ETHNICGOODs Core Team
Matthias is an Associate Professor at IBEI. A sociologist by training, he has a PhD from Brown University and previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Manchester. He has been a visiting researcher at Princeton University, the Freie Universität and the Humboldt Universität in Berlin, the Universidad de San Martín and the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales in Buenos Aires, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos in Lima. Matthias’ research focuses in correcting the ahistorical approach that underpins the supposedly negative relationship between ethnic diversity and public goods provision. He has also published widely on how states construct a sense of national belonging, how civil society actors negotiate and contest official nationalisms, and the extent to which ordinary citizens subscribe to official and counter-state identity projects.
Frank Borge Wietzke
Borge’s research –broadly defined- focuses on the interaction of societal and political forces in the formation of longer-term wellbeing inequalities in developing regions. Previous and ongoing research addressed the impacts of missionary and colonial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. His more recent publications focused on the effects of the so-called ‘new middle classes’ on democratic processes in developing countries. His work has appeared in leading journals at the intersection of international development, political science, and economics, such as World Development, Population and Development Review, Socio-Economic Review, Democratization, Perspectives on Politics, and others.
Emre Amasyali
Emre has a PhD (McGill University) and a Master’s Degree in Sociology (University of Oxford) . His research examines topics in political sociology, comparative historical sociology, and history, and is substantively concerned with the socio-political consequences of imperialism for contemporary nation-states. His postdoctoral research project will examine the long-term development of nationalism in the major Eurasian land-based empires that were never formally colonized.
Juliette Crespin-Boucaud
Juliette has a PhD and a Master’s Degree in Economics (Paris School of Economics). Her research stands at the intersection of development economics, family economics, economic history, and political science. She is especially interested in understanding the formation of ethnic identities, with a regional focus on Africa. Before joining EHNICGOODS, she worked as a Project Research Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE).
Chun-Ying Wu
Chun-Ying has a Ph.D in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include ethnic politics, political behavior, and political regimes. Currently, he is working on several co-authored projects that analyze ethnic conflicts in three Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines), symbolic versus pragmatic political attitudes in Taiwan, political values of Southeast and East Asian citizens, and how minority language recognition affects political trust of linguistic minority people in dictatorships.
The Research Assistants
Andrei Tarasov is a PhD and Doctor Europaeus in International Security from the School of International Studies (University of Trento, Italy). He has research interests in nationalism and regionalism studies, including regionalist parties’ studies and the role of political communication in secessionist processes.
PhD candidate on Citizenship and Human Rights at the University of Barcelona, Guest Assistant Professor ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute and Researcher at the V-Dem Regional Centre for Southern Europe.
After collaborating with Ethnic Goods Guillem is currently working at the Sustainable Development Advisory Council linked to the Generalitat de Catalunya. He is finishing his PhD at UPF titled “The political dynamics of technological change”.
Jan obtained degrees in political science and law from the University of Münster, Germany, where he also worked as Research Assistant, and Nottingham Trent University, UK. He moved to Barcelona to pursue a Research Master’s in international studies at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). His main research interests include ethnic politics and conflict.
Hana holds a BA in Modern History from the University of St Andrews in Scotland and a MA in International Security from IBEI, with her final thesis comparing levels of co-optation of feminist organizations by nationalist concerns and the wider nationalist movements in Catalonia, Scotland, and the Basque country. Her main research interests include nationalism, ethnic conflict, memory studies and gender studies.
Currently studying for a Master’s in International Development at Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals.
Luca holds a BA in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Trieste and a MA in International Security Studies jointly offered by the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and the University of Trento. His main research interests concern immigration and integration policies as well as nationalism and minority groups. He worked with the Care Service for Immigrants, Emigrants, and Refugees offered by the Barcelona City Council. He is currently a civil servant at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Marcel is a multi-industrial political analyst with a MA in International Security. His thesis explored insurgencies in multi-ethnic states, focusing on secessionist movements in Indonesia. His academic and professional focus includes human-centered approaches, with inquiries into post-conflict governance, border-nationalism, and political identities.
Margaux is a PhD candidate at the Department of Political Science at Lund University. Her research project is entitled “The tribunalization of violence and civilian victimization during conflicts” and investigates how the growing threat of international prosecutions for atrocity crimes impact the behaviour that state actors and extractive transnational corporations adopt towards civilians in natural resources-rich conflict zones.
Jan obtained degrees in political science and law from the University of Münster, Germany, where he also worked as Research Assistant at Nottingham Trent University, UK. He moved to Barcelona to pursue a Research Master’s in international studies at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI). His main research interests include ethnic politics and conflict.
Rusudan is an Events and Programs Manager at the Council for European Studies and Dissemination and Outreach Officer for the SECUREU (Securitization of Migrants and Ethnic Minorities and the Rise of Xenophobia in the EU) project. She is also a PhD student at the Department of War Studies at Swedish Defence University.
Shahal is a PhD candidate of Political & Social Sciences at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Recipient of two international awards this year for his novel thesis paper on federations with a colonial history, Shahal also works at IBEI as a Teaching Assistant for ‘Comparative Politics & Democratization’. His work ranges from federalism, nationalism, to state-formation and ethnic-relation.
