Coordinator of the peace research Maximilian Lakitsch

As a peace researcher, Maximilian Lakitsch is interested in the underlying aspects of normative and legal frameworks that make non-violent and just coexistence possible. This concerns both local communities and the international community of states, which is why his work is located within the wider field of international relations. His work revolves around issues of political power, legitimacy and environment, which are altogether becoming increasingly relevant, especially in the wake of the climate crisis. Maximilian Lakitsch is currently working on a political ecology of peace that seeks to adapt international peace efforts to the conditions of the Anthropocene and to thereby make them more effective and sustainable. As part of his work in the Conflict - Peace - Democracy Cluster, he has initiated the Master's Plus module "Peacebuilding and Conflict Transition", which aims to provide students with expertise for working in (post-)war areas.

Head of Department Jürgen Pirker

The department of Global Governance, based at the Institute of the Foundations of Law, explores cultural, political and legal challenges underlying the processes of Europeanization and globalization. We are committed to bringing together wide-ranging expertise to tackle multi-disciplinary issues on local, national, transnational and international dimensions.

The department of Global Governance embraces an interdisciplinary frame of reference based on law in context. Our work incorporates approaches and methods of law, political and social sciences and humanities, as well as cultural sciences in research, teaching and practice. Cross-disciplinary methods and approaches are applied across three dimensions: research; intervention and evaluation research; and training and practice.

Conflict - Peace - Democracy Cluster

Serving as a platform for joint research initiatives and a bridge to practice, the "Conflict - Peace - Democracy Cluster" (CPDC) is affiliated with the Department of Global Governance. It institutionally connects the Faculty of Law with the non-university institutions Democracy Center (DZ, Vienna), Institute for Conflict Research (IKF, Vienna) and Austrian Study Center for Peace (ACP, Schlaining).