Dr. Christian von Soest

GIGA Institute of African Affairs
Neuer Jungfernstieg 21
20234 Hamburg
Germany

Phone: +49 (0)40 - 428 25-563
Fax: +49 (0)40 - 428 25-511

GIGA Berlin Office
Charlottenstr. 43
10117 Berlin

Phone: +49 (0) 30 - 250 40 986
Fax: +49 (0) 30 - 250 40 987

Email:

Biographical data:

• Born in 1975
• 1997-2002: Study of Journalism (Communication Science, Political Science, Public Law), University of Munich and German School of Journalism.
• 2003-2006: Doctoral thesis „The African State and the Capability to Raise Revenue, at University of Leipzig.
• 2007: PhD (summa cum laude); PhD Price from Research Academy Leipzig and Junior Scientists Award from the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD)
• Professional career:

• Member of GIGA Research Programme 1, GIGA Research Programme 2 and GIGA Research Programme 4
• Head of research project "Persistence and Change of Neopatrimonialism in various Non-OECD Regions"
• Scientific Coordinator of the lecture series GIGA Forum
• Head of Research Team 4 „pariah states and sanctions” of GIGA Research Programme 2

Membership:

• Vereinigung für Afrikawissenschaften in Deutschland (VAD)
• American Political Science Association (APSA)
• African Studies Association (ASA)

Teaching:

• Proseminar: "Staatlichkeit in Afrika", Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft, Freie Universität Berlin, SoSe 2010

Current research:

• State and public administration in sub-Saharan Africa
• Neopatrimonialism / corruption
• Foreign and development policy
• Sanctions against authoritarian states
• Regional integration

Third-party funded projects:

• Persistence and Change of Neo-patrimonialism in Various Non-OECD regions, 2008-2011 (DFG)

Publications (selection):

• 2010: Versöhner, Manager, Populist. Das Wirken der Präsidenten für die Konsolidierung der südafrikanischen Demokratie, in: Werner Distler/ Kristina Weissenbach (eds.), Konsolidierungsprojekt Südafrika. 15 Jahre Post-Apartheid, Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 89-106 (Flyer)

• 2010: Wintermärchen 2010? Die Bedeutung der Fußball-WM für Südafrika, in: WeltTrends, Nr. 72, pp. 27-34 (Full text)

• 2010: Mittler zwischen Nord und Süd. Südafrikas Position nach dem Klimagipfel in Kopenhagen, in: Internationale Politik, März/April 2010, pp. 114-118 (Full text)

• 2010: Regenbogennation als regionale Führungsmacht?, in: Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (APuZ), 1/2010, S. 19-25 (Volltext)

• 2009: The African State and Its Revenues. How Politics Influences Tax Collection in Zambia and Botswana, in: Entwicklungstheorie und Entwicklungspolitik, Bd. 6, Baden-Baden: Nomos (Abstract / Flyer)

• 2009: Stagnation of a “Miracle”: Botswana’s Governance Record Revisited, GIGA Working Paper, No 99, April 2008 (Abstract & Volltext)

• 2009 (with Jan-Peter Wogart, Gilberto Calcagnott and Wolfgang Hein): AIDS and Access to Medicines: Brazil, South Africa and Global Health
  Governance, in: Kent Buse/ Wolfgang Hein/ Nick Drager (eds.), Making Sense of Global Health Governance – A policy perspective, Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 137-163 (Abstract); prepublished: GIGA Working Paper, No.86, September 2008 (Abstract & Volltext)

• 2008 (with Matthias Basedau): Botswana, in: Andreas Mehler/ Henning Melber/ Klaas van Walraven (Hg.), Africa Yearbook 2008, Vol. 5, Brill, February 1, 2009, Leiden

• 2008 (with Gero Erdmann): Diktatur in Afrika, GIGA Focus Afrika, Nr. 8/2008, Hamburg: GIGA (Full article)

• 2008: (with Jan-Peter Wogart, Gilberto Calcagnott and Wolfgang Hein): AIDS, TRIPS and Access to Medicines: A Conflict in Global Health Governance and the Involvement of Brazil and South Africa. Article for WHO book (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming).

• 2008: (with Andreas Mehler, Ulf Engel, Lena Giesbert and Jenny Kuhlmann): Structural Stability: On the Prerequisites of Nonviolent Conflict Management, GIGA Working Paper, No. 75, April 2008. (Abstract & Volltext)

• 2008: „Wacklige“ Bausteine und „schwache“ Maurer: Die Afrikanische Union hat ein Integrationsproblem, GIGA Focus Afrika, Nummer 4/2008. (Volltext)

• 2008: Donor support for tax administration reform in Africa: experiences in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. DIE/GDI Discussion Paper 2/2008, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik / German Development Institute, Bonn. (Volltext)

• 2007: How Does Neopatrimonialism Affect the African State? The Case of Tax Collection in Zambia, in: Journal of Modern African Studies; Vol. 45, No. 4, S. 621-645 (Abstract), see also GIGA Workingpaper Nr. 32 (Abstract & Full article)

• 2007: Measuring the Capability to Raise Revenue. Process and Output Dimensions and Their Application to the Zambia Revenue Authority, in: Public Administration and Development; Vol. 27, No. 4, S. 353-365 (Abstract), see also GIGA Working Paper, Nr. 35 (Abstract & Volltext)

• 2007 (with Martin Weinel): The Treatment Controversy – Global Health Governance and South Africa’s Fight against HIV/AIDS, in: Hein, Wolfgang/Bartsch, Sonja/Kohlmorgen, Lars (eds.): Global Health Governance and the Fight against HIV/AIDS. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 202-225 (Abstract)

• 2006 (with Julia Scheller): Regionale Integration im südlichen Afrika: Wohin steuert die SADC? GIGA Focus Afrika, Nr. 10/2006, Hamburg: GIGA. (Full article)

• 2006: Measuring the Capability to Raise Revenue. Process and Output Dimensions and Their Application to the Zambia Revenue Authority; GIGA Working Paper, No. 35, December 2006. (Abstract & Volltext)

• 2006 (with Jérôme Cholet): Südafrika: Enteignungen als neuer Weg in der Landreform? GIGA Focus Afrika, Nummer 7, Hamburg: GIGA. (Full article)

Complete list

Lectures (selection):

• "Applying an 'elusive' concept: Neopatrimonialism and tax collection in Zambia and Botswana" (paper giver), Lecture Series, University of Oxford, Department of International Development, Oxford, February 1, 2010

• "Vom Rohstoffexport zur Industrialisierung: Erfolge und Herausforderungen in Südafrikas Politik und Wirtschaft" (paper giver), Ringvorlesung "Wirtschaftsmacht Afrika: Wachstumspole, Potenziale und Perspektiven", OSI Club e.V., Otto-Suhr-Institut für Politikwissenschaft, FU Berlin, Berlin, January 5, 2010

• Podiumsdiskussion: "Das Verblassen des Regenbogens - Die Zukunft Südafrikas als schwacher afrikanischer Staat?" (discussant), CSP-Netzwerk für Internationale Politik und Zusammenarbeit e.V., Alumni-Netzwerk des "Carlo-Schmid-Programms", Berlin, November 6, 2009

• Member of International Advisory and Peer Review Panel, International Peer Review Workshop "Pockets of Effectiveness in Nigeria: Exceptional Public Organisations and Democratic Change", Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Nigeria, Lagos, September 10, 2009

• "Tabled Paper: Comparing neopatrimonialism: First empirical results from Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia and implications for the concept", Panel chair / discussant Panel 215: Informal Institutions in the Age of Globalisation – different world regions compared, General Conference, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), Potsdam, September 12, 2009 (Abstract)

• "Informal Institutions Compared – Persistence and Change of Neopatrimonialism in Various World Regions" (paper giver), 2009 Annual Meeting and Exhibition, American Political Science Association (APSA), Toronto September 4, 2009 (Abstract)

• "Auf dem Weg zu einem Einparteistaat? Südafrika nach der Wahl" (paper giver), Tagung “Regenbogenland Südafrika”, Akademie Franz Hitze Haus / Ministerium für Generationen, Familie, Frauen und Integration NRW, Münster, June 26, 2009

• Discussant, Panel 127 "The Zimabwean Crisis beyond the first steps of political settlement", 3rd European Conference on African Studies (ECAS), AEGIS (Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies), Leipzig, June 5, 2009

• "Kap der guten Hoffnungen? Südafrika nach der Wahl" (paper giver), Fokus Südafrika, Eine Welt Netzwerk Hamburg, Werkstatt 3, Hamburg, May 7, 2009

• "Südafrikas Krisenmanagement auf dem Prüfstand", Podiumsdiskussion: Jahrestreffen Freundeskreis der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, September 6, 2008, Berlin

• (with Alexander Stroh): “Passages to Democracy? Africa’s Diverse Regime Transitions Revisited”, presented at the Biannual Conference of the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD), 14.05.2008, Freiburg i. Br.

• "Operationalising Neopatrimonialism – A Comparison between Zambia and Botswana", presented at the international conference Comparison at a Crossroad – A Tribute to Jean-François Médard, March 29, 2007, Bordeaux

• "Between Conflict and Cooperation - Global-National Interfaces and the Fight against HIV/AIDS in Brazil and South Africa", presented at the international workshop Defining and Shaping the Architecture for Global Health Governance: Current Issues and Future Perspectives, February 23, 2006, Hamburg

• "A Class of its Own - The Government as the Driver of South Africa's HIV/AIDS Policy", presented at the 48th annual conference of the African Studies Association (ASA), November 18, 2005, Washington, D.C.

• "The Capability to Raise Revenue. A Comparative Study of the Tax Administration in Zambia and Botswana", presented at the AEGIS (Africa-Europe Group of Interdisciplinary Studies) 2005 European Conference, June 30, 2005, London

• "Die Interdependenz von Good Governance und Steuerverwaltung in Sub-Sahara Afrika", presented at the Workshop of the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) Kooperation der GTZ mit deutschen Afrika-Instituten, March 23, 2005, Eschborn

Media article:

• 2010 Soccer World Cup - A Boost for Africa? (Video)
  Talkshow (Quadriga, Deutsche Welle TV, January 1, 2010)

• Neighbors to put pressure on Zimbabwe's leadership
  Interview (Deutsche Welle Online, November 4, 2009)