Theodora Benesch

Doctoral Researcher

Theodora Benesch

  • Short CV

    • Since 08/2024: Research Fellow at GIGA Institute of African Affairs
    • 05/2023 - 05/2024: Junior Researcher at the Peacebuilding Programme at the International Security and Development Center (ISDC)
    • 08/2022 - 02/2023: Research Assistant at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research (DPCR) at Uppsala University
    • Education: M.SSc. in Peace and Conflict Studies from Uppsala University; B.A. in Political Science from Goethe University

    Current Research

    • Peacebuilding
    • Intergroup Relations
    • Religion

    Countries and Regions

    • Sub-Saharan Africa
    • Togo
    • Sierra Leone

    Research Programmes


    Dissertation

    • Examining Links from the Micro- to the Macro-level in Peacebuilding

    Theodora Benesch

    Doctoral Researcher

    [email protected]


    GIGA Focus Global | 1/2026

    From Screens to Streets: A New Wave of Youth-Led Protests

    Social media is often blamed for a recent trend of protest failure. We look into the youth-led iterations occurring from Asia to Africa to Latin America in recent years, their ultimate outcomes, and how social media has served to inspire and connect protest movements across countries and continents.

    Contribution | 10/2024

    Putting Interreligious Peace Together: Insights from Two Years of Research

    The project „Religion for Peace: Identifying Conditions and Mechanisms of Interfaith Peace“ explored ways to build and maintain peace between different religious groups. This illustrated summary presents key findings and highlights what we learned about interreligious peace, challenges involved, and ideas about what can be done to put interreligious peace together.

    Research Project | 01/08/2024 - 31/07/2026

    Religion for Peace: Investigating Messengers and Messages for Interreligious Peace

    Religious leaders are active for (interreligious) peace in many contexts and, for example, use their rhetoric to advocate for peace. The effectiveness of religious leaders’ rhetoric depends on the interplay of religious leaders being the messengers and the contents of their words—the message itself. This project (re)tests the (comparative) effectiveness of religious leaders as peace messengers and effective content of peace messages. The project also examines effects of an intervention.
    DFG, 2024-2026

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