Benjamin Heidrich

• since 10/2019: Research Assistant at Leuphana University Lüneburg / Center for Methodology
• since 02/2018: Doctoral Candidate at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg / Institute of Geography (Working title: Concepts of Political Order in the Syrian Civil War)

• 04/2019-08/2019: Advanced Training in EU Fundraising at emcra GmbH, Berlin (Core Areas: Erasmus+, Horizon2020)
• 09/2018-12/2018: Semester abroad at University of Jordan, Amman (Erasmus+ Scholarship)
• 09/2017-09/2018: Research Assistant at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg / Institute of Geography
• 06/2016-08/2017: Assistant to the Director at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), Berlin
• 01/2015-03/2015: Internship at Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Berlin (research division: Middle East and Africa)
• 10/2012-03/2016: M. A. in Oriental Studies at Universität Leipzig
• 10/2008-09/2012: B. A. in Political Science at Universität Leipzig

Research Focus

• Regionally: Middle East (especially Syria)
• Theoretically: (fragile) Statehood and political prder, spatial identity, utopianism
• Methodically: Poststructuralist discourse analysis

Current Project

• Working title: Concepts of Political Order in the Syrian Civil War
• Project description:

Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, many involved political actors construct and disseminate concepts of desired future political orders. These visions either imply the restoration, the transformation or - as in the case of the so-called Islamic State's caliphate idea - the complete dissolution of the Syrian state. However, although this phenomenon can also be observed in other so-called fragile states, it has not yet been considered a particular research topic and also hardly been theorized so far. My doctoral project aims to discover the phenomenon empirically by comparing three extremely heterogeneous state and no-state actors with a direct claim to power over the Syrian state territory: the Salafist militia Ahrar al-Sham, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the ruling Ba'ath Party. In this way, cross-case patterns are identified against the background of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe's Theory of Discourse and Hegemony, which leads to a theorization of the phenomenon. On this basis, the project contributes to the current debate on fragile statehood: by examining its symbolic dimension, which has hardly been discussed so far, the study shows that these conflict zones are characterized by discursive disputes over the "right" or "natural" political order and that Western conceptions of the state are often rejected in this context.