Oazisy Shelkovogo Puti, edited by R. Abbiazov, 756–762. Islamskaja Kniga.

2015

Cieślewska, Anna. 2015. “Female Religious Practitioners in Tajikistan.” In Studies on the Iranian World II: Medieval and Modern, edited by Anna Krasnowolska and Renata Rusek-Kowalska, 129–148. Jagiellonian University Press.

2014

Cieślewska, Anna. 2014. “Challenges and Controversies of International Assistance in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.” In Economy and Growth from the Asian States’ Perspective, edited by J. Marszałek-Kawa, 209–226. Toruń.

2013

Cieślewska, Anna. 2013. “From Shuttle Trader to Businesswomen: The Informal Bazaar Economy in Kyrgyzstan.” In The Informal Post-Socialist Economy, edited by Jeremy Morris and Abel Polese, 121–134. Routledge.

BOOKS

2017
Cieślewska, Anna. 2017. Islam with a Female Face: How Women Are Changing the Religious Landscape in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka.

2015
Cieślewska, Anna. 2015. Community, the State and Development Assistance: Transforming the Mahalla in Tajikistan. Kraków: Księgarnia Akademicka.

2012
Cieślewska, Anna, and Agnieszka Makowska. 2012. Gdzie jest ta woda? Dostęp do wody w kontekście problematyki rozwojowej regionu Azji Centralnej. Warszawa: Wschodnioeuropejskie Centrum Demokratyczne.

ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES

2019
Cieślewska, Anna. 2019. “Religious Practices: Preaching and Women Preachers: Tajikistan.” In Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, edited by Suad Joseph.

2015
Cieślewska, Anna. 2015. “Turkmenistan.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty, edited by Mehmet Odekon.
Cieślewska, Anna. 2015. “Uzbekistan.” In The SAGE Encyclopedia of World Poverty, edited by Mehmet Odekon.

2017
Cieślewska, Anna. 2017. “Chelnoki.” In The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality, edited by Alena Ledeneva, Vol. 2. UCL Press.

REPORTS

2023
Cieślewska, Anna; B. Błajet; E. Seitov. 2023. Islam w Azji Centralnej. Warsaw: Office for Foreigners.
Cieślewska, Anna, and Khatia Khutsishvili. 2023. Armenians and Azerbaijanis of Georgia in the Context of the 2020 War. Institute of Slavic Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences.

IN PREPARATION

Cieślewska, Anna. Religious “Things” and Memories of the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict among Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Georgia. Journal of Culture and Religion (in preparation).

POLISH-LANGUAGE PUBLICATIONS

(in reverse chronological order)

2016
Cieślewska, Anna. 2016. “Taniec baczy – zakazane praktyki cielesne w przedrewolucyjnej Azji Centralnej.” In collection edited by K. Pachniak and M. Nowaczek-Walczak, 73–82. University of Warsaw.

2014
Cieślewska, Anna. 2014. “Kobiece autorytety religijne w Tadżykistanie – między tradycją a nowoczesnością.” Pomoc Rozwojowa 1: 3–10.
Cieślewska, Anna, and Agnieszka Makowska. 2014. “Globalne problemy z wodą na przykładzie społeczności lokalnych w Tadżykistanie i Kirgistanie.” Pomoc Rozwojowa 2: 11–16.

2013
Cieślewska, Anna. 2013. “Bezrobocie w Azji Centralnej po rozpadzie ZSRR.” Pomoc Rozwojowa 4: 9–15.
Cieślewska, Anna. 2013. “Upadek Człowieka Radzieckiego – wybrane aspekty migracji z Azji Centralnej do Federacji Rosyjskiej.” In Wokół problematyki migracyjnej, edited by J. Balicki and M. Chamarczuk, 347–358. Warsaw: Rządowa Rada Ludnościowa.

2011
Cieślewska, Anna. 2011. “Migracje z Azji Centralnej.” In Oblicza Azji, Afryki i Ameryki Łacińskiej, edited by K. Górak-Sosnowska and U. Markowska. Warsaw.
Cieślewska, Anna. 2011. “Samorząd w Tadżykistanie – między tradycją a nowoczesnością.” In Oblicza Azji, Afryki i Ameryki Łacińskiej, edited by K. Górak-Sosnowska and U. Markowska. Warsaw.

2010
Cieślewska, Anna. 2010. “Bazary a nieformalna gospodarka w Centralnej Azji na przykładzie Kirgistanu.” In Globalny Orient, edited by K. Górak-Sosnowska and J. Jurewicz. Łódź.
Cieślewska, Anna. 2010. “Organizacje międzynarodowe w procesie budowania samorządności lokalnej.” In Kulturowe Uwarunkowania Rozwoju, edited by K. Górak-Sosnowska and J. Jurewicz. Łódź.