Team

Research areas

Prof. Dr Sascha Münnich is head of the Viadrina Institute for European Studies (IFES) and holds the chair of Sociology of the Economy. He works in the field of economic sociology and sociological theory. He deals with financial and labour markets, the significance of critiques of capitalism and social policy in European countries and North America from a comparative historical perspective. In addition to numerous academic publications, he is also present in the media as a mediator of sociological perspectives on the economy, culture and politics of European societies. More information about Sascha Münnich can be found on the website of his Professorship for the Sociology of Economics.

Research areas

PD Dr Estela Schindel is the academic coordinator of the Viadrina Institute for European Studies. Her research focus includes the social dynamics of exclusion and exclusion, biopolitics, border and mobility regimes as well as anthropocentrism as an epistemic crisis, decolonial criticism, dictatorship and violence research and cultures of memory in a comparative perspective.

Research areas

Prof. Dr Claudia Weber's research interests include the history of violence and dictatorships in the 20th century, the cultural history of the Cold War, the history of war in the modern era, historical Europeanisation processes and the history of European concepts. Further information on Professor Dr Claudia Weber can be found on the website of her Professorship for European Contemporary History.

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Prof. Dr Timm Beichelt is Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Studies and holds the Chair of European Studies. From April 2017 to May 2022, he was Director of the IFES. More information about Timm Beichelt can be found on the website of his Professorship of European Studies.

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Aleksandra Belozerova is doing her doctorate at the Faculty of Cultural Studies at the European University Viadrina on the topic „The Liberals in Post-Soviet Russia: Dynamics of Self-Representation and Image in Society (1991-2022)“ and is a research assistant at the Viadrina Center B/ORDERS IN MOTION. 

Research areas

Dr Gautam Chakrabarti is an associate member of the Institute and researches and teaches at the intersection of literary, cultural, social and intellectual history. His research focus includes world literature, world literary knowledge, „maverick cosmopolitanism/s“ in the cultural Cold War and literary and cultural history of (post)colonialism, in particular Südasia. He is also interested in the cultural politics of (former) Yugoslavia and Indo-Jewish literary and cultural history.

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Prof. Dr Theresa Gessler is a junior professor of comparative politics. She researches democracy, populism, digitalisation and gender issues in Europe. Further information about Theresa Gessler can be found on the website of the Junior Professorship of Comparative Politics.

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Dr Anja Hennig is concerned with the comparative analysis of the relationship between religion and politics in contemporary Europe and with transnational resistance to gender equality as an example of illiberal reactions to liberal policies. One country focus is Poland. More information about Anja Hennig can be found on the website of the Professor für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaften.

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Prof. Dr Jens Lowitzsch conducts research on legal and social policy, privatisation and transformation as well as on the economic law of East Central Europe and the shaping of law. Further information can be found on the website of the Kelso Endowed Chair for Comparative Law, Eastern European Economic Law and European Legal Policy.

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Within the framework of the Institute's research fields, Prof Dr Michael Minkenberg focuses on questions of Europeanisation and the politics of its opponents, especially ultra-nationalism in ideology and political practice. More information about Michael Minkenberg can be found on the website of his Professorship for Comparative Politics.

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Professor Dr Jürgen Neyer is Professor of European and International Politics at the European University Viadrina and Founding Director of the European New School of Digital Studies (ENS). His most recent projects focus on the links between technological innovation and international conflicts and on the development of an AI-based search engine for arguments.

Research areas

Dominik Paul-Diehl is an academic assistant at the Chair of Sociology of the Economy. His research interests include the topic of sustainability and its social negotiation processes, particularly in the economy. His doctoral project deals with the field structures of sustainability assessments and ratings of a large financial market. You can find more information about Domink Paul-Diehl on the website of the Professor of Sociology of Economics.

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Dr Sonja Priebus is a postdoctoral researcher at the Chair of European Studies. Her current primary research interest is the dismantling of democracy and the rule of law in EU member states such as Hungary and Poland. In this context, she is primarily concerned with the development and application of the EU's rule of law instruments. She also works on the political systems of the Visegrád states, in particular Hungary's political system, and on constitutional policy.

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Climate change is becoming more and more noticeable in our everyday lives. Increasingly extreme floods, heatwaves and droughts are affecting companies, public infrastructure and, above all, citizens in Germany and the EU. They pose major challenges for insurance companies in particular. How these climate impacts can be recognised and managed are important questions for the insurance industry and the European environmental economy. Prof Dr Reimund Schwarze conducts research into the economics of climate change, climate risk insurance and the management of natural hazards in Europe. Further information can be found on the website of the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ).

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Witold Jacorzynski is an anthropologist at the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social Unidad Regional Sureste (CIESAS Sureste) in Mexico. His research interests include the history of Presbyterian religion in indigenous communities in Chiapas as well as Europe and European integration from a socio-cultural perspective. His current research project is entitled “The terror of the ‘Other’ and its political avatars in Poland”.

Duration of the guest stay: 15 April to 15 June 2024
Funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation