Sophia Birchinger
Sophia Birchinger is a Researcher and Doctoral Candidate in the Research Department Glocal Junctions and the Research Group African Intervention Politics. Her research deals with questions of international peacebuilding, 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. Taking on a bottom-up perspective, in her PhD project, she explores how citizens in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau experience the threat and use of coercion in African peace interventions.
Press photo
CV
| since 2022
Doctoral Researcher at PRIF
| since 2021
Researcher at PRIF
| 2020
Graduate Student Assistant at KfW Development Bank, Frankfurt/M.
| 2019
Graduate Student Research Assistant at PRIF in the project “Peace and Development 2020 – An Analysis of Recent Experiences and Findings”
| 2019
Internships at the GIZ Liaison Office to the African Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and the GIZ Academy for International Cooperation (GIZ-AIZ), Bonn
| 2018–2021
Master of Arts in International Studies/Peace and Conflict Research, Goethe University Frankfurt/M. and Technical University Darmstadt
| 2017
Internship at the Federal Foreign Office, German Mission, Pretoria, South Africa
| 2017
One-year study-visit in the Euro-Africa Program (EURAF) at Sciences Po Paris, Reims, with the Erasmus Program
| 2015–2021
Scholarship Holder, Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (sdw)
| 2014–2018
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science/Fundamental Economics/Management, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale)
| 2013
Internship at UNCSO (NGO), Usakos, Namibia
PRIF researchers discuss local perspectives on ECOWAS interventions
New PRIF Working Paper lays out conceptual framework
Publications
- Heimvorteil?
| 2022
Witt, Antonia; Bah, Omar M; Birchinger, Sophia; Jaw, Sait Matty; Schnabel, Simone (2022): Heimvorteil?. Lokale Perspektiven auf die Friedensbemühungen afrikanischer Regionalorganisationen, Forschung Frankfurt, 2022: 1, 30–34.
Publication
- Sinal de Alerta para Novos Conflitos: Crescente Polarização Social na Guiné-Bissau
| 2024
Birchinger, Sophia; Té, Pedro Wilson (2024): Sinal de Alerta para Novos Conflitos: Crescente Polarização Social na Guiné-Bissau, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Early Warning for New Trouble?
| 2024
Birchinger, Sophia (2024): Early Warning for New Trouble?. Increasing Social Polarization in Guinea-Bissau, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Keeping up the Ban against FGM/C
| 2024
Baldeh, Fatou; Birchinger, Sophia (2024): Keeping up the Ban against FGM/C, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Frieden und die Nachhaltigkeitsziele: Warum das Lokale zählt
| 2024
Birchinger, Sophia; Bliss, Frank; Debiel, Tobias; Gaesing, Karin; Haidara, Boubacar; Kemmerling, Birgit; Müller-Koné, Marie; Rinck, Patricia; Rosenberg, Carolin; Saalfeld, Jannis; Schetter, Conrad; Schmitz, Jasmin; Witt, Antonia (2024): Frieden und die Nachhaltigkeitsziele: Warum das Lokale zählt, in: Bonn International Center for Conversion (BICC)/Leibniz-Institut Hessische Stiftung Friedens- und Konfliktforschung (PRIF)/Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik an der Universität Hamburg (IFSH)/Institut für Entwicklung und Frieden (INEF) (eds), Friedensgutachten 2024, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, 73–90.
Publication - “Siding with the people” or “Occupying force”? Local perceptions of African Union and ECOWAS interventions in the Gambia
| 2023
Birchinger, Sophia; Jaw, Sait Matty; Bah, Omar M; Witt, Antonia (2023): “Siding with the people” or “Occupying force”? Local perceptions of African Union and ECOWAS interventions in the Gambia, PRIF Report, 3, Frankfurt/M. DOI: 10.48809/prifrep2303 - Security Sector Reform in The Gambia – The Historic Roots of Current Challenges
| 2022
Barchet, Adrian; Birchinger, Sophia (2022): Security Sector Reform in The Gambia – The Historic Roots of Current Challenges, PRIF Blog.
Publication - The AU as Peacebuilder in the Gambia
| 2021
Birchinger, Sophia (2021): The AU as Peacebuilder in the Gambia. Why pragmatic Peacebuilding is good, but not enough, PRIF Spotlight, 18, Frankfurt/M. DOI: 10.48809/prifspot2118 - #GambiaDecides2021: A Sign of Democratic Hope?
| 2021
Bah, Omar M; Jaw, Sait Matty; Birchinger, Sophia (2021): #GambiaDecides2021: A Sign of Democratic Hope?, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Der Koalitionsvertrag von SPD, Grünen und FDP zur Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik
| 2021
Abb, Pascal; Birchinger, Sophia; Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Gromes, Thorsten; Scheyer, Victoria; Wisotzki, Simone (2021): Der Koalitionsvertrag von SPD, Grünen und FDP zur Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Mehr Peacebuilding wagen? Die Parteipositionen zu Konfliktbearbeitung und Friedensförderung im Vergleich
| 2021
Birchinger, Sophia (2021): Mehr Peacebuilding wagen? Die Parteipositionen zu Konfliktbearbeitung und Friedensförderung im Vergleich, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Zusammenarbeit mit Afrika: Parteipolitische Positionen im Vergleich
| 2021
Birchinger, Sophia (2021): Zusammenarbeit mit Afrika: Parteipolitische Positionen im Vergleich, PRIF Blog.
Publication - Developing Peace: Impulses for German and International Development Cooperation
| 2020
Bethke, Felix S.; Birchinger, Sophia; Christian, Ben; Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Junk, Julian; Peez, Anton; Stappenbeck, Jens; Schnabel, Simone; Witt, Antonia; Wolff, Jonas (2020): Developing Peace: Impulses for German and International Development Cooperation, Peacelab Blog.
Publication - Peace and Development 2020
| 2020
Wolff, Jonas; Witt, Antonia; Stappenbeck, Jens; Schnabel, Simone; Peez, Anton; Junk, Julian; Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Christian, Ben; Birchinger, Sophia; Bethke, Felix S. (2020): Peace and Development 2020. An Analysis of Recent Experiences and Findings. - Entwicklung und Frieden zusammen denken
| 2020
Bethke, Felix S.; Birchinger, Sophia; Christian, Ben; Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Junk, Julian; Peez, Anton; Stappenbeck, Jens; Schnabel, Simone; Witt, Antonia; Wolff, Jonas (2020): Entwicklung und Frieden zusammen denken. Anregungen für die deutsche Politik, PEACELAB BLOG.
Publication - Frieden und Entwicklung 2020
| 2020
Wolff, Jonas; Witt, Antonia; Stappenbeck, Jens; Schnabel, Simone; Peez, Anton; Junk, Julian; Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Christian, Ben; Birchinger, Sophia; Bethke, Felix S. (2020): Frieden und Entwicklung 2020. Eine Analyse aktueller Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse.
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- Coercion in Peacebuilding: A Conceptual Framework
| 2024
Witt, Antonia; Wolff, Jonas; Coni-Zimmer, Melanie; Mannitz, Sabine; Birchinger, Sophia (2024): Coercion in Peacebuilding: A Conceptual Framework, PRIF Working Paper, 61, Frankfurt/M.