Wolfgang Minatti

I am a researcher working on legitimation and violence in international politics and civil war. 

I work as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Leuphana University.

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My research deals with

Conflict

How are political systems upheld during conflict? What is the relation between violence, authority and support?

Legitimacy

How can we theorise and operationalise legitimation in contexts of complex governance such as international politics or civil war?

Qualitative Methods

When should we do fieldwork? What are the ethics of fieldwork in contexts of political violence? 

Governance

How do multi-layered governance systems interact? How do armed actors govern in civil war?

Publications

Peer Reviewed
2026. It takes three to tango: contested authority, violence and rebel legitimacy in Colombia. Journal of Peace Research. 63 (4), pp. 618-631. xjag005. [Online Appendices]
2026. Beyond vulnerable populations: vulnerability, fieldwork and knowledge production. Qualitative Research. 26 (3), pp. 501-512. With Ophelia Nicole-Berva.
2026. ‘Being Affected’: The Epistemic Value of Vulnerability in Fieldwork. Qualitative Research. 26 (3), pp. 623-642. With F. Guillaume Gass-Quintero.
2026. Of Assistants and Researchers: Vulnerability during Fieldwork on the Colombian Conflict. Qualitative Research. 26 (3), pp. 603-622. With Laura Ramírez Rodríguez.
2025. Self-Legitimation as a Bureaucratic Tool: EU Bureaucracy and the Legitimising Function of Children’s Rights. Global Studies Quarterly. 5 (4), ksaf112. With Selma Kropp
2024. Legitimate Governance in International Politics: Towards a Relational Theory of Legitimation. Review of International Studies, 50 (4), pp. 662-681.
2024. Whither Willkommenskultur? National Identity Discourses and the Arrival of Refugees in Germany in 2015/16. Journal for Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50 (20), pp. 5288-5307. With Selma Kropp.
2023. A Key Success Factor: Elucidating the Meaning of Legitimacy for UN Peacekeepers. Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 17(5), pp. 557-576.
2020. Concepts of Legitimacy: Congruence and Divergence in the Afghan Conflict. Civil Wars, 22(1), pp. 1-15. With Isabelle Duyvesteyn.
Working Papers
Can Violence Legitimise Authority? Exploring the Normative Role of Violence
Rebel Governance as Community-Making: A Practice-Theory approach
Domestic Politics and Military Aid to Ukraine: Explaining Disclosure Policies in France and Germany. With Marius Ghincea
Other
2024. Frieden von unten: Zivilgesellschaftliche Versöhnung in Kolumbien. WZB Mitteilungen.
2024. Rebel Governance as Self-Legitimation: The Case of the FARC in Colombia. Civil War Paths Blog.
2023. Fieldwork and Vulnerability in Political Science. [Video]. SAGE Research Methods.
2021. Memory of Violence and Conflict in Cabrera, Colombia. EUI Ideas.
2021. Legitimate Governance and the Taliban’s Takeover. EUI Ideas.
2020. The Challenges of the Afghan Peace Talks. EUI Ideas.

Teaching

Leuphana University
2026. Violent Orders. BA Seminar.
2026. Introduction to International Relations. BA Seminar.
2025/26. Violence beyond the State. BA Seminar.
2025/26. Critical Security Studies. BA Seminar.
University Potsdam
2025. Intrastate War and Violent Non-State Actors. MA Seminar.
2025. Qualitative Methods in Practice. MA Seminar.
2024/25. Studying the 'Global South': Methods, Histories and Critiques. MA Seminar.
2024/25. Introduction to Security Politics. BA Seminar.
2024. Introduction to Security Politics. BA Seminar.
European University Institute
2023. A Lifecycle of Fieldwork. PhD Seminar. With Ophelia Nicole-Berva and Samuel Ritholtz.
2021. Conducting Qualitative Fieldwork. PhD Seminar. With Caitlin Procter and Mariusz Bogacki.
TU Darmstadt
2022. Social Phenomena of Rebel Groups. MA Seminar.

Dr. Wolfgang Minatti

Leuphana University
Email: wolfgang.minatti@leuphana.de

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