Dr. Mariel Reiss

Associate Fellow

Mariel Reiss is an Associate Fellow at PRIF's Research Depart­ment Glocal Junctions. She works in the Research Center Trans­formations of Political Violence and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Conflict Studies at the University of Marburg. Her research interests are regional and inter­national organizations, human rights, LGBTIQ+ rights and norms discourses; her main geo­graphical focus is on Eastern and Southern Africa. 

Mariel Reiss
reiss(at)prif.org

CV

| 10/2025–03/2026
Acting Professor of International Institutions and Peace Processes at the Institute of Political Science, Goethe-University Frankfurt (part-time)

| 2024–2025
Acting Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Center for Conflict Studies, Philipps University Marburg

| since 2022
Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Center Transformations of Political Violence (TraCe)

| 2022
Guest Researcher, United Nations University – Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), Bruges, Belgium

| 2021–2022
Project leader, LGBTIQ*-Rights in Multilevel Governance Systems, Center for Conflict Studies and the Center for Gender Studies and Feminist Futures, Philipps University Marburg

| 2015–2020
Doctoral Student / Lecturer, Department of Political Science, Institute of Political Science, Philipps University Marburg

| 2007–2013
Magistra Artium (BA & MA), Political Science and Cultural Anthropology, Gutenberg University Mainz

Publications

  • Advocating for human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons in multilevel governance systems
    | 2024
    Reiss, Mariel (2024): Advocating for human rights of LGBTIQ+ persons in multilevel governance systems, Journal of Civil Society, 20: 3, 269–284. DOI: 10.1080/17448689.2024.2366227
    Publication
  • Tug-of-war: LGBTIQ+ rights in the African human rights architecture
    | 2024
    Reiss, Mariel; Tabengwa, Monica; (2024): Tug-of-war: LGBTIQ+ rights in the African human rights architecture, African Human Rights Law Journal, 24: 2, 472–501.
    Publication
  • Globalising the study of diffusion
    | 2023
    Lenz, Tobias; Reiss, Mariel (2023): Globalising the study of diffusion. Multiple sources and the East African Community, Journal of European Public Policy, 31: 11, 3703–3731. DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2023.2245448
  • BOOK REVIEW: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU)
    | 2018
    Reiss, Mariel (2018): BOOK REVIEW: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU). Regionalism and External Influence, South African Journal of International Affairs, 25: 4, 588–590. DOI: 10.1080/10220461.2018.1532812
    Publication

  • The Globalization Project of the East African Community (EAC)
    | 2025
    Reiss, Mariel (2025): The Globalization Project of the East African Community (EAC), in: Engel, Ulf; Herpolsheimer, Jens; Mattheis, Frank (eds), Globalization Projects of Regional Organizations, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 191–206.
    Publication
    ISBN: 978-3-666-34035-2
  • Regions
    | 2025
    Reiss, Mariel (2025): Regions, in: Jahn, Beate; Schindler, Sebastian (eds), Elgar Encyclopedia of International Relations, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 344–345.
    Publication
    ISBN: 978103531227
  • U.S. Presidential Elections and their Impact on LGBTIQ+ Communities and Activism across the African Continent
    | 2024
    Reiss, Mariel (2024): U.S. Presidential Elections and their Impact on LGBTIQ+ Communities and Activism across the African Continent, in: Kreitler, Melanie; Olson, Greta (eds), Diversity Issues in the USA. Transnational Perspectives on the 2024 Presidential Elections, Bielefeld: Transcript, 251–272. DOI: 10.14361/9783839474730
    Publication
    ISBN: 978-3-8376-7473-6
  • Regionalism in Global Politics
    | 2024
    Reiss, Mariel (2024): Regionalism in Global Politics, in: Zimmermann, Hubert; Elsinger, Milena; Burkhardt, Alex (eds), International Relations Theories in Action, London: Sage Publications Ltd., 209–230.
    Publication
  • Regionalismus und De-Globalisierung
    | 2022
    Reiss, Mariel (2022): Regionalismus und De-Globalisierung, in: Schirm, Stefan A.; Busch, Andreas; Lütz, Susanne; Walter, Stefanie; Zimmermann, Hubert (eds), De-Globalisierung. Forschungsstand und Perspektiven, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 201–218.
    Publication
    ISBN: 978-3-8487-7503-3
  • Regionale Integration
    | 2019
    Reiss, Mariel (2019): Regionale Integration, in: Zimmermann, Hubert; Elsinger, Milena (eds), Grundlagen der Internationalen Beziehungen: Eine Einführung, Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 184–200. DOI: 10.17433/978-3-17-032398-8
    Publication

  • Constructing the East African Community
    | 2022
    Reiss, Mariel (2022): Constructing the East African Community. Diffusion from African and European Regional Organizations, London: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781003179252
    Publication
  • „Make it a People’s Integration!“
    | 2014
    Reiss, Mariel (2014): „Make it a People’s Integration!“. The Role of Organized Civil Society Actors in the Regionalization Process of the East African Community, Marburg: Tectum Verlag.
    ISBN: 978-3-8288-3414-9

  • LGBTIQ+ activism and Solidarity in Action
    | 2024
    Reiss, Mariel (2024): LGBTIQ+ activism and Solidarity in Action. Interview with Human Rights Defender and Activist Njeri Gateru, FZG – Freiburger Zeitschrift für GeschlechterStudien, 30, 21–26.
    Publication
  • Weltweit auf dem Prüfstand: die Rechte von LSBTIQ*-Personen. Wie die deutsche Politik gefordert ist.
    | 2023
    Oettler, Anika; Reiss, Mariel (2023): Weltweit auf dem Prüfstand: die Rechte von LSBTIQ*-Personen. Wie die deutsche Politik gefordert ist. , TraCe Policy Brief, 3, Frankfurt/M. DOI: 10.48809/PRIFTraCePB2303

  • Memory Before Violence
    | 2024
    Buckley-Zistel, Susanne; de Wolff, Kaya; Erll, Astrid; Frank, Sybille; Hannig, Nicolai; Mannitz, Sabine; Reiss, Mariel; Schwerer, Jona; Spittler, Sara-Luise; Wingender, Monika (2024): Memory Before Violence, TraCe Working Paper, 5, Frankfurt/M. DOI: 10.48809/PRIFTraCeWP2405
  • Putting Lessons Learnt to the Test During Challenging Times
    | 2022
    Reiss, Mariel (2022): Putting Lessons Learnt to the Test During Challenging Times. The East African Community And The Covid-19 Pandemic, UNU-CRIS working paper, Bruges: UNU Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies.
    Publication

Further Activities

| since 04/2023
Co-Speaker of the DVPW Thematic Group Queer-Feminist Political Science and LGBTIQ+ Studies