Bio

Born and educated in Germany, I completed my M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science at Goethe University, Frankfurt. I arrived at UTSA in January 2013 and received tenure in 2018. My research relates to world politics and global governance. In particular, I am interested in the emergence of agency beyond nation states, which includes private actors such as multinational enterprises as well as intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations.

I have published on multinational enterprises and corporate agency in world politics with Nomos and Lynne Rienner Publishers. My journal articles appear in International Studies Review, Global Governance, Journal of International Relations and Development, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Business and Politics, Global Society, and Palgrave Communications. As to teaching, I offer courses on global governance, international organizations, and related themes which reflect my research interests. I approach these courses from a student-centered pedagogy since I believe this offers the best learning experience.

In 2019, I received the President's Distinguished Achievement Award for Advancing Globalization and I am proud to serve as faculty advisor for the Model United Nations Society at UTSA and for Sigma Iota Rho - please contact me if you have any questions on these activities! I am also the Program Coordinator for the MA in Global Affairs and gladly answer any questions you may have about this program!

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Degrees

• Ph.D., Goethe-University Frankfurt, 2012
• M.A. in Political Science & Contemporary History, Goethe-University Frankfurt, 2007

Research in Progress

Research Interests:

• Agency & Actorhood in World Politics
• Multinational Enterprises & Corporate Agency in Global Governance
• International Organizations, Legitimacy & Social Media
• International Organizations & Interorganizational Relations
• American Pragmatism, Relationalism & Social Theory

Work-in-Progress / Unpublished Conference Papers:

• @WHO Tweets What on the Pandemic? Explaining Twitter Resonance of the World Health Organization during CoViD-19, presented at the 2021 ECPR General Conference, August 30-September 3, 2021 (with Matthias Ecker-Ehrhardt).
• Tweeting the Pandemic. Self-Legitimation & (De-)Politicization in the WHO Twittersphere, presented at the ISA 2021 Annual Convention, April 6-9, 2021 and the 2021 EWIS Workshop, July 2, 2021.
• From Transatlantic Relations to World Order: Reconstructing Beliefs as Rules for Action, presented at the ISA 2021 Annual Convention, April 6-9, 2021 (with Ulrich Franke).
• The Evolution of Agency. Self-Agentification, Authorization, and Contestation in World Politics, presented at the Open Conference of the International Relations Section of the German Association for Political Science, Freiburg (online), October 7-9, 2020 (with Daniel Lambach).
• Having Foxes Guard the Hen House? Reconstructing the Origins of Corporate Agency in Global Governance, presented at the ISA 2019 Annual Convention, Toronto, March 27-30, 2019.
• Inter-Organizational Relations meets Global Governance: The UN Global Compact as a Relational Configuration, presented at the 2017 DVPW IB-Sektionstagung, Bremen, October 4-6, 2017.

Recent Publications

Refereed Book Publications:

• Heterorenität in der politikwissenschaftlichen Hochschullehre [Diversity in Political Science Teaching] (2020), Wochenschau-Verlag: Frankfurt (with Tanja Brühl).
• Corporate Actors in Global Governance. Business as Usual or New Deal? (2019), Lynne Rienner Publishers: Boulder, CO.
• Multinationale Unternehmen in der Weltpolitik. Zur Kontingenz von Rolle und Bedeutung 'sozialer Akteure'  [Multinational Enterprises in World Politics. On the Contingency of Role and Meaning of 'Social Actors'] (2016), Nomos: Baden-Baden.

Refereed Journal Articles:

• Proclaiming a Prophecy Empty of Substance? A Pragmatist Reconsideration of Global Governance (2021), in: Journal of International Political Theory (with Ulrich Franke).
• "It's the End of the World as We Know It". World Politics in a Postgovernance World (2020), in: Global Governance 26: 4, 553-576 (with Daniel Lambach).
• Get Your Act(ors) Together! Theorizing Agency in Global Governance (2019), in: International Studies Review 21: 1, 127-145.
• “And of course our major contribution remains to run a decent business”. Making Sense of Shell's Sense-Making in Nigeria during the 1990s (2017), in: Business and Politics 19: 1, 135-165.
• “Confusion is a fundamental state of mind”. On the Peculiar Intellectual Career of Global Governance in International Relations (2016), in: Palgrave Communications 2 (Open Access Article)
• Mapping the Meanings of Global Governance. A Conceptual Reconstruction of a Floating Signifier (2015), in: Millennium - Journal of International Studies 43: 2, 598-617.
• Lost in Translation. A Critique of Constructivist Norm Research (2015), in: Journal of International Relations and Development 18: 1, 75-103 (with Christian Weber).
• The Binding Dynamics of Non-Binding Governance Arrangements. The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the Cases of BP and Chevron (2011), in: Business and Politics 13: 4.
• Multinational Enterprises as “Social Actors”. Constructivist Explanations for Corporate Social Responsibility (2011), in: Global Society 25: 2, 205-226 (with Tanja Brühl, Eric Burkart, Marco Fey and Anne Peltner)

Refereed Book Chapters & Reviews:

• Tweeting to Safe Succeeding Generations for the Scourge of War (2020), in Bjola, Corneliu / Zaiotti, Ruben (eds): Digital Diplomacy and International Organizations, Routledge: New York, NY, 155-184.
• Corporate Actors in Global Governance (2019), in: Hofferberth, Matthias (ed.): Corporate Actors in Global Governance. Business as Usual or New Deal? Lynne Rienner Publishers: Boulder, CO, 1-24
• Securing Value over the Long Term? ExxonMobil and the Aceh Crisis (2019), in: Hofferberth, Matthias (ed.): Corporate Actors in Global Governance. Business as Usual or New Deal? Lynne Rienner Publishers: Boulder, CO, 173-195.
• Global Governance (2016), in: Farazmand, Ali (ed.): Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance, Springer: New York.
• Global Companies as Social Actors: Constructing Private Business in Global Governance (2013), in: Mikler, John (ed.): The Handbook of Global Companies, Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, 351-370.
• Von Sequenzanschlüssen, Fallstrukturmomenten und Bedeutungskategorien. Zur Analyse multinationaler Unternehmen anhand der Verbindung von objektiver Hermeneutik und Grounded Theory (2013), in: Franke, Ulrich / Roos, Ulrich (eds.): Rekonstruktive Methoden der Weltpolitikforschung, Nomos: Wiesbaden, 59-98.
• To Perpetual Peace - A Disciplinary Stretch. Review of Peace in International Relations by Oliver P. Richmond, London: Routledge (2009), in: International Affairs 85:3.
• Die öffentliche (Nicht-)Wahrnehmung der EU als Akteur in der Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik (2008), in: Tatur, Melanie (ed.): Nationales oder kosmopolitisches Europa? Fallstudien zur Medienöffentlichkeit in Europa, Wiesbaden, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 211-222.

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Additional Information

Below you find a list of classes that I taught at UTSA together with their respective course evaluations.

Spring Term 2021:

• GLA 3103 - Research Methods in Global Affairs (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL / GLA 6973 - Virtual Study Abroad: Geopolitics in Perspective (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation [including German students])

Fall Term 2020:

• GLA 3513 - International Organizations in World Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL / GLA 5873 - Global Governance (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2020:

• POL/GLA 3763 - Globalization (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Spring Term 2020 ('CoViD-19 semester' - no standard UTSA evaluations)

• GLA 3103 - Research Methods in Global Affairs (instructor evaluation)
• GLA/POL 4973 - Senior Seminar: International Organizations & Social Media (instructor evaluation)

Fall Term 2019:

• GLA 3533 - The United Nations (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL / GLA 5043 - International Relations & World Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2019:

• POL / GLA 4853 - Study Abroad: World Order Visions in Transatlantic Perspectives (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation [including German students])

Fall Term 2018:

• GLA/POL 3513 - International Organizations in World Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL 5043 - International Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2018:

• POL/GLA 3763 - Globalization (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Spring Term 2018

• POL 2533 - Introduction to Political Science (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• GLA 3103 - Research Methods in Global Affairs (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Fall Term 2017

• GLA 1013 - US in the Global Arena (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• GLA / POL 4973 - Multinational Enterprises in World Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2017:

• POL / GLA 4853 - Study Abroad: Globalization in Transatlantic Perspectives (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation [including German students])

Spring Term 2017:

• POL 2533 - Introduction to Political Science (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• GLA 3533 - The United Nations (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Fall Term 2016:

• POL 3513 - International Organizations in World Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL 5723 - International Organizations (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2016:

• POL/GLA 3763 - Globalization (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Spring Term 2016:

• GLA 1013 - US in the Global Arena (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• GLA/POL 3483 - International Political Economy (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Fall Term 2015:

• POL 2533 - Introduction to Political Science (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL 3513 - International Organizations in World Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2015:

• POL/GLA 3763 - Study Abroad: Globalization (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation [including German students])

Spring Term 2015:

• GLA 1013 - US in the Global Arena (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• GLA/POL 4973 - The United Nations (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Fall Term 2014:

• POL 3513 - International Organizations in World Politics (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL 5873 - Global Governance (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2014:

•  POL 3763 - Globalization (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Spring Term 2014:

• GLA 1013 / POL 1213 - US in the Global Arena (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Fall Term 2013:

• GLA 3213 / POL 4953 - Theories of International Relations (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL 3043 - Human Rights (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL 3513 - International Organizations (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Summer Term 2013:

• POL/INS 3763 - Globalization (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL 5873 - Global Governance (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)

Spring Term 2013:

• POL/INS 3763 - Globalization (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)
• POL/GLA 4203 - Current Topics in Global Analysis (UTSA evaluation / instructor evaluation)a

Legal Written Notification

Pursuant to HOP 9.48, Carrying of Concealed Handguns on Campus, my private office (MS 4.03.55) is a designated exclusion zone. As set out in Section 30.06, Penal Code (trespass by license holder with a concealed handgun), a person licensed to carry a Concealed Handgun under Subchapter H, Chapter 411 Government Code (handgun licensing law), may not enter this property/office with a concealed handgun.

De conformidad con HOP 9.48, Llevar Armas de Fuego Encubiertas en el Campus, mi oficina privada (MS 4.03.55) es una zona designada de exclusión. Conforme a la sección 30.06 del código penal (trespasar portando armas de fuego) personas con licencia bajo del sub-capitulo H, capitulo 411, codigo de gobierno (ley de portar armas), no deben entrar a esta propiedad portando un arma de fuego.