Susanne Zwingel

Biography

Dr. Zwingel received her Ph. D. in Political Science from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, and an M.A. in Politics and Sociology from Hamburg University, Germany. Before joining the department of Politics and International Relations at FIU in 2014, she worked as Associate Professor of Politics at the State University of New York in Potsdam, NY.

Dr. Zwingel’s research interests include international women’s and human rights norms and their translation; public gender policies and gender equality advocacy around the world; global governance and gender; feminist, constructivist and post-colonial IR theories; gender and armed conflict; and interpretivist methodology. A short presentation of her research profile, produced by FIU Advance in 2019, can be found here.

Publications in her fields of expertise include journal articles (e.g., “Women’s Rights Close to Home? The Miami Dade County CEDAW Ordinance as Local Practice“, Politics and Gender, 2024), book chapters (e.g., “Gender equality norms in international governance – actors, contexts, meanings”, in Engberg-Pedersen, Lars, Fejerskov, Adam M., and Cold-Ravnkilde, Signe Marie (eds.): Rethinking gender equality in global governance. The delusion of norm diffusion, London, 2019) and co-edited volumes (with Elisabeth Prügl and Gülay Caglar: Feminist Strategies in International Governance, Routledge, 2013). Her 2016 monograph “Translating International Women’s Rights: The CEDAW Convention in Context” analyzes the global discourse on women’s rights norms as well as transnationally connected actors that use these norms to strengthen their claims for gender equality domestically. Following the book, Dr. Zwingel has been compiling an online bibliography that traces the impact of CEDAW around the world – check it out! For a complete list of publications, please see her CV.

Dr. Zwingel is currently working on a book project on the engagement of Caribbean states and civil society organizations with global gender equality norms. At FIU, she teaches classes on Feminism and Gender Hierarchies in International Relations, Human Rights, International Relations Theories, Postcolonialism, and Qualitative Research Methods. She is also currently preparing a study abroad course on Genocide and Memory in Germany and regularly blogs about intercultural, feminist, political, and social justice issues here. As a dual US/German citizen who is also fluent in Spanish, Dr. Zwingel is proud to contribute to FIU’s multicultural and dynamic community.

Areas of Expertise

International women’s rights and their translation; gender equality advocacy around the world; global governance and gender; feminist, constructivist, and post-colonial IR theories; gender and armed conflict.

 Degrees

BA equivalent, Bamberg University, Political Science (1991)

MA equivalent, Hamburg University, Political Science and Sociology (1996)

PhD, Ruhr University Bochum, Social Sciences (2005)