International Relations studies the interactions of states, international organizations, non-state actors (such as non-governmental organizations or companies), and individuals across national borders.
We focus, on the one hand, on the change of international institutions and norms – as well as their contestation. On the other hand, we explore the role of international institutions in conflict and peace processes.
In this context, the team at the chair offers the following thematic expertise:
The specific expertise covers the following topics:
For more information on current projects, please follow the below link to our project site.
The team of the Chair of International Institutions and Peace Processes
Here you will find everything about current events/publications/lectures/job postings and other current topics of the professorship.
BOOK TALK
Tuesday, 21 May 2024, 4-6 pm, PEG 1.G 150
Advocacy and Change in International Organizations: Communication, Protection, and Reconstruction in UN Peacekeeping (OUP, 2023)
Kseniya Oksamytna (City University of London) will present her new book (2024 Winner of the Chadwick F. Alger Book Award by the International Studies Association IO Section) and talk about her current research projects (e.g., Race and IOs, UN Peacekeeping, Russian Invasion of Ukraine).
If you would like to attend, please send a short message to Melina Bräutigam (m.braeutigam@soz.uni-frankfurt.de) by 17 May. Thank you.
Research
Colloquium
International
Relations and Institutions
Every
Wednesday during the term, 12h00 – 14h00
The Link between
Contestation and Norm Robustness
New book on international norm disputes
published at Oxford University Press
International norms, institutions, and
the international order itself are increasingly under challenge in virtually
every policy area – from human rights and global health, through trade and
climate change, to arms control and international peace and security law. International
relations scholars have begun to study the effects of norm contestation,
backlash against institutions and courts, and the broader crisis of the liberal
international order. Whether contestation weakens or even strengthens international
norms has inspired a lively debate in international relations and international
law. Does contestation always intrinsically weaken norms, or is contestation
itself a normative force that reinforces norms in their validity through
continuous actualization?
In their newly released volume “International Norm Disputes: The Link
between Contestation and Norm Robustness " Lisbeth Zimmermann, Nicole Deitelhoff, Max Lesch, Antonio Arcudi, and Anton Peez explore how the dispute over
international norms affects their validity. The book compares four contemporary
cases of contested norms – the torture prohibition, the responsibility to
protect, the moratorium on commercial whaling, and the duty to prosecute institutionalized
in the International Criminal Court – and two historical cases – privateering
and the transatlantic slave trade.
The book is the result of the project “Norm Disputes: Contestation and NormRobustness", which is funded by the German Research Foundation
(DFG).
New publication on cynicism in international organizations
Ben Christian examines the causes and consequences of cynical attitudes in IOs based on interviews with UN Secretariat staff. Read the open access publication in the Swiss Journal of Sociology here.
New Publication on the Visual Framing of Refugees by International Organizations
In the Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies, Nele Kortendiek and Joseph Oertel examine the effects of the UNHCR's visual framing of refugees on attitudes toward asylum seekers in Germany. Using a survey experiment, they show that the representation of refugees as helpless, which is supposed to lead to an increased willingness to accept them, can have paradoxical effects. Due to a strengthened perception of displaced people as economically burdensome, the willingness to accept them decreases. The article can be read here.
Winterterm 2023/2024
Ann-Kathrin Korb
Dr. Nele Kortendiek
Max Weber Fellowship for Dr. Nele Kortendiek
Dr. Nele Kortendiek has been awarded a Max Weber Fellowship and will
spend a year at the European University Institute (EUI), starting in autumn
2024, researching global governance in times of crisis and contestation.
Dr
Nele Kortendiek directs new research project funded by the DFG
From
January 2024, Dr Nele Kortendiek will be leading a research project funded by
the DFG as part of the transMID research group on the making and implementation
of norms for the protection of refugees by international organisations.
Together with Melina Tretmans, a doctoral researcher in the project, she is
analysing how UNHCR and IOM develop and implement gender norms and norms for
the protection of migrants with disabilities. To this end, they are analysing harmonisation
and differentiation processes at headquarter level and in the field and
identifying factors that promote effective protection on the ground.
Further information can be found on the research pages.
Prof. Dr. Lisbeth Zimmermann recieved ERC Starting Grant
Prof. Dr. Lisbeth Zimmermann has received the ERC Starting Grant of 1.5 million Euro for her research project „The Effects of Far Right Challenges on International Organizations (FARRIO)“. Learn more on FARRIO here.
The official website for the FARRIO project with more info can be found here.
Prof. Dr. Lisbeth Zimmermann
Prosessorship for International Institutions and Peace Processes
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Faculty Social Sciences
Institute for Political Science
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6
60323 Frankfurt am Main
PEG-Building - Room 3.G 139
Postbox 28
Phone: +49 (69) 798-36615
l.zimmermann@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
Administration Office
Melina Bräutigam
Theodor-W.-Adorno-Platz 6
60323 Frankfurt am Main
PEG-Building - Room 2.G 143
Tel. +49 (69) 798-36643
m.braeutigam@soz.uni-frankfurt.de
Office hours
Consultation hours with Prof. Dr. Zimmermann take place on Tuesday from 10 am - 12 pm.
Please contact Melina Bräutigam (m.braeutigam@soz.uni-frankfurt.de).