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.
currently no events
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.
Summerterm 2023
Prof. Dr. Lisbeth Zimmermann
Dr. Caroline Fehl
Anne Peltner
Dr. Nele Kortendiek
Caroline Fehl: deputy professor at the Professorship of Political Science with a focus on International Institutions and Peace Processe
As of the winter semester 2022, Dr. Caroline Fehl will partially take over the Professorship for International Institutions and Peace Processes. Dr. Fehl researches institutions and norms in the field of international security policy. She is a Senior Researcher at PRIF and most recently worked on projects on the interaction of norms of protection and law enforcement, multilateral (nuclear) arms control and the future of NATO. We warmly welcome Caroline Fehl to the professorship and look forward to working with her!
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.
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).