Sophia Birchinger conducted another research stay in Guinea-Bissau from 10 March to 25 April 2025. Following an initial three month stay in 2024, Sophia proceeded to undertake further research for her PhD project titled “Perceptions of Coercion: AU and ECOWAS Interventions in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau”. In the dissertation she employs a bottom-up approach through focus group and interview research to examine how citizens in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau experience the threat and use of coercion in African peace interventions. Hosted and greatly supported by the civil society organization Fórum de Paz, Sophia joined efforts with early career academics and practitioners from different institutions, closely collaborating in order to realize focus groups in the capital city Bissau and across the country. Moreover, Sophia Birchinger is associated with the national research institute Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisa (INEP) as well as the Universidade Colinas de Boé. The research was funded by a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and PRIF.
Sophia Birchinger is a doctoral researcher in the research group “African Intervention Politics” in PRIF’s Research Department Glocal Junctions. The focus of her research pertains to the realm of international peacebuilding, with a particular focus on the everyday and theories of coercion in international relations. Specifically, Sophia Birchinger focuses on African regional organizations (AU, ECOWAS), as well as (non-)military interventions within the African Peace and Security Architecture.
