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Dr Brigitte Weiffen

Profile summary

Professional biography

Brigitte (Britta) Weiffen joined the Open University in September 2020. From 2015 to 2020, she held the Martius Chair for German and European Studies, a visiting professorship sponsored by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), at the Department of Political Science, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. Before, she was a Visiting Professor at the Institute of International Relations at USP (2014-2015), a Lecturer at the University of Konstanz, Germany (2008-2014) and a Research Associate at the University of Tübingen (2005-2008) and the University of Bonn (2001-2005). Brigitte received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Tübingen (2009) and her M.A. in Political Science from the University of Bonn (2001). 

Research interests

Brigitte is particularly interested in topics at the intersection of comparative politics, international relations and area studies. Her regional focus on Latin America goes hand in hand with an interregional comparative perspective. Her research agenda has included democratization and crisis of democracy in comparative perspective, human rights and transitional justice, regional organizations and regional security (in particular, conflict and crisis management by regional organizations), and Latin American politics and international relations. 

Teaching interests

Brigitte has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses on democratization, human rights and transitional justice, conflict management and peacebuilding, international and regional organizations, politics and public administration in Latin America, as well as social science methods and statistics. 

At the Open University, Brigitte has authored material for the new MA in International Relations (D818), is a module team member on the third-year undergraduate module International Relations: Continuity and Change in Global Politics (DD313) and co-chairs the production of a new second-year undergraduate International Relations module.  

Doctoral supervision

Brigitte has supervised PhD and Master students at the University of São Paulo and the University of Konstanz and would be happy to discuss new dissertation and research proposals on topics related to comparative democratization, populism and the crisis of democracy, transitional justice, regional organizations in Latin America and comparative regionalism. 

External collaborations

Publications

The deterioration of South America’s security architecture: from cooperation to coexistence? (2023-08-25)
Bragatti, Milton Carlos and Weiffen, Brigitte
International Relations ([Early Access])


How regional organizations cope with recurrent stress: the case of South America (2021-10)
Nolte, Detlef and Weiffen, Brigitte
Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, 64, Article e006(2)


[Book review] Thomas Carothers and Andrew O’Donohue, eds., Democracies Divided: The Global Challenge of Political Polarization (2021-05-13)
Weiffen, Brigitte
Latin American Politics and Society, 63(2) (pp. 172-175)


Reorganizing the Neighborhood? Power Shifts and Regional Security Organizations in the Post-Soviet Space and Latin America (2021-03)
Weiffen, Brigitte; Gawrich, Andrea and Axyonova, Vera
Journal of Global Security Studies, 6, Article ogz080(1)


Latin America and COVID-19: Political Rights and Presidential Leadership to the Test (2020-12-01)
Weiffen, Brigitte
Democratic Theory, 7(2) (pp. 61-68)


Domestic elites and external actors in post-conflict democratisation: mapping interactions and their impact (2018)
Grimm, Sonja and Weiffen, Brigitte
Conflict, Security & Development, 18(4) (pp. 257-282)


Nuanced negative result reporting (2014-10-17)
Lhachimi, Stefan K.; Lehrer, David; Leschke, Janine; Nelson, Moira and Weiffen, Brigitte
Science, 346(6207) (pp. 308-308)


South American Re-armament: From Balancing to Symbolizing Power (2014)
Villa, Rafael A. Duarte and Weiffen, Brigitte
Contemporary Security Policy, 35(1) (pp. 138-162)


Overlapping regional security institutions in South America: The case of OAS and UNASUR (2013)
Weiffen, Brigitte; Wehner, Leslie and Nolte, Detlef
International Area Studies Review, 16(4) (pp. 370-389)


The forgotten factor—the impact of transitional justice on the development of the rule of law in processes of democratization (2012-11)
Weiffen, Brigitte
Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, 6 (pp. 125-147)


Persistence and Change in Regional Security Institutions: Does the OAS Still Have a Project? (2012)
Weiffen, Brigitte
Contemporary Security Policy, 33(2) (pp. 360-383)


Does Heterogeneity Hinder Democracy? (2012)
Merkel, Wolfgang and Weiffen, Brigitte
Comparative Sociology, 11(3) (pp. 387-421)


Erleben – Darstellen – Bewältigen: Eine kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektive auf den Bürgerkrieg (2012)
Ferhadbegović, Sabina and Weiffen, Brigitte
Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 1(2) (pp. 187-218)


Der vergessene Faktor – Zum Einfluss von Transitional Justice auf die Entwicklung von Rechtsstaatlichkeit in Demokratisierungsprozessen (2011-04)
Weiffen, Brigitte
Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, 5(1) (pp. 51-74)


Democracy, Regional Security Institutions, and Rivalry Mitigation: Evidence From Europe, South America, and Asia (2011)
Weiffen, Brigitte; Dembinski, Matthias; Hasenclever, Andreas; Freistein, Katja and Yamauchi, Makiko
Security Studies, 20(3) (pp. 378-415)


Liberalizing Autocracies in the Gulf Region? Reform Strategies in the Face of a Cultural-Economic Syndrome (2008-12)
Weiffen, Brigitte
World Development, 36(12) (pp. 2586-2604)


negative results in social science (2007)
Lehrer, David; Leschke, Janine; Lhachimi, Stefan; Vasiliu, Ana and Weiffen, Brigitte
European Political Science, 6(1) (pp. 51-68)


Brochures/Reviews/Reports: The Journal of Spurious Correlations (2007)
Lehrer, David; Leschke, Janine; Lhachimi, Stefan; Vasiliu, Ana and Weiffen, Brigitte
Bulletin of Sociological Methodology/Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique, 94(1) (pp. 95-98)


International institutions are the key: a new perspective on the democratic peace (2006)
Hasenclever, Andreas and Weiffen, Brigitte
Review of International Studies, 32(4) (pp. 563-585)


The Cultural-Economic Syndrome: Impediments to Democracy in the Middle East (2004)
Weiffen, Brigitte
Comparative Sociology, 3(3-4) (pp. 353-375)


21st Century Democracy Promotion in the Americas: Standing up for the Polity (2014)
Heine, Jorge and Weiffen, Brigitte
ISBN : 9781315755137 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London


Entstehungsbedingungen von Demokratien: Interne und externe Einflüsse im Vergleich (2009)
Weiffen, Brigitte
ISBN : 978-3-8329-4443-8 | Publisher : Nomos


China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Curse or Blessing for Democracy in Eurasia? (2023)
Mihr, Anja and Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Mihr, Anja; Sorbello, Paolo and Weiffen, Brigitte eds. Securitization and Democracy in Eurasia. Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region (pp. 245-254)
ISBN : 978-3-031-16659-4 | Publisher : Springer | Published : Cham, Switzerland


The Belt and Road Initiative and Autocracy Promotion as Elements of China’s Grand Strategy (2023)
Mandelbaum, Henoch Gabriel and Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Mihr, Anja; Sorbello, Paolo and Weiffen, Brigitte eds. Securitization and Democracy in Eurasia. Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region (pp. 361-374)
ISBN : 978-3-031-16659-4 | Publisher : Springer | Published : Cham, Switzerland


Foreign Policy and International Relations: Taking Stock after Two Years of the Bolsonaro Administration (2022)
Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Birle, Peter and Speck, Bruno eds. Brazil under Bolsonaro. How endangered is democracy?. Ibero-Online (14) (pp. 55-66)
ISBN : 978-3-935656-83-2 | Publisher : Ibero-American Institute | Published : Berlin


Introduction: Regionalism under stress (2021)
Nolte, Detlef and Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Nolte, Detlef and Weiffen, Brigitte eds. Regionalism Under Stress: Europe and Latin America in Comparative Perspective (pp. 1-12)
ISBN : 9780429442186 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London


Stress factors and their impact on regionalism (2021)
Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Nolte, Detlef and Weiffen, Brigitte eds. Regionalism Under Stress: Europe and Latin America in Comparative Perspective (pp. 15-33)
ISBN : 9780429442186 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London


Efectos colaterales de la pandemia para la integración regional en América Latina: una perspectiva comparativa (2021)
Nolte, Detlef and Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Vieira Posada, Edgar and Peña, Félix eds. La COVID-19 y la integración ante los desafíos de un nuevo orden mundial (pp. 79-106)
ISBN : 978-958-760-289-0 | Publisher : Ediciones Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia | Published : Bogotá, Colombia


V. 5. Lateinamerikas Präsenz in internationalen Organisationen Brigitte Weiffen (2019)
Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Maihold, Günther; Sangmeister, Hartmut and Werz, Nikolaus eds. Lateinamerika: Handbuch für Wissenschaft und Studium (pp. 378-389)
ISBN : 978-3-8487-5247-8 | Publisher : Nomos


Competing claims for security governance in South America (2018)
Nolte, Detlef and Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Aris, Stephen; Snetkov, Aglaya and Wenger, Andreas eds. Inter-organizational Relations in International Security (pp. 109-126)
ISBN : 9781315163512 | Publisher : Routledge


Re-Thinking Latin American Regional Security: The Impact of Power and Politic (2017)
Weiffen, Brigitte and Villa, Rafael Duarte
In: Suarez, Marcial A.G.; Duarte Villa, Rafael and Weiffen, Brigitte eds. Power Dynamics and Regional Security in Latin America (pp. 1-23)
Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : London


Institutional Overlap and Responses to Political Crises in South America (2017)
Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Suarez, Marcial A.G.; Duarte Villa, Rafael and Weiffen, Brigitte eds. Power Dynamics and Regional Security in Latin America (pp. 173-197)
ISBN : 978-1-137-57382-7 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : London


Transitional Justice: Eine konzeptionelle Auseinandersetzung (2015)
Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Mihr, Anja; Pickel, Gert and Pickel, Susanne eds. Handbuch Transitional Justice. Springer NachschlageWissen (pp. 1-18)
ISBN : 978-3-658-02994-4 | Publisher : Springer VS, Wiesbaden


Transitional Justice (2015)
Weiffen, Brigitte
In: Kollmorgen, Raj; Merkel, Wolfgang and Wagener, Hans-Jürgen eds. Handbuch Transformationsforschung (pp. 749-754)
ISBN : 978-3-658-05348-2 | Publisher : Springer VS, Wiesbaden


Securitization and Democracy in Eurasia (2022-12-09)
Mihr, Anja; Sorbello, Paolo and Weiffen, Brigitte
Mihr, Anja; Sorbello, Paolo and Weiffen, Brigitte eds.
Transformation and Development in the OSCE Region
ISBN : 978-3-031-16659-4 | Publisher : Springer | Published : Cham, Switzerland


Regionalism Under Stress: Europe and Latin America in Comparative Perspective (2020-07-02)
Nolte, Detlef and Weiffen, Brigitte
Weiffen, Brigitte and Nolte, Detlef eds.
Global Institutions
ISBN : 9780429442186 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London


Power Dynamics and Regional Security in Latin America (2017-07-25)
Suarez, Marcial A.G.; Villa, Rafael Duarte and Weiffen, Brigitte
Suarez, Marcial A.G.; Villa, Rafael Duarte and Weiffen, Brigitte eds.
ISBN : 978-1-137-57381-0 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan | Published : London


Autocracia, populismo e nacionalismo: desafiando a democracia, perturbando as relações internacionais? [Autocracy, Populism and Nationalism: Challenging Democracy, Disturbing International Relations?] (2023-05)
Chatterje-Doody, Precious and Weiffen, Brigitte
FECAP - Instituto Brasil–União Europeia, São Paulo.


Democracia, direitos humanos e justiça internacional: avanços e retrocessos (2022-09)
Weiffen, Brigitte; Battistuzzi Penachioni, Júlia; Monteiro Danese, Paula; de Santana Silva, Arnaldo; Rabello de Lima, Gabriela; Siman, Tainá and Almeida Ramos, Vitória
FECAP - Instituto Brasil–União Europeia, São Paulo.