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 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 can be found here. 

Publications in her fields of expertise include journal articles (e.g., “How Do Norms Travel? Theorizing International Women’s Rights in Transnational Perspective”, International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 56, 2012), 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: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019) and co-edited volumes (with Elisabeth Prügl and Gülay Caglar: Feminist Strategies in International Governance, Routledge, 2013). In 2016, she published a monograph titled “Translating International Women’s Rights: The CEDAW Convention in Context” (with Palgrave Macmillan). It 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 two projects: the engagement of Caribbean states and civil society organizations with global gender equality norms; and the local application of international women’s rights norms in Miami Dade County through the 2015 CEDAW ordinance. In the future, Dr. Zwingel plans to analyze in more detail the relevance of translation in international relations. 

At FIU, Dr. Zwingel teaches International Relations Theories, Feminism and Gender Hierarchies in International Relations, Human Rights, Postcolonialism, and Qualitative Methods. As a German and US citizen who is also fluent in Spanish she 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)