SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Faculty: Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Department(s): Social Sciences, Criminology
Profile: Prof. Dr. Christine Hentschel

What are your research areas? What research projects are you currently working on? How do these relate to “your” SDG?

I concentrate on the “dark side” of questions relating to SDG 16, meaning how peace, just institutions, inclusion, and access to justice are constantly being challenged and threatened by their opposites as well as how they are negotiated or “re-invented.”

I examine these questions in 3 fields:

Global rise of authoritarianism: I am studying various mobilizations of right-wing populist ideologies, including campaigns and writings by right-wing intellectuals, who clearly declare their disdain for human rights and inclusion and threaten groups whose inclusion and access to state resources is least certain, particularly migrants and other minorities. At the same time, I am also looking at new forms of political solidarization that are working to combat these forces.

The struggle to cope with new forms of uncertainty and urban violence: I am researching the perception of and response to terrorist attacks in urban environments, both by government security agencies and by civilians. I am currently preparing a research proposal for the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) on “Situational Awareness: Rethinking Security in the City” in this context together with Prof. Susanne Krasmann. I also study concrete local strategies to combat everyday urban violence. For example, within the Global Diplomacy Lab, I am active as an academic advisor on strategies to combat urban youth violence, with emphasis on marginalized city districts in Chicago (partners include the German Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt) and the Obama Foundation).

Collective strategy development for handling security-relevant aspects of climate change: In the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climatic Change, and Society (CLICCS) project B3 “Conflict and Cooperation at the Climate-Security Nexus,” (together with Prof. Ursula Schröder and Prof. Jürgen Scheffran), I am studying strategies for handling impending climate catastrophes that local communities are developing with the help scenario techniques and the associated security risks.

How and why did you become interested in this topic?

From a political standpoint, the authoritarian shift concerns me as a worrying development and a pivotal challenge to peace and justice worldwide. From a social science perspective, I am interested in some of the surprising connections such as the simultaneous aestheticization of public campaigns and the coarsening of public discourses (and actions) that we are observing in the right-wing spectrum or the networking between right-wing populist groups (“anti-elite”) and right-wing intellectuals (some of whom are highly elitist).

Most of my research relates to urban environments—these have been my preferred research settings ever since my doctoral dissertation on security strategies in South African cities.

What activities are you planning as part of the SDG sponsorship? What possibilities do you see in (interdisciplinary) networking with other members of your sponsorship team?

“Strategies for overcoming urban youth violence” in Chicago is the follow-up workshop to the incubator lab of the same name held in Berlin in June 2018, where I served as the workshop leader and a panel discussant. A lab with local stakeholders such as “violence interrupters,” the Metropolitan Peace Academy, academics, and international diplomats will be held in Chicago from 17–21 November 2018 to search for solutions. This Global Diplomacy Lab (GDL) refers explicitly to the SDGs.

I could well imagine that the public lecture series “Out of the Dark,” which has established itself as a dynamic forum for debate in the Department of Social Sciences since April 2016, could serve as the stage for a number of jointly organized presentations by the SDG 16 team. This might include a podium discussion on key questions relating to SDG 16, or a thematic concentration on the subject during Summer Semester 2019 in which guest lecturers use interesting approaches to discuss topics relating to SDG 16. It would make sense for the sponsorship team to brainstorm suitable guest lecturers for this series.

Last but not least, transfer activities related to SDG 16 are especially important to me (in particular in light of the current tension with anti-democratic mobilizations on the one hand and solidarity-based counter-initiatives on the other), such as in the form of public statements, presentations, and panels. I plan to further expand these activities in the coming year and will gladly reference this sponsorship.

Is your topic related to any of the 16 other SDGs?

There are, for example, connections to SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality), in particular with regard to anti-democracy, the dynamics of violence, and anti-feminism.

SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) are also closely related. The CLICCS B3 project will examine the resiliency efforts of urban communities.

Faculty: Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Department(s): Social Sciences, Political Science
Profile: Prof. Dr. Cord Jakobeit

• peace and conflict research
• environmentally induced migration and conflicts
• resource wealth and the “resource curse”
• strategic forecasting in the field of security

Current research projects:

• “The World in 2035,” a project by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, the National Academy of Science and Engineering (Acatech), and the German National Academy of Sciences
• environmentally induced migration in the failed region in the Lake Chad Basin
• the “resource curse” and unburnable carbon

The connections to SDG 16 are evident in all of these projects, as they address key questions of war and peace both in a global context as well as in specific regional/local context(s). In addition, there are many links to other SDGs and to future expectations and perspectives.

Through my Habilitation (postdoctoral qualification) on the role of international institutions and numerous research projects on the above-mentioned subjects.

What activities are you planning as part of the SDG sponsorship? What possibilities do you see in (interdisciplinary) networking with other members of your sponsorship team?

• lecture series in Winter Semester 2019/20 with the participation of the members of the sponsorship team

• joint work as part of the Violence and Security profile initiative in STEP 2019/2020

Is your topic related to any of the 16 other SDGs?

There are clear connections to SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

Faculty: Law
Profile: Prof. Dr. Markus Kotzur, LLM (Duke University)

What are your research areas? What research projects are you currently working on? How do these relate to “your” SDG?

SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) generally plays a key role in my research within the Professorship for Public Law, European and International Public Law. This is all the truer because international law relates to one of my most important areas of concentration, namely global constitutionalism (the concept of a rule-based international order with a constitution-like aspiration. My work also extends beyond European law to national constitutional law, especially its institutional aspects. Examples of aspects addressed:

1. In past research and publications, I have examined the concept of an international rule of law intensively. I will take up this topic again in 2019 as a co-editor of von Münch/Kunig’s commentary on the Basic Law for the Federal Republic Germany (Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, GG) in commenting on the rule of law within the scope of Section 20 GG. In so doing, I will focus in particular on the institutional aspect of the rule of law and establish links to both European and international law.
2. Migration law has played an important role for me ever since a presentation for the German Society of International Law (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationales Recht, DGIR) in March 2017. Together with my colleague Axel Kämmerer from the Bucerius Law School, I am currently working on a commentary on Section 16 letter a, the constitutional right to asylum, for the legal commentary Bonner Kommentar zum Grundgesetz. Beyond this, current developments in international law have motivated me to turn my future focus to questions of migration management through the formation of international law institutions.
3. My research on the topic of solidarity in international and European law addresses the aspect of justice. I have published numerous articles in English and German on the concept of a sustainable social state. In our faculty, we are currently considering incorporating the topic of solidarity in international law into a large-scale collaborative research project.
4. Last but not least, in response to highly topical challenges, an overarching research area is the concept of institution-based multilateralism in international law. Particularly the politics of the United States under President Trump radically call into question multilateralism and the accompanying formation of institutions under international law (e.g., withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal, etc.). As an alternative, Trump suggests bilateral “deals” that follow a far different model of order than multilateralism—not just with regard to the dealmaker’s bargaining power.

How and why did you become interested in this topic?

During my doctoral dissertation, I picked up on the idea of constitutionalization processes under international law and would later return time and time again to the topic of the extent to which the principle of sustainability (originally derived from international environmental law) can be understood as a general ordering principle for political community-building.What activities are you planning as part of the SDG sponsorship? What possibilities do you see in (interdisciplinary) networking with other members of your sponsorship team?I see interdisciplinary networking possibilities in all 4 of the above-mentioned fields, especially on the topics of solidarity and multilateralism.

Is your topic related to any of the 16 other SDGs?

There are connections to many of the SDGs. SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) is especially closely related to the topic of solidarity, SDG 13 (Climate Action) to the general concept of sustainability, and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) to institution-building through cooperation in the context of multilateralism under international law.

Faculty: Humanities
Department(s): Protestant Theology
Profile: Prof. Dr. Kristin Merle

What are your research areas? What research projects are you currently working on? How do these relate to “your” SDG?

One of my focal research areas is the study of implications of the current media shift for religion and religiousness. How is religious communication changing as part of digitalization as a cultural shift? What do these transformations mean for (traditional) religious institutions? Under what conditions is it possible for religious institutions or religious communities—in conjunction with contemporary societal transformation processes related to digitalization—to provide key impetus for participation in enabling, participatory social interaction? Examination of this question aims at sustainable societal action. I am fundamentally convinced that strong religious institutions, which enable and encourage inclusion and participation internally on the one hand and support these values externally on the other, have a positive impact on more peaceful and just social interaction.

How and why did you become interested in this topic?

As a practical theologian, I examine the current religious situation. As such, it is only natural that my focus would be drawn to the virulent process of digitalization, the mediatization of religious culture. The question of the consequences of social developments for institutionalized religion (i.e., the church) always forms the backdrop to my work. Accordingly, I am interested in how churches can contribute to the common good.

What activities are you planning as part of the SDG sponsorship? What possibilities do you see in (interdisciplinary) networking with other members of your sponsorship team?

The synergies generated between various reflection horizons in the work on joint projects related to SDG 16 will create compatibility between various rationalities. I would like to incorporate an examination of negotiations on religious-ideological authority and validity as part of our work on SDG 16.

Is your topic related to any of the 16 other SDGs?

Participation and sustainable development are closely linked on various levels. Strong institutions can promote more peaceful and just social interaction (not only locally but also globally—churches are quite capable of this due to their worldwide enculturations) that fundamentally manifests itself in actions such as combating poverty (SDG 1) and hunger (SDG 2). More detailed research must be conducted on the opportunities and challenges posed by digitalization with regard to the shaping of participation processes and enabling engagement to improve everyday situations in the interest of creating more just and peaceful living conditions.

Faculty: Business, Economics and Social Sciences
Department(s): Social Sciences, Political Science
Profile: Prof. Dr. Ursula Schröder

What are your research areas? What research projects are you currently working on? How do these relate to “your” SDG?

As Professor for Peace Research and Security Policy, SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) plays a pivotal role in my research areas. This is exemplified especially well by 2 of my current research projects:

1. International state-building and reformation of the security sector As part of a long-running research project, I am studying international state-building missions in post-conflict nations. In particular, my focus is on international reconstruction and reform initiatives in the security sector. The project examines how security institutions are not just strengthened by international support but, as part of extensive reform processes, can become inclusive and accountable institutions offering protection and access to justice for the entire population. At present, I am also examining what contributions regional organizations like the EU and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) can make to supporting the establishment of strong institutions and peaceful societies.
2. Conflict and cooperation at the climate-security nexus In the Cluster of Excellence Climate, Climate Change and Society (CLICCS), Prof. Hentschel, Prof. Scheffran, and I are involved in a project investigating what cooperative or confrontation strategies and scenarios are being developed by different security stakeholders and local communities in response to the challenges of climate change. Within the scope of SDG 16, this project is focusing in particular on the peace-building capabilities of societies and opportunities for the peaceful resolution of international conflicts.

How and why did you become interested in this topic?

International peacekeeping efforts and support for political institutions in post-conflict situations and in areas of limited statehood has long been a central pillar of my research interests.

Is your topic related to any of the 16 other SDGs?

There is a clear connection to SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). Our joint project within CLICCS will among other things examine the resiliency efforts of urban communities.