Dr. Johanna Speyer

Researcher

​Johanna Speyer is a Post­doctoral Researcher in the LOEWE Research Group World Orders in Conflict at PRIF, a Research Associate in the Research Depart­ment Inter­national Institutions and an External Research Associate at Goethe University Frankfurt/M. She works on the contestation of norms and institutions, the dynamics of inter­national authority and the question of when (norm) contestation leads to a crisis of order.​ 

Johanna Speyer
speyer(at)prif.org
 Press photo

CV

| Feb. – March 2026
Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Economics and Political Science (SEPS), University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland

|since 2024 
Research Assistant (Postdoc) in the LOEWE research group “World Orders in Conflict” at PRIF 

​| 2024 
Lecturer, Johannes Guten­berg University Mainz 

​| 2020–2023 
Junior member of the Guten­berg Academy (since 2023: Guten­berg Academy Honors Program, GAHP) 

​| 2017–2024 
Research Assistant and doctoral candidate at the Depart­ment of Inter­national Politics (Prof. Dr. Arne Niemann) at the Institute of Political Science, Johannes Guten­berg University Mainz 

​| 2016–2017 
Research Assistant at the Depart­ment of Inter­national Politics (Prof. Dr. Arne Niemann) at the Institute of Political Science, Johannes Guten­berg University Mainz, Coordinator of the GLK project “Internationali­sierung der Politik­wissenschaft: Ausbau und Verstetigung innovativer englisch­sprachiger Lehre mit Hebel­wirkung für Dritt­mittelanträge” 

​| 2014–2016 
International Studies/Peace and Conflict Research (MA), Goethe University Frankfurt/Main 

​| 2013–2014 
Project Assistant in the DAAD project "Tunisia in Transition", Chair of Inter­national Politics (Prof. Dr. Bern­hard Stahl), University of Passau 

​| 2012–2013 
Tutor for Macroeconomics, Chair of Economics, focus on Eco­nomic Theory (Prof. Dr. Johann Graf Lambs­dorff), University of Passau 

​| 2010–2014 
Study of Political Science – Governance and Public Policy (BA), University of Passau 

Publications

  • Replicating Stigma?
    | 2026
    Speyer, Johanna (2026): Replicating Stigma?. Poland’s Backlash against the European Union, Global Studies Quarterly, 6: 1, ksag031. DOI: 10.1093/isagsq/ksag031
  • Der Schlüssel zur Umstrittenheit der Weltordnung?
    | 2025
    Speyer, Johanna (2025): Der Schlüssel zur Umstrittenheit der Weltordnung?. Für ein integriertes Verständnis der Kontestation von Normen und Institutionen, ZIB, 32: 2, 206–223. DOI: 10.5771/0946-7165-2025-2-206
  • How a Conversation Between EU Studies and Critical-Constructivist IR Norm Research Illuminates a Union in Crisis. A Research Note
    | 2024
    Speyer, Johanna; Stockmann, Nils (2024): How a Conversation Between EU Studies and Critical-Constructivist IR Norm Research Illuminates a Union in Crisis. A Research Note, Journal of Common Market Studies, 62: 3, 902–913. DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13508
  • How a Conversation Between EU Studies and Critical‐Constructivist IR Norm Research Illuminates a Union in Crisis
    | 2024
    Speyer, Johanna; Stockmann, Nils (2024): How a Conversation Between EU Studies and Critical‐Constructivist IR Norm Research Illuminates a Union in Crisis. A Research Note, JCMS (Journal of Common Market Studies), 62: 3, 902–913. DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13508
  • Reflexivity Matters! Wie die IB-Normenforschung von der Kommunikation über Situiertheit profitiert
    | 2023
    a; Stelter, Maike; Kropp, Selma; Schmidtke, Tobias; Speyer, Johanna; Stockmann, Nils (2023): Reflexivity Matters! Wie die IB-Normenforschung von der Kommunikation über Situiertheit profitiert, Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, 30: 2, 187–199. DOI: 10.5771/0946-7165-2023-2-187
  • The “Refugee crisis,” Immigration Attitudes, and Euroscepticism
    | 2019
    Stockemer, Daniel; Niemann, Arne; Speyer, Johanna; Unger, Doris (2019): The “Refugee crisis,” Immigration Attitudes, and Euroscepticism, International Migration Review, 54: 3, 883‒912. DOI: 10.1177/0197918319879926
  • Immigration, anti-immigrant attitudes and Eurosceptism: a meta-Analysis
    | 2018
    Stockemer, Daniel; Niemann, Arne; Rabenschlag, Johannes; Speyer, Johanna; Unger, Doris (2018): Immigration, anti-immigrant attitudes and Eurosceptism: a meta-Analysis, French Politics, 16: 1, 328‒340. DOI: 10.1057/s41253-018-0065-x
  • Das Gegenteil von gut ist gut gemeint: Wie ein Weltmenschenrechtsgerichtshof die Menschenrechte schwächt
    | 2018
    Speyer, Johanna (2018): Das Gegenteil von gut ist gut gemeint: Wie ein Weltmenschenrechtsgerichtshof die Menschenrechte schwächt, Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, 25: 2, 6‒32. DOI: 10.5771/0946-7165-2018-2-6
  • A Neofunctionalist Perspective on the ‚European Refugee Crisis‘: the Case of the European Border and Coast Guard
    | 2018
    Niemann, Arne; Speyer, Johanna (2018): A Neofunctionalist Perspective on the ‚European Refugee Crisis‘: the Case of the European Border and Coast Guard, Journal of Common Market Studies, 56: 1, 23‒43. DOI: 10.1111/jcms.12653

  • International Perceptions of Brexit
    | 2022
    Speyer, Johanna; Chaban, Natalia; Niemann, Arne (2022): International Perceptions of Brexit, in: Leruth, Benjamin/Gänzle, Stefan/Trondal, Jarle (eds), The Routledge Handbook of Differentiation in the European Union, Abingdon: Routledge, 633‒648.
    Publication
  • Conclusion: External Perceptions of the EU and EU Foreign Policy Making at Times of Brexit
    | 2020
    Chaban, Natalia; Niemann, Arne; Speyer, Johanna (2020): Conclusion: External Perceptions of the EU and EU Foreign Policy Making at Times of Brexit, in: Chaban, Natalia/Niemann, Arne/Speyer, Johanna (eds), Changing Perceptions of the EU at times of Brexit: Global Perspectives, Abingdon: Routledge, 281296.
    Publication
  • Introduction: Uncertain Change and Changing Uncertainty: the Brexit Referendum and the EU in the Eyes of the World
    | 2020
    Speyer, Johanna; Chaban, Natalia; Niemann, Arne (2020): Introduction: Uncertain Change and Changing Uncertainty: the Brexit Referendum and the EU in the Eyes of the World, in: Chaban, Natalia/Niemann, Arne/Speyer, Johanna (eds), Changing Perceptions of the EU at times of Brexit: Global Perspectives, Abingdon: Routledge, 1‒24.
    Publication
  • Increasingly brittle? US-perceptions of the EU after Brexit and their impact on EU-US relations
    | 2020
    Speyer, Johanna; Hähn, Laura; Niemann, Arne (2020): Increasingly brittle? US-perceptions of the EU after Brexit and their impact on EU-US relations, in: Chaban, Natalia/Niemann, Arne/Speyer, Johanna (eds), Changing Perceptions of the EU at times of Brexit: Global Perspectives, Abingdon: Routledge, 99‒115.
    Publication

  • Changing Perceptions of the EU at times of Brexit
    | 2020
    Chaban, Natalia; Niemann, Arne; Speyer, Johanna (2020): Changing Perceptions of the EU at times of Brexit, Changing Perceptions of the EU at times of Brexit, Abingdon: Routledge.
    Publication

  • Rezension: Alle Farben des Regenbogens gegen die Krise der Weltordnung?
    | 2026
    Speyer, Johanna (2026): Rezension: Alle Farben des Regenbogens gegen die Krise der Weltordnung? , Portal für Politikwissenschaft.
    Publication
  • Der Globale Pandemievertrag – Kann eine regelbasierte Ordnung auch ohne die USA gelingen?
    | 2025
    Deitelhoff, Nicole; Speyer, Johanna (2025): Der Globale Pandemievertrag – Kann eine regelbasierte Ordnung auch ohne die USA gelingen?, PRIF Spotlight, 9, Frankfurt/M. DOI: 10.48809/prifspot2509
  • The rules-based international order will not survive if its institutions only work in powerful states’ interests
    | 2024
    Christian, Ben; Speyer, Johanna; Zimmermann, Lisbeth (2024): The rules-based international order will not survive if its institutions only work in powerful states’ interests, LSE Blog.
    Publication
  • Auftakt zum Forum "Krise und Normkontestation"
    | 2023
    Stockmann, Nils; Speyer, Johanna (2023): Auftakt zum Forum "Krise und Normkontestation", Theorieblog.
    Publication
  • Whither Norms Research in Times of Uncertainty? A Symposium
    | 2022
    Gholiagha, Sassan; Speyer, Johanna; Wilkens, Jan; Wunderlich, Carmen (2022): Whither Norms Research in Times of Uncertainty? A Symposium, The Duck of Minerva.
    Publication
  • Backlash: Unpacking the Concept’s Analytical Promise
    | 2022
    Speyer, Johanna (2022): Backlash: Unpacking the Concept’s Analytical Promise, Mainz Papers on International and European Politics Nr. 26.
    Publication
  • Nachhaltige Karrierewege? Wie, warum und was wir ändern müssen. Fazit und Handlungsempfehlungen
    | 2021
    Budde, Svenja; Plank, Friedrich; Giesen, Michael; Speyer, Johanna (2021): Nachhaltige Karrierewege? Wie, warum und was wir ändern müssen. Fazit und Handlungsempfehlungen, DVPW Blog.
    Publication
  • Nachhaltige Karrierewege? Navigieren zwischen Struktur und Freiheit: Aktuelle Probleme und Verbesserungsperspektiven der Promotionsbetreuung in der deutschen Politikwissenschaft
    | 2021
    Budde, Svenja; Plank, Friedrich; Speyer, Johanna (2021): Nachhaltige Karrierewege? Navigieren zwischen Struktur und Freiheit: Aktuelle Probleme und Verbesserungsperspektiven der Promotionsbetreuung in der deutschen Politikwissenschaft, DVPW Blog.
    Publication
  • Images of a Divorce. External Perceptions of Brexit in the USA and their Influence on Transatlantic Relations
    | 2019
    Speyer, Johanna; Niemann, Arne (2019): Images of a Divorce. External Perceptions of Brexit in the USA and their Influence on Transatlantic Relations, Mainz Papers on International and European Politics Nr. 19.
    Publication

Further Activities

| since 2025
Vice Chair of the PRIF Research Council

| since 2023 
Board member at Evangelische Akademie Frankfurt e.V. 

| since 2020 
Co-Speaker of the IB-Norms Research Group of the German Political Science Association (GPSA) 

| 2020–2023 
Co-Speaker of the Early Career Group Inter­national Relations (ECIB) of the German Political Science Association (GPSA) 

| 2019–2023 
Member of the Guten­berg Nachwuchs­kolleg (GNK), Johannes Guten­berg University Mainz 

Selection:
 

  • Might makes right? The link between power, polycrisis, and order (with Nicole Deitelhoff, Mina Trpkovic and Jonas J. Driedger). Workshop Shifting Political Orders in the Polycrisis, Heidelberg, December 4, 2025.
  • Conceptualizing and assessing international order and its crises (with Felix Bethke, Nicole Deitelhoff, Jonas J. Driedger, Ivan Kharitonov, Anton Peez and Mina Trpkovic). Workshop „Is There a Nature of the Beast? Studying Crisis and World Order“, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt, June 12, 2025.
  • Crisis, Change and Collapse – What role for the EU in (creating a new) world order? Canadian EU Studies Tour, Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, May 23, 2025.
  • Conceptualizing Backlash in a Global South Context (with Friedrich Plank). Offene Tagung der Themengruppe Normenforschung: Make Norms Research Great Again? Hamburg, May 15–16, 2025.
  • ‚Dealmaker‘ und Autokraten – Herausforderungen und Perspektiven einer neuen Weltordnung? Forum Heiligenberg - Mitten in Europa, Schloss Heiligenberg Seeheim-Jugenheim, March 27, 2025.
  • Conceptualizing Backlash in a Global South Context (with Friedrich Plank). 66th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, Chicago, March 4, 2025.
  • Contesting the Rule of Law and the European Union? On the relationship between norm contestation, institutional contestation and the crisis of the liberal international order, Chicago, March 4, 2025.
  • Rettet die Weltordnung? Thementag Konflikte an der Internatsschule Schloss Hansenberg, January 30, 2025.
  • Wissens- und Kompetenzvermittlung im flipped Classroom – der schmale Grat zwischen Studierendenorientierung und Arbeitsbelastung (with Arne Niemann). 29. DVPW Kongress, Göttingen, September 24–27, 2024.
  • Kontestation von Rechtsstaatlichkeit, Kontestation der EU? Zu den Gründen und dem Zusammenhang zwischen der Kontestation von Fundamentalnormen und institutionellen Ordnungen. 29. DVPW-Kongress, Göttingen, September 24–27, 2024.
  • Two sides of the same coin? Challenging the link between authority growth and authority contestation. Multiplication of Global Governance Authority: Contestation, In/formalization, and Constellations, Heidelberg, July 11–12, 2025.
  • „Crisis and Contestation – Conceptual Boundary Work for a Future Yet to Come” (Organisation mit N. Stockmann), European Workshops in International Studies (EWIS), Istanbul, July 3–5, 2024.
  • The contestation of fundamental norms: What Poland’s backlash against the EU reveals about norm hierarchies and contestation, British International Studies Association (BISA) Annual Conference, Birmingham, UK, June 5–7, 2024.
  • Institutional Contestation, Norm Contestation and Norm Hierarchies in Poland’s Backlash Against the EU. British International Studies Association (BISA) Annual Conference, Birmingham, UK, June 5–7, 2024.
  • Reacting to or Engaging Stigma? Poland’s Backlash against the European Union. Stigma in World Politics Special Issue workshop, online, May 31, 2024.
  • Hitting the high Cs of International Relations research: How do norm contestation and crises relate to each other? (mit N. Stockmann), 16th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, European International Studies Association, Potsdam, September 5–9, 2023.
  • Normgezwitscher: Twitter-Analysen in der konstruktivistischen Normenforschung (mit J. Biel), 7th Open Section Conference of the Section “International Relations“ of the German Political Science Association (GPSA), Friedrichshafen, June 14–16, 2023.
  • Institutional Contestation, Norm Contestation and Norm Hierarchies in Poland’s Backlash Against the EU, 64th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association “Real Struggles, High Stakes: Cooperation, Contention, and Creativity “, Montréal, March 15–18,2023.
  • 16. Early Career Tagung Internationale Beziehungen „Theorien und Problemfelder internationaler Politik“ (Organized with the representatives of the Early Career Group International Relations (ECIB) of the German Political Science Association (GPSA): S. Biedermann, S. Mokry, Dr. F. Plank, T. Rosner-Merker and N. Stockmann), Akademie für Politische Bildung Tutzing, February 14–16, 2023.
  • To say, what the Rule of Law is. Norm Cores between Empty Signifiers and Liberal Impositions, 6th Open Section Conference of the Section “International Relations“ of the German Political Science Association (GPSA), Freiburg/online, October 7–9, 2020. Nominated for the Best Paper Award of the Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (zib, Journal of International Relations)
  • (Legal) Security lost? How the European Union can help us understand about international backlashes against liberal norms and institutions; “The EU in international security after Brexit: New paths for Europe? “, Workshop at the University of Cambridge, December 13–14, 2018.
  • “Broken, bankrupt and bizarre“? What prisoners' voting reveals about the relationship between national Democracy and the international enforcement of human rights norms; as well asThe tip of the iceberg? What Hungary’s and Poland’s defiance of Art. 2 TEU reveals about the future of the European Union; 27th Scientific Congress of the GPSA, Frankfurt/M., September 25–28, 2018.
  • Images of a Divorce. External Perceptions of the Brexit in the USA and their influence on Transatlantic Relations (together with Arne Niemann); 59th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association “Power of Rules and Rule of Power“, San Francisco, April 4–7, 2018.
  • Die Unwahrscheinlichkeit der Menschenrechte. Überlegungen zu einer individuellen Klagebefugnis auf globaler Ebene; 5th Open Section Conference of the Section “International Relations“ of the German Political Science Association (GPSA), Bremen, October 4–6, 2017.

“EKD-Denkschrift geht bei Atomwaffen zu weit”, Interview on the EKD's new peace paper, epd, November 11, 2025.
“Zwischen Trump und Putin: Wie Europa in der neuen Welt-Unordnung seinen Weg finden kann”, Frankfurter Rundschau coverage of the panel discussion “Ende einer Weltordnung”, April 1, 2025.

  • June 15, 2023: Moderation of the panel discussion “Krise und Norm­kontestation – Zum Verhältnis zweier omni­präsenter Konzepte“ (together with N. Stock­mann)
  • November 24, 2017: Moderation of the panel discussion “Demo­kratie neu Denken: Wie sieht politische Partizi­pation in Zukunft aus?“, Evangelische Akademie Frankfurt e.V.

  • November 24, 2025: Panel discussion “ZuFrieden? Die neue EKD-Friedensdenkschrift als ethischer Orientierungsbeitrag in einer Welt in Unordnung,” Evangelische Akademie Frankfurt/M. and epd.
  • May 23, 2025: “Crisis, Change and Collapse – What role for the EU in (creating a new) world order?”, Canadian EU Studies Tour, Institute for Political Science, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Mainz.
  • March 31, 2025: Panel discussion “Ende einer Weltordnung. Europa auf der Suche nach einer neuen Rolle,”  Friedenspolitisches Forum, Haus am Dom, Frankfurt/Main.
  • March 27, 2025: Lecture and discussion “‘Dealmaker‘ und Autokraten – Herausforderungen und Perspektiven einer neuen Weltordnung?”, Forum Heiligenberg – Mitten in Europa, Heiligenberg Castle.
  • January 30, 2025: Lecture and discussion “Rettet die Weltordnung?”, Theme Day on International Conflicts at Schloss Hansenberg Boarding School.

| since 2025
Mentee in Leibniz Mentoring Program for Outstanding Female Post-Doctorate Researchers

| 2020–2023 
Junior member of the Guten­berg Academy (since 2023: Guten­berg Academy Honors Program, GAHP) 

2011–2016 
Scholarship from the Studien­stiftung des deutschen Volkes 

| 2010–2016 
Scholarship from the Evangelisches Studien­werks Villigst e.V.