International Center for Ethics in the Sciences and Humanities (IZEW)

Katharina Wezel

Working group: security ethics

Katharina Wezel is PI in the project Co-Care on Covid and Care. She pursues a PhD at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen on the entanglement of medicine and security in health crises. She is affiliated researcher at gloknos (University of Cambridge). Katharina holds a BA in International Politics from Aberystwyth University and an MA in Peace Research and IR from Tübingen University. She is co-founder and editor of the ethics blog BedenkZeiten, speaker of the DVPW theme group on Critical Security Studies, and Junior Organiser of the Dutch Doing IPS seminar series.

Research interests

  • Critical Security Studies
  • Feminist health security
  • Global health governance
  • Sociology of knowledge

About

  • Since January 2025: Junior Organiser of the ‘DoingIPS’ Network PhD Seminar Series (Dutch section)
  • Since October 2024: Speaker of the German Political Science Association's (DVPW) Theme Group Critical Security Studies
  • Since August 2024: Affiliated Researcher at gloknos (University of Cambridge)
  • Since March 2024: PI in BMBF-funded project Co-Care
  • April 2020: founding member and editor of the ethics blog Thinking Times (BedenkZeiten)
  • Since 2020 Research associate at the Ethics Centre (IZEW), Tübingen University
  • 2020 Completion of MA in Peace Studies and International Politics, Tübingen University
    (Master's thesis: "Ebola's entanglements: On the On the intra-active entanglement of medicine, technology and security in the West African Ebola Outbreak 2014-2016“)
  • 2016 Completion of BA in International Relations and Strategic Studies, Aberystwyth University Wales

Publications

  • Wezel, K. (2025). Ebola’s entanglements: a posthumanist cartography of medical care and security. Globalizations, 1–18. doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2025.2497722.
  • Wezel, Katharina (2024): "'Your Body My Choice’ – what’s behind the trend of fascist and right-wing populists co-opting feminist standpoints'. BedenkZeiten, https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/273606.
  • Wezel, Katharina & Krause, Katharina (2024): “Embodiment and protection”, Critical Studies on Security, doi:10.1080/21624887.2024.2418710.
  • Wezel, K., Hollenbach, P., Kaschlik, A. & Schmitt, C. (2024): "Exploring the Nexus of Peacebuilding and Disaster Recovery: The Role of Social Work in Sri Lanka and Estonia". In Schmitt, C.; Kiewitt, K., Kiebl, T., and Lutz, R.: Krieg, Konflikt und Soziale Arbeit. Herausforderungen, Visionen und Praxen zur Friedensgestaltung. Beltz/Juventa.
  • Wezel Katharina, Krause Katharina (2023) Sorgen in der Pandemie - eine Ethics of Care Perspektive auf Gesundheitssicherheit. Femina Politica 32(1), 24-37.
  • Wezel Katharina, Mühleck Mara (2023) Resilienz ambulanter Pflegestrukturen. Pflege im Katastrophenfall. PflegeZeitschrift 76(8), 52-55.
  • Wezel Katharina, Krüger Marco (2023) Sicherheit und Pflege gemeinsam denken: Ambulante Pflege als kritische Infrastruktur?. In: Krüger M, Max M (Hrsg.). Resiliente Pflegeinfrastrukturen – Stärkung des Risiko- und Krisenmanagements in der ambulanten Pflege. Vincentz Network, 42-67.
  • Krüger Marco, Wezel Katharina (2023) Kontinuitäten und Brüche zwischen Alltag und Ausnahme. In: Krüger M, Max M (Hrsg.). Resiliente Pflegeinfrastrukturen – Stärkung des Risiko- und Krisenmanagements in der ambulanten Pflege. Vincentz Network, 78-91.
  • Krause K., Wezel, K. (2022): "Sicherheit für wen und wovor? Ethik in der Pandeie." In Lange, H.-J. (ed.). Corona – Politik zwischen Macht und Ohnmacht". AKIS Band Studien zur Inneren Sicherheit, VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-35393-3
  • Krüger, M., Wezel, K. (2021): ‘Die ambulante Pflege als kritische Infrastruktur?’, In Krüger, M.; Ewers, M. and Oschmiansky, H. (eds.). Perspektiven auf die Aufrechterhaltung der ambulanten Pflegeinfrastruktur in
    Krisen und Katastrophenfällen. Materialien zur Ethik in den Wissenschaften, Band 18.
  • Hagendorff, T., Wezel, K. (2019): “15 challenges for AI: or what AI (currently) can’t do”. AI & Society, pp. 1-11. doi:10.1007/s00146-019-00886-y.

Talks

2025
  • “Explicating Health Security’s Problem with (Im)Purity - Infrastructural imaginaries in Antimicrobial Resistance governance” Presentation at EISA Pan-European Conference. University of Bologna
2024
  • "Feeling safe, knowing security? Inquiring into Covid-19 testscapes as technologies of epidemic control." Presentation at CIRR-GIR colloquium Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (February 2024)
2023
  • "Entanglements of Care and Contagion: Protective Clothing in Pandemic Times", presented at DVPW Themengruppe kritische Sicherheitsstudien, Offene Jahrestagung 2023 "Politiken und Praktiken der (Un-)Sicherheit". In cooperation with Katharina Krause.
2022
  • "Bodies in crisis: The production of meaning in global health governance”, presented at EISA PEC Panel ‘Bodies, security, ruins: themes in IPS’. ST03 – Doing International Political Sociology.
  • “Seeing and Sensing Health Security: The Case of Protective Clothing”. Presentation at DVPW-Workshop ‘Repräsentationen von (Un)Sicherheit – Objekte, Bilder und Orte. DVPW-Themengruppe “Kritische Sicherheitsstudien‘. Hamburg (December 2022). In cooperation with Katharina Krause.
  • “Warum es gut ist, manchmal wütend zu sein.” ["Why it is good to be angry sometimes"]. Tal at sITZung of ITZ Theatre. Tübingen (November 2022).  
2021
  • “Ebola’s entanglements: the intra-action of medical practice, technology and security in the West-African Ebola outbreak 2014-15”, presented at EISA EWIS Workshop ‘Decentering IR: on Power and Knowledge Production’.
  • "Impfstoff für alle?! Politische und Ethische Fragen zur Impfgerechtigkeit" ["Vaccines for all?! Political and ethical questions on vaccine equity"]. Talk in cooperation with medico international, franzK and Tübingen University, (10 March 2021). In cooperation with Katharina Krause (invited speaker).
2020
  • “Gendered (Critical) Infrastructures: Health, care and the imaginary of criticality", Workshop Making Europe Through Infrastructures of (In)Security, online. Universität Wien (November 2020) in cooperation with Marco Krüger.
  • “Corona und zivilgesellschaftliche Verantwortung”. ["Covid and civil society's responsibilities"]. Talk at online conference Theory Meets Practice, ZfS Service Learning Universität Freiburg (July 2020).

Teaching

"Schmerz, Gewalt, Verletzlichkeit - Theoretische Konzepte für die Lehrpraxis" [Pain, violence and vulnerability - theoretical concepts for teaching practice], Seminar for PGCE-equivalent studies in cooperation with Tübingen School of Education. With Wulf Loh (Winter term 2023/24)

“Benachteiligung, Ungerechtigkeit, Diskriminierung” [Discrimination, disadvantage, inequality], Seminar for PGCE-equivalent studies in cooperation with Tübingen School of Education. Together with Wulf Loh (Summer term 2022).

"Contemporary Challenges for Global Governance at the Health-Climate Interface”, Seminar for advanced Master's students at Department of Political Science, Tübingen University. Together with Lena Schlegel (Summer term 2021).

Event organisation

2025: 

  • ‘Graduate Symposium - Doing International Political Sociology' (04-05.06.2025) at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
  • ‘International Political Sociologies of Planetary Crises.’ - Workshop for PhD students at Tutzing Academy (19-21.03.2025) funded by the German Political Science Association (DVPW) Early Career Researchers in International Relations (ECIB) section. 

2022: ‘Appropriation as Resistance: Decolonizing Digital Education and Culture in Argentina.’ – Workshop Pt. II as part of teach@tübingen project ‘Narratives about Technology in the Global South’.

2021: ‘Digitalization and Education in Brazil’ – Workshop on the ethical implications of the implementation of Digital Technologies in the field of education. As part of teach@tübingen project ‘Narratives about Technology in the Global South: Sympoiesis of the Invisible’.