PhD and Postdoctoral Theses
Current Projects (Doctoral and PhD)
Micropolitics of affect in contemporary Iran - Farshid M. Salimi (M.A.)
Drawing on a Deleuzo-Guattarian approach, Farshid’s PhD project explores the micropolitics of affect in contemporary Iran. Departing from established social science approaches that prioritize institutions or groups of various kinds and levels, this research utilizes the concept of affect, understood as pre-personal intensities, to explain the dynamics of social transformations in contemporary Iran. In this way, the study looks for a nuanced exposition of the conditions under which authoritarian tendencies emerge. Furthermore, the research investigates the conditions for the emergence of alternative, non-fascist social relations.
Justice in climate and migration regimes - Kalia R. Barkai (M.A.)
Climate change interacts with drivers of human im/mobilities, exacerbating the conditions which compel populations to decide whether to stay in at-risk regions, or relocate in the hopes of reducing their precarity. The PhD thesis investigates the injustices of the migration regime and its interaction with climate im/mobilities. Here, climate im/mobilities refers to a wide range of experiences of human movement within and across nations, as well as immobility in the context of climate change. After highlighting the gap in international policymaking and the resulting structural injustices of climate im/mobilities, the thesis proposes a theory of responsibility founded on transgenerational belonging. Belonging connects actors to past, present and future structural injustices, by making visible the moral deficits which are borne by succeeding generations, as well as the responsibility to unburden future generations. Climate im/mobilities are inherently an transgenerational project or, often, compromise. The consequences of a changing environment and decisions to move or stay in these environments are not only borne by people in the present, but generations to follow, while often rooted in historical place attachment. Responding to climate im/mobilities, thus, requires a transgenerational approach: reparations for historic injustice which results in, and reinforces, the differentiated consequences of climate change, responding to loss as grief, and responsibility towards future generations.
Truth and knowledge in contemporary politics - Glorianne Wilkins, M.A.
The thesis engages within the theoretical disciplines of feminist and political epistemology, standpoint theory, and political philosophy. As increasing social division and political disintegration seem to threaten previously held conceptions of social and political progress, the deeply polarized landscape of truth and knowledge in contemporary politics has come into greater focus. Not only has the post-truth era unearthed the epistemological question of what is it to know, and how we know, but it has shaken confidence in our ability to collectively identify what counts as true, or a good reason. Proclaimed universal values such as democracy, truth, and justice waiver in their ability to unite decision makers, instead becoming conceptual weapons wielded by all sides. As such, Glorianne Wilkins is interested in considering the nature of our unquestioned assumptions as it relates to truth and knowledge within contemporary politics, and subsequently how this informs the way in which we think about and respond to our greatest societal challenges. Throughout her thesis she explores the nature of our individual and collective attachments to certainty, and consider how we might confront the limits of what we know in order to develop better tools to make sense of an endlessly complex political world.
Citizen participation in climate policy decision-making processes in metropolitan areas - Janina Walkenhorst, M.A.
In her PhD project, Janina Walkenhorst is investigating the influence of citizen participation on climate policy decision-making processes in metropolitan areas. First, she deals with the normative conception of "good" citizen participation in relation to climate policy, which is situated around the interplay of democratic legitimacy, effective measures, and the emergence of social acceptance. A particular focus is on deliberative participation formats. Furthermore, Janina analyzes the input legitimacy of these participation formats by looking at different approaches to representation in addition to the objective. The questions are: According to which criteria are citizens represented? Who is responsible for weighting the decisions? How is an independent decision-making guaranteed? Furthermore, the interlinkage of citizens’ recommendations evolving from the citizen participation projects to politics & administration as well as the reciprocal effects on legitimacy and acceptance are also included.
Past Projects (Doctoral and PhD)
Energy Justice - Rabea Scholz, M.A.
The dissertation research begins with a theoretical critique of the existing discourse on energy justice. On this basis, Rabea Scholz has built her own principles for an application-oriented energy justice theory. Continuing, she will explore the development of the justice discourse (i.e. climate justice in relation to public health, social justice or tax justice) and which justice current is particularly relevant in Germany. Based on this, Rabea Scholz will investigate how the justice discourse in Germany has shifted, especially in the crisis years 2021 and 2022, to find out to what extent the perception of justice in social issues shifts with changing crisis focus. In particular, due to the currently prevailing energy crisis, questions of justice in the energy transition stand out more clearly than ever. Therefore, it is her concern to implement theory into practice as well and to develop recommendations for policy-making in Germany.