GIGA Institute for Middle East Studies

This project investigates the evolution of anti-refugee discourse in Germany, focusing on Jewish and Muslim groups, through a comparative critical discourse analysis spanning from 1900 to 2024. It aims to understand the main arguments used by German governments to justify pro- and anti-refugee views, identify parallels and differences, and explore the boundaries of what is ‘sayable’ in political discourse. Gerda Henkel Foundation, 2025-2027

As part of the overall MOTRA II project, the GIGA sub-project aims to gain generalisable insights into the influence of international events and developments on politically extremist attitudes among the population living in Germany and among party political elites, how these attitudes change over time, and how they interact with each other.
BMFTR, BMI, 2025-2028

In its second funding phase, the WONAGO project continues to investigate powerful world order narratives in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It particularly aims to understand those perceptions in these regions that - as currently in the Ukraine war - differ significantly from prevailing ideas in the U.S., the EU, and their allies.
BMFTR, 2024-2027

GIGA‘s Digital Transformation Lab (DigiTraL), funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, analyses the political drivers and real-world consequences of the digital transformation taking place around the world. The Global South in particular is an important actor in and shaper of this transformation.
FFO, 2024-2026

The fight against climate change continues to be hindered by campaigns of corporate and other actors who seek to prevent global and/or national action on climate change. This research group is set up to a joint and comparative research agenda on climate obstruction in and across key Global South countries. The lead institutions are the GIGA and the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ).
DAAD/CAPES, 2024-2026

The Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) based in Tunis is the first and only Institute for Advanced Studies in North Africa. MECAM’s ambition is to become an intellectual hub that contributes to the emergence of cutting-edge, internationally relevant and visible research in the humanities and social sciences on, from and in the Maghreb and in particular with scholars from the Maghreb. The GIGA coordinates MECAM's publications as well as outreach and transfer activities.
BMFTR, 2023-2029

This project examines the politics of kin-work performed by families of Tunisian ex-combatants, a form of affective labor that sustains care relations for kin who have migrated to regional sites of jihad. In a hostile public sphere where the jihadi denotes a monstrous form of life, any political advocacy for ex-combatants requires first recovering their humanity. Drawing on street protests, TV talk shows, and other cultural forms, I show how kinship claims reinforce citizenship rights under the Global War on Terror.
AvH, 2022-2024