Institute of Political Science

Maike Messerschmidt, M.A.

Maike Messerschmidt was a research associate and lecturer at the research cluster International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies from 2016 to 2023. She holds a B.A. in political science and German language and literature and an M.A. in international relations and peace and conflict studies from the University of Tübingen. From 2019 to 2923, she was part of the DFG funded research project "The Transformation of Violence-Centered Masculinities After Armed Conflict".

After finishing her studies, she worked as a programme officer for political and civic education and democracy promotion with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Uganda and South Sudan. Thematically, she mainly focused on gender equality, human rights, civil society promotion, freedom of the press, good governance and accountability, political parties in an authoritarian context, and peace and conflict in South Sudan.

In her dissertation, she is examining the question of how security sector reforms after internal armed conflicts interact with gender relations and militarisation and what effects this can have on a political system and a society. She analysed those interactions for the case of (internationally funded and supported) security sector reform in Uganda. Maike Messerschmidt successfully defended her PhD thesis in December 2022.

Since October 2023, Maike Messerschmidt has joined the University of the Bundeswehr Munich.

Teaching

  • Introduction to political science (BA)
  • Introduction to international relations (BA)
  • Theories of international relations and peace (MA)
  • Analysis of civil wars (MA)
  • Introduction to peace and conflict studies (university preparatory class)

Research Interests

  • Masculinities in peacebuilding
  • Militarisation, informalisation, and civil-military relations
  • Masculinities and sexual violence in armed conflict
  • Feminist perspectives in peace and conflict studies
  • Gender in the military and security sector

Publications

  • Messerschmidt, Maike; Quest, Hendrik (2023): Change in Practice: A Framework for Analysing the Transformation of Post-Conflict Masculinities. In: Critical Military Studies, online first.
  • Hasenclever, Andreas; Messerschmidt, Maike (2022): Internationale Regime und Rüstungskontrolle. In Fakultät für Kultur- und Sozialwissenschaften, FernUniversität in Hagen (eds.): Studienbrief: Internationale Institutionen - Typen, Theorien und Fallbeispiele. Hagen, 91-153.
  • Messerschmidt, Maike; Kiefer, Maximilian (2020): Sammelrezension: Defizite in der UN-Friedenspraxis. Femina Politica 29 (2), 75-76.
  • Messerschmidt, Maike; Quest, Hendrik (2019): Peacebuilding Measures and the Transformation of Masculinities - Looking at Liberia and Uganda. In Scheuermann, Manuela; Zürn, Anja (Hrsg.): Gender Roles in Peace and Security - Prevent, Protect, Participate, Berlin: Springer, 79-100.
  • Messerschmidt, Maike (2018): Ingrained Practices: Sexual Violence, Hypermasculinity, and Re-Mobilisation for Violent Conflict. Global Society 32 (4), 477-495.
  • Messerschmidt, Maike; Quest, Hendrik (2017): Männlichkeiten im Konflikt – Zum theoretischen Verhältnis von militarisierter Männlichkeit, militärischer Männlichkeit und Hypermaskulinität. Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung 6 (2), 257-288.

Conferences & Workshops

  • ISA Annual Convention, Montreal, 15.-18.03.2023: "Informalisation and Intersectionality: Performing Security and Justice, Law, and Order in Uganda."
  • ISA Annual Convention, Montreal, 15.-18.03.2022: "Interviews on Post-Conflict Masculinities as Process of Three Translations", co-authored with Gabriele Abels, Andreas Hasenclever, Maximilian Kiefer and Hendrik Quest.
  • ISA Annual Convention, Nashville, 28.03.-02.04.2022, participant on the roundtable "Critical Perspectives on Men, Masculinities and Peacebuilding."
  • ISA Annual Convention, Nashville, 28.03.-02.04.2022: "The Interplay of Security Sector Reform and Gender Relations in Uganda: Red Berets, Military Symbolism, and an Army that has a State."
  • IPSA World Congress, virtual Conference, Lisbon, 10.-15.07.2021: "'Aggression Has to Be Controlled': Transforming Violence-Centred Masculinities through Post-Conflict SSR in Liberia and Sierra Leone", co-authored with Maximilian Kiefer and Hendrik Quest.
  • Virtual Workshop "Pedagogical Inspirations in Peace Studies", St. Andrews, 27.05.2021: "Authenticity and Taking a Stance in Teaching Peace and Conflict".
  • Virtual Workshop, "Analysing Gender, Practices, and Social Change", Tübingen, 14.-15.01.2021: "The Promises and Pitfalls of Studying Violence-Centred Masculinities: Methodological Reflections" in the panel "The Post-Conflict Transformation of Masculinities", co-authored with Maximilian Kiefer, Hendrik Quest, Gabriele Abels und Andreas Hasenclever.
  • European Conference on Politics and Gender, Amsterdam, 04.-06.07.2019: "The Security Sector and Gendered Dynamics in Uganda: Understanding the Relationship."
  • ISA Annual Convention 2019, Toronto, 27.-30.03.2019: "Looking at Practice Dynamics from a Multi-Level Perspective: The Case of Gender Relations in Uganda."
  • EISA Pan-European Conference, Prag, 12.-15.09.2018: "Gender, Militarisation, and Informalisation: Uganda's Post-Conflict Security Sector."
  • ECPR General Conference, Hamburg, 22.-25.08.2018: "Practices of Change: How to Grasp the Transformation of Violence-Centred Masculinities in the Post-Conflict Context", co-authored with Hendrik Quest.
  • Workshop „Prevent, Protect, Participate! Women’s roles in peace and security“, Würzburg, 30.11.-11.12.2017: „Peacebuilding Measures and the Transformation of Masculinities: Looking at Liberia and Uganda” in the panel “Challenging the Women, Peace and Security Agenda, co-authored with Hendrik Quest.
  • European Conference on Politics and Gender, Lausanne, 08.-10.06.2017:  "Between structure and practice: A theory-based framework for masculinities in armed conflict", co-authored with Hendrik Quest.
  • ISA Annual Convention 2017, Baltimore, 22.-25.02.2017: "Beyond Buzzwords: Towards a Better Understanding of Hypermasculinity, Military Masculinity, and Militarised Masculinity in Peace and Conflict Studies", co-authored with Hendrik Quest.
  • Global Society Workshop on Gender and Security, 13.01.2017, Canterbury: "Hypermasculinity and sexual violence in prisons and armed groups - a legitimate analogy?".