The Oxford Handbook of Norms Research in International Relations
Sassan Gholiagha (ed.) et al., 11.12.2025.
Dr. Holger Niemann
Senior Researcher | Research Advisor
Vita
Holger Niemann is Senior Researcher in the European Peace and Security Orders research area and research advisor to the Director at IFSH. He is currently leading the project “Protection Mainstreaming through Valuation Practices” which forms part of the DFG Research Unit PROMISE and analyses priorisation practices in the humanitarian sector. Holger Niemann also chairs the European security working group of the trans-European research network PEACE. Prior to joining IFSH, he worked at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg and the University of Duisburg-Essen. He received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Duisburg-Essen in 2015, writing his dissertation on the contested meaning of Security Council responsibility. Holger Niemann was also a pre-doctoral visiting fellow at Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
Research profile
Holger Niemann’s research focuses on the ways in which norms and practices shape the global governance of peace and security. He is particularly interested in processes of legitimation, contestation, and responsibilisation, as well as the normative and social foundations of global orders. His current research topics include:
- United Nations, in particular UN Security Council
- International organisations, multilateralism and global governance
- Protection and humanitarian action
- European peace and security orders
- Co-creation and transdisciplinary research methods
- Relationship between science and society
Memberships & professional activities
- Member of IFSH’s Extended Executive Board
- Affiliated Member, Earth and Society Research Hub, Universität Hamburg
- Associate Fellow, Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg-Essen
- Co-Chair International Political Sociology standing group of the German Political Science Association
- Member of the Nomination Committee of the Dag Hammarskjöld Lifetime Achievement Award of the German United Nations Association (DGVN)
- Management Committee member of Cost Action PEACE (Peace Research Community Europe)
- Member of #UHHengagiert – Network on Socially Responsible Teaching and Learning, Universität Hamburg
- Editor, IFSH Research Reports
Latest Publications
Selected Publications
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Gadinger, Frank,
Holger Niemann. 2025.
Normativity in Practice: Ordering Through Enactment, Learning, and Contestation in Global Protests.
Review of International Studies
DOI: 10.1017/S0260210525000142.
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Niemann, Holger,
Ursula Schröder,
ed.
2024.
European Security in Times of Crisis: Perspectives from Peace Research.
Research Report 014. Hamburg: IFSH.
DOI: 10.25592/ifsh-research-report-014.
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Bethke, Felix,
Felix Haass,
Holger Niemann. 2024.
The Language of Responsibility in the United Nations Security Council, 1946–2020.
International Studies Quarterly
68 (2): sqae025.
DOI: 10.1093/isq/sqae025.
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Graf, Antonia,
Bastian Loges,
Holger Niemann,
Nils Stockmann. 2023.
Die Relevanz von Normdynamiken: Der Beitrag der Normenforschung zur Untersuchung multipler Krisen.
ZIB, Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen
30 (2): 97-111.
DOI: 10.5771/0946-7165-2023-2-98.
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Niemann, Holger. 2019.
The Justification of Responsibility in the UN Security Council. Practices of Normative Ordering in International Relations.
Routledge Global Cooperation Series. Abingdon: Routledge.
Media/News
Projects
Unlock Europe: Das Escape Game zu Frieden und Sicherheit in Europa
