Sören Köpke - Research Information System | University of Kassel

Dr.rer.pol. Sören Köpke

Research Areas

Research Interest

Political Ecology; Environmental Conflict; Rural Development; Agricultural Policy; Food Insecurity; Climate Change; Geopolitics/ Political Geography; Asian Studies (South Asia Focus, Sri Lanka); subsaharan Africa; Middle East and North Africa (MENA); cross-area studies; water management; biodiversity conservation

Work Experience

04/2019	Research Fellow, Section for International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance, University of Kassel
04/2018 - 04/2019	Researcher and Lecturer, Section for International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance, Department of Organic Agriculture, University of Kassel
06/2002	Editor-in-Chief, h1 - Fernsehen aus Hannover, local TV channel, Hannover
11/1994 - 12/1995	Zivildienst (social service, compulsory for German males at the time, alternative to military service) at Lutheran Hospital Friederikenstift, Hannover

Academic background

10/2012-8/2018 Doctorate in Political Science (Dr.rer.pol.), Technische Universität Braunschweig,
Chair for International Relations, “Political Ecology of Drylands: Drought, Development
and Environmental Conflict” – Thesis defense passed on August 9, 2018; cum laude –
good.

Supervisor: Ulrich Menzel

3/2011 M.A., Leibniz University, Hannover, 1,7 – good.
Political Science and English and American Studies

9/1997-7/1998 DAAD-Scholarship, National University of Ireland (NUIG), Galway.
Political Science, English Literature, History

1996-2002 Undergraduate Studies, Leibniz University, Hannover.
Political Science and English and American Studies

1994 Abitur (A-Levels), Schillerschule, Hannover.

Qualifications

2012	Managing Editor, Future of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture & Society

Memberships and non-academic activities

since 2016	German Association for Asian Studies (DGA) Membership/ Author of the Association's periodical "ASIEN"
since 2015	German Association for Peace and Conflict Research (AFK e.V.) Active participation in the working group on nature, resources and conflict

Publications

1 of 2

2023	Köpke, S., Withanachchi, S.S., Pathiranage, R., Withanachchi, C.R., Gamage, D.U., Nissanka, T.S., Warapitiya, C.C., Nissanka, B.M., Ranasinghe, N.N., Senarathna, C.D., Schleyer, C., Thiel, A., Perera, C., Dissanayake, H.R., 2023. Human‑elephant conflict in the Sri Lankan dry zone: investigating social and geographical drivers through field‑based methods. GeoJournal 88, 5153–5172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-023-10913-7
2021	Köpke, S., 2021. Contested Conservation, Ethnopolitics, and the State: The Case of Wilpattu Forest Complex, Sri Lanka. Conservation & Society 19, 57–67. https://doi.org/10.4103/cs.cs_113
2021	Köpke, S., Withanachchi, S.S., Pathiranage, R., Withanachchi, C.R., Gamage, D.U., Nissanka, T.S., Warapitiya, C.C., Nissanka, B.M., Ranasinghe, N.N., Senarathna, C.D., Schleyer, C., Thiel, A., 2021. Human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka: a critical review of causal explanations. Sustainability 13, 8625. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158625
2021	Köpke, S., 2021. Reinvigorating a political ecology of the global agri-food system. Fennia - International Journal of Geography 89–103. https://doi.org/10.11143/fennia.99209
2020	Köpke, S., 2020. Book review: China’s international transboundary rivers. Politics, security and diplomacy of shared water resources, by Lei Xie and Shaoifeng Jia. Water Alternatives.
2020	Köpke, S., 2020. Book Review: Khaki Capital. The Political Economy of the Military in Southeast Asia, Eds. Paul Chambers and Napisa Waitoolkiat. Asien TBD.
2020	Köpke, S., 2020. Book review: Water issues in Himalayan South Asia. Internal challenges, disputes and transboundary tensions. Ed. Amit Ranjan. Water Alternatives.
2019	Köpke, S., 2019. Book review: Water, technology and the nation state, Eds. Filippo Menga and Erik Swygedouw. Water Alternatives.
2019	Köpke, S., Schleyer, C., Schütze, N., Thiel, A., 2019. Landwirtschaft und Wildtier- management – Konflikte und Governanceansätze, in: Finckh, M.R., Hamm, U., Heß, J., Knierim, U., Möller, D. (Hrsg.), Proceedings: Workshop im Rahmen der 15. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau, Kassel, March 7, 2019. S. TBD.
2019	Köpke, S., 2019. Territorialising Chinese Inner Asia: The Neo-Developmentalist State and Minority Unrest. International Quarterly for Asian Studies 50, 137–156. https://doi.org/10.11588/iqas.2019.1-2.10343