Ben Christian
banner
benchristian.bsky.social
Ben Christian
@benchristian.bsky.social
Postdoctoral Researcher @goetheuni.bsky.social // International Organizations: learning & change, internal criticism, self-legitimation, cynicism, trust
https://ben-christian.com/
Pinned
Why do many IOs struggle to learn despite a plethora of formal learning processes and tools?

In my new ISQ article, I argue that the criticism culture—the way IOs deal with criticism from their employees—is an overlooked but crucial variable to explain (the lack of) learning in IOs. 🧵

lmy.de/DsCjm
Reposted by Ben Christian
#OpenAccess from @risjnl.bsky.social -

From the bottom up? Frontline crisis management and informal policy change in international organisations - https://cup.org/4qKq5nw

- @nkortendiek.bsky.social

#FirstView
November 3, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
I’m very excited that years of work with Dorry Noyes (@mershoncenter.bsky.social) and a fantastic group of friends and colleagues finally resulted in this, I think, rather beautiful object. The Global Politics of Exemplarity! @normativeorders.bsky.social @prif.org @brisunipress.bsky.social 1/4
November 3, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
Die Fahnen sind da! Im Februar erscheint mein Buch »Radikale Demokratie und die Macht des Affektiven« als fünfter Band der Philosophie & Kritik Reihe im Campus Verlag.
October 23, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
UN funding is under pressure. In a new article @the-peio.bsky.social, my colleagues Alex Tokhi and Lisbeth Zimmermann (@goetheuni.bsky.social) show that the participation of far-right parties in government has significant negative effects on the funding of IOs.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The far right and international organizations: How the far right in government affects foreign aid funding - The Review of International Organizations
The far right is on the rise, winning elections, entering governments globally, and politicizing international cooperation. Existing research finds only very limited effects of far-right governments on international organizations (IOs), however.. We argue that the far right in government undermines IOs by systematically reducing their earmarked funding, as it cannot fully align its anti-migration agenda with the liberal mandates and purposes of most IOs. Using new data on earmarked funding to IOs from 37 OECD donor states between 1990 and 2020, we examine how far-right participation in government affects IO funding. Expanding the data on far-right parties beyond Western Europe, we employ three-way fixed effects and dynamic balancing weights to address both static and dynamic confounding with marginal structural models. Our results show that governments with far-right parties reduce earmarked funding contributions to IOs by almost 30%, without affecting bilateral aid commitments. This suggests that the far right not only politicizes IOs but also attempts to directly undermine their operation when IOs cannot be aligned with their anti-migration agenda.
link.springer.com
August 20, 2025 at 6:58 PM
UN funding is under pressure. In a new article @the-peio.bsky.social, my colleagues Alex Tokhi and Lisbeth Zimmermann (@goetheuni.bsky.social) show that the participation of far-right parties in government has significant negative effects on the funding of IOs.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...
The far right and international organizations: How the far right in government affects foreign aid funding - The Review of International Organizations
The far right is on the rise, winning elections, entering governments globally, and politicizing international cooperation. Existing research finds only very limited effects of far-right governments on international organizations (IOs), however.. We argue that the far right in government undermines IOs by systematically reducing their earmarked funding, as it cannot fully align its anti-migration agenda with the liberal mandates and purposes of most IOs. Using new data on earmarked funding to IOs from 37 OECD donor states between 1990 and 2020, we examine how far-right participation in government affects IO funding. Expanding the data on far-right parties beyond Western Europe, we employ three-way fixed effects and dynamic balancing weights to address both static and dynamic confounding with marginal structural models. Our results show that governments with far-right parties reduce earmarked funding contributions to IOs by almost 30%, without affecting bilateral aid commitments. This suggests that the far right not only politicizes IOs but also attempts to directly undermine their operation when IOs cannot be aligned with their anti-migration agenda.
link.springer.com
August 20, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
📢 Our biannual #EarlyCareer #IR conference in beautiful Tutzing will take place in late February 2026! @dvpw.bsky.social @apbtutzing.bsky.social

Check out the #CfP and apply until 30 Sep! Feel free to share in your networks ✨
⬇️⬇️⬇️
📣 #CfP The 18th Early Career Conference on International Relations (25–27 Feb 2026) once again invites PhD candidates & postdocs to present and discuss their research in beautiful Tutzing! Abstracts can be submitted until 30 Sept 2025. Further details can be found in the attached call.
August 13, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Interested in International Political Sociology? Join us today at 2 pm! :)
Book Launch: Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology

Interested in all things IPS? Join us for our online book launch featuring Co-Editor Ole Jacob Sending and Discussant Ingvild Bode on June 16 at 2 pm (CEST).

Details for the @dvpw.bsky.social event: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...
June 16, 2025 at 8:48 AM
Book Launch: Oxford Handbook of International Political Sociology

Interested in all things IPS? Join us for our online book launch featuring Co-Editor Ole Jacob Sending and Discussant Ingvild Bode on June 16 at 2 pm (CEST).

Details for the @dvpw.bsky.social event: www.dvpw.de/gliederung/a...
June 10, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Reposted by Ben Christian
📢 Job announcement – 1 PhD researcher in my "Global Sustainability Governance" research group

Please share this opportunity within your networks and encourage suitable candidates to apply (or consider applying yourself)! Happy to answer questions!

Deadline: 4 June 👇
www.uni-due.de/karriere/ste...
Stellenausschreibung
www.uni-due.de
May 17, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Great to see @reformworks.bsky.social featuring findings from my ISQ article on internal criticism and organizational learning in IOs. In light of the recent developments, Katja asks: Will the UN Ever Learn to Reform? #UN80
Despite a professionalized learning architecture, the #UN struggles to learn. What is the missing piece? A culture of criticism.

With member states stressing that #UN80 be informed by lessons from past reforms, we explore new research that shows how learning can really happen.

👉 bit.ly/UNlearns
May 15, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Reposted by Ben Christian
Despite a professionalized learning architecture, the #UN struggles to learn. What is the missing piece? A culture of criticism.

With member states stressing that #UN80 be informed by lessons from past reforms, we explore new research that shows how learning can really happen.

👉 bit.ly/UNlearns
May 13, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
▶️ @benchristian.bsky.social and Dirk Peters examine how trust and distrust define the post-Brexit relationship between the EU and the UK.
Establishing trust and distrust when states leave international organisations: the case of Brexit
Although EU and UK participants in Brexit negotiations emphasise the role that trust and distrust played for them, existing Brexit research has largely disregarded this factor. From a trust perspec...
www.tandfonline.com
April 30, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Ben Christian
How can trust be rebuilt when states leave international organizations? #Brexit

Happy to see that Dirk Peters @prif.org and my article on this question has been assigned to the new issue @jeppjournal.bsky.social.

Thread below, open access article here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
April 22, 2025 at 1:50 PM
How can trust be rebuilt when states leave international organizations? #Brexit

Happy to see that Dirk Peters @prif.org and my article on this question has been assigned to the new issue @jeppjournal.bsky.social.

Thread below, open access article here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
April 22, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
Wichtiges Symposium in Frankfurt, Anmeldungen sind weiterhin möglich. @dominikherold.bsky.social und ich organisieren einen Workshop zur Wissenschaftsfreiheit, kommt vorbei! :)
Frankfurt, save the date: Am 25/26.4. veranstalten wir im offeneshaus.bsky.social ein Symposium zu den neuen autoritären Verhältnissen weltweit. Es gibt zwei Tage lang Vorträge, Diskussionen und Workshops. Alle Infos und Anmeldung via: transnationale-demokratie.de/symposium-de...
April 7, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Wichtiges Symposium in Frankfurt, Anmeldungen sind weiterhin möglich. @dominikherold.bsky.social und ich organisieren einen Workshop zur Wissenschaftsfreiheit, kommt vorbei! :)
Frankfurt, save the date: Am 25/26.4. veranstalten wir im offeneshaus.bsky.social ein Symposium zu den neuen autoritären Verhältnissen weltweit. Es gibt zwei Tage lang Vorträge, Diskussionen und Workshops. Alle Infos und Anmeldung via: transnationale-demokratie.de/symposium-de...
April 7, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Beate Jahn & Sebastian Schindler have compiled a fantastic “Elgar Encyclopedia of International Relations." What makes it special is that it not only covers well-known IR concepts but also many less-established ones—such as art, failure, friendship, or post-truth. A great resource! 🙏
lmy.de/mjCbh
March 24, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Reposted by Ben Christian
🏆 I feel deeply honored to receive the Chadwick Alger Prize for the best book on multilateral cooperation and international organization for "Global Governance on the Ground".

Have a look at the book here academic.oup.com/book/59022 and let me know if you can't access it.
March 19, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
Why do many IOs struggle to learn despite a plethora of formal learning processes and tools?

In my new ISQ article, I argue that the criticism culture—the way IOs deal with criticism from their employees—is an overlooked but crucial variable to explain (the lack of) learning in IOs. 🧵

lmy.de/DsCjm
March 5, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
🚨Why do IOs struggle to learn?
Interesting new article showing how the « criticism culture ». This is insightful for understanding #safeguards and #accountability struggles—when critical voices are silenced and reports are polished, unintended harms may go unchecked.
#InternationalOrganizations
Why do many IOs struggle to learn despite a plethora of formal learning processes and tools?

In my new ISQ article, I argue that the criticism culture—the way IOs deal with criticism from their employees—is an overlooked but crucial variable to explain (the lack of) learning in IOs. 🧵

lmy.de/DsCjm
March 6, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
This article dives into the organizational culture of the #UN peace and security pillar and is a must-read for anyone working on peace operations.
Why do many IOs struggle to learn despite a plethora of formal learning processes and tools?

In my new ISQ article, I argue that the criticism culture—the way IOs deal with criticism from their employees—is an overlooked but crucial variable to explain (the lack of) learning in IOs. 🧵

lmy.de/DsCjm
March 5, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Why do many IOs struggle to learn despite a plethora of formal learning processes and tools?

In my new ISQ article, I argue that the criticism culture—the way IOs deal with criticism from their employees—is an overlooked but crucial variable to explain (the lack of) learning in IOs. 🧵

lmy.de/DsCjm
March 5, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
Very happy to announce that I have been granted a #MCSA postdoctoral fellowship to conduct research on diversity among peacekeeping staff @ceri-sciencespo.bsky.social
The 2024 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship call results are in.

With a budget of €417 million, we are funding nearly 1,700 researchers from 🇪🇺 and beyond.

They will strengthen EU research in key areas such as social inclusion, AI, and cancer research ↓

europa.eu/!BmWRkh
February 14, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
Surely this will never happen to me again, but I had TWO papers come out yesterday! In @jpeaceresearch.bsky.social, I introduce a new corpus of all 17,324 UNGA & UNSC resolutions from 1946-2018. Users will have searchable resolution texts, but also key metadata: citations, topics & reuse. 1/5
February 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Ben Christian
Weltweit sind autoritäre Ideologien, nationale Egoismen und die Verweigerung sozial-ökologischer Transformation scheinbar unaufhaltsam auf dem Vormarsch. Die Ideen der universellen Menschenrechte, der demokratischen Selbstbestimmung und der globalen Solidarität sind ins Hintertreffen geraten.
February 3, 2025 at 8:17 AM