International Relations with a focus on Latin America

Societal change processes and crises—such as the energy, climate, food, and housing crises, as well as the crisis of parliamentary democracy—cannot be understood solely at the local level  or at the level of nation states. In light of diverse political, economic, and socio-ecological interdependencies and historically entrenched inequalities, a critical and reflective perspective is needed—one that analyzes these crises and changes in their transnational and global contexts, thereby making power asymmetries visible.

Building on approaches from political ecology, political economy, social movement research, democracy studies , feminist theory, and critical social theory, we analyze conflicts and processes of societal change in their interdependent, global contexts. Our regional focus is Latin America.

Key topics in research and teaching include social-ecological transformation, climate justice and extractivism, energy transition and energy policy, social reproduction and infrastructure, the transformation of rural and urban spaces, conflicts over housing and land, social movements, and the development of democracy.