Thania Paffenholz

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{{Infobox academic

| honorific_prefix = Dr

| name = Thania Paffenholz

| image = Thania-Paffenholz.jpg

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Cologne, Germany

| nationality = {{flagicon|DEU}} German
{{flagicon|TAN}} Tanzanian
{{flagicon|SWI}} Swiss

| title = Director of Inclusive Peace

| discipline = * Intervention strategies in peace processes

Civil society in peace and transition processes
Research-policy transfer in peace research
Evaluation in Peacebuilding

| education = University of Frankfurt

| workplaces = Inclusive Peace and Transition Initiative, Graduate Institute Geneva, United Nations, European Union, Swisspeace

| awards = 2015 Wihuri International Prize

}}

Thania Paffenholz is a scholar and policy advisor specializing in peace processes and political transitions. She is the Director of Inclusive Peace, a Geneva-based organization focused on evidence-based research and advisory support for peace negotiations. Previously, she was associated with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where she led research on peace and conflict resolution.

Career

Paffenholz has worked on comparative studies of peace processes in various regions, including Mozambique, Angola, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Mali, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Yemen, Egypt, El Salvador, Syria, and Colombia. She has contributed to international peace and security policies, including United Nations initiatives and the United Nations Global Study on Women, Peace, and Security.

She has held advisory roles with international organizations, governments, and non-governmental organizations, focusing on peacebuilding strategies in conflict-affected regions. Paffenholz is also a Senior Fellow at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and serves as the Chief Field Editor of Frontiers in Political Science.

Her research focuses on inclusive peace negotiations, the role of civil society in peacebuilding, and political transitions. From 2005 to 2010, she led a research project on civil society’s role in peacebuilding, culminating in the publication of the book Civil Society & Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment (2010).{{Cite journal |last=Ginty |first=Roger Mac |date=June 2012 |title=Civil Society and Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00358533.2012.697803 |journal=The Round Table |volume=101 |issue=3 |pages=281–282 |doi=10.1080/00358533.2012.697803 |issn=0035-8533}} Between 2011 and 2015, she conducted a comparative analysis of over 40 peace processes, examining the participation and influence of civil society, political groups, and armed actors.

Media appearances

Paffenholz has contributed to Ted.com,[https://www.ted.com/talks/thania_paffenholz_make_women_count_don_t_just_count_women Make Women Count - Don't just count women][https://www.ted.com/talks/thania_paffenholz_make_women_count_don_t_just_count_women Friedensforscherin zur Ukraine: «Es wurde nie wirklich nach Lösungen gesucht] (trans. Peace researcher on Ukraine: “We were never really looking for solutions), Watson Scientific American,[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-we-end-wars-a-peace-researcher-puts-forward-some-innovative-approaches/ How Do We End Wars? A Peace Researcher Puts Forward Some Innovative Approaches], Scientific American The Pioneer,[https://www.thepioneer.de/originals/der-achte-tag/podcasts/wie-ein-frieden-zwischen-der-ukraine-und-russland-moeglich-ist Wie ein Frieden zwischen der Ukraine und Russland möglich ist] (trans. How peace between Ukraine and Russia is possible), The Pioneer Aargauer Zeitung,[https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/international/friedensforscherin-zur-ukraine-es-wurde-nie-wirklich-nach-loesungen-gesucht-ld.2282083?reduced=true Wer stoppt Putin? Friedensforscherin ist sich sicher: Frauen könnten der Schlüssel sein – weil sie Männern eines voraus haben] (trans. Who will stop Putin? Peace researcher is certain: Women could be the key - because they have one advantage over men), Aargauer Zeitung and Spektrum.de.[https://www.spektrum.de/news/krieg-die-idee-mit-einem-vertrag-ewig-frieden-zu-haben-ist-falsch/2000425 Die Idee, mit einem Vertrag ewig Frieden zu haben, ist falsch] (trans. The idea of having eternal peace with a contract is wrong), Spektrum.De

Prizes

Wihuri International Prize, 2015, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation
International Studies Association (ISA) Honour, 2010, International Studies Association

Reviewed journal articles

[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17502977.2021.1925423 Perpetual Peacebuilding: A New Paradigm to Move Beyond the Linearity of Liberal Peacebuilding (2021), Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 17 May 2021: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17502977.2021.1925423]
[https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/political-science/articles/10.3389/fpos.2021.691999/full The Grand Challenge in Peace and Democracy (with Anastassia Obydenkova) (2021), Frontiers in Political Science: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2021.691999/full]
[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333984142_Transfer_20_Applying_the_Concept_of_Transfer_from_Track-Two_Workshops_to_Inclusive_Peace_Negotiations Transfer 2.0: Applying the Concept of Transfer from Track-Two Workshops to Inclusive Peace Negotiations, with Esra Cuhada. 2019, International Studies Review, 24 June 2019]
[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01436597.2015.1029908 Unpacking the Local Turn in Peacebuilding: An Agenda for future research? In: Third World Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 5, 857–874, 2015]
[https://www.jstor.org/stable/48603183 Inclusive Politics: Lessons for and from the New Deal, in: Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Vol.10, No.1, p. 84-89, 2015]
[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nejo.12046 Civil Society and Peace Negotiations: Beyond the Inclusion-Exclusion Dichotomy, in: Negotiation Journal, Vol.30, No.1, p. 69-91, 2014]
[https://cnxus.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Paffenholz20Int.20Peacebuilding20goes20local205_2013.pdf International Peacebuilding Goes Local: Analysing Lederach’s Conflict Transformation Theory and its Ambivalent Encounter with 20 years of Practice (2013), in: Peacebuilding, Taylor and Francis, Vol.2, No.1,11-27, 2014]
Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen als Friedensbringer? Möglichkeiten und Grenzen (2010), in: Die Friedens-Warte (German Review Journal), Vol 85, 4, p. 11-27
[https://www.mattersburgerkreis.at/dl/LLntJMJKooJqx4KooJK/JEP-3-2006_02_PAFFENHOLZ_Peacebuilding-A-Task-for-Development-Cooperation.pdf Peacebuilding: A Task for Development Cooperation (2006), in: Journal für Entwicklungspolitik (JEP), Vol. XXII, No.3, p. 6-34]
[https://berghof-foundation.org/files/publications/dialogue4_paffenholz.pdf Towards Better Working in Conflict Zones: Introducing the Aid for Peace Approach (2005), in: Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Vol.2, No.2, with Luc Reychler, p. 4-22]
[https://www.fes.de/ipg/IPG4_2005/06_PAFFENHOLZ.PDF Peace and Conflict Sensitivity in International Cooperation: An Introductory Overview (2005), in: International Politics and Society/Zeitschrift für Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, No.4 2005, p. 63-82]

References

Category:Living people

Category:1965 births

Category:People from Cologne

Category:Goethe University Frankfurt alumni

Category:Academic staff of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies

Category:German expatriates in Switzerland