Käte Hamburger Kolleg / Centre for Global Cooperation Research
Schifferstraße 44
47059 Duisburg
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)203 379-5246
Fax: +49 (0)203 379-5276
E-Mail: hecht@gcr21.uni-due.de
Research Project at the Centre
Inclusive International Institutions and Global Cooperation: Evolving Pathways for Democratic and Sustainable Development
This project examines the evolution (and blockages) of pathways for global cooperation in the areas of democratic governance and sustainable development in large, heterogeneous international organizations (IOs), with an empirical focus on the United Nations (UN) system and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). One area of this research analyzes trends in social identifications and salient status dimensions in multilateral diplomacy. How and why do certain domestic-level characteristics of states (e.g. as states that fulfill basic needs and fight poverty, protect human rights, achieve economic growth, protect their environment, are governed democratically, or empower women) gain or lose salience in multilateral venues? Longitudinal research is needed on ways in which particular social categories are constructed and contested in IOs, as well as their effects in different venues. Another area of this research analyzes the content and patterns of contestation in the OSCE and UNGA. Scholarship can benefit from attention to symbols of informal social hierarchies as objects of contestation in IOs. Studying the discourse of the entire community of states also presents a different picture of trends in global cooperation than scholarship focusing on great and emerging powers. In general, the project aims to illustrate how social contextual factors internal to international organizations affect cooperation among states and other actors in the areas of democratic governance and sustainable development.
Vita
10/2018 – 06/2019 | Vienna School of International Studies / Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria Research Associate |
|---|---|
11/2012 – 09/2018 | Lecturer |
05/2017 – 08/2017 | University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Political Science |
05/2015 – 04/2017 | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellow |
11/2012 – 09/2014 | Vienna School of International Studies / Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria Postdoctoral Fellow in Political Science and International Relations |
11/2012 | Ph.D., Political Science, University of British Columbia |
01 – 05/2004 and 02 – 08/2005 | United Nations Development Programme, New York Project Officer |
10/2002 | Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, New York Master of International Affairs |
Current Projects
- Salient Status Dimensions and Norms in Multilateral Diplomacy: Dynamics in the United Nations General Assembly
- Changing Patterns of Contestation in the United Nations General Assembly and Implications for Global Cooperation
- Transforming Global Stratification? Social Development as an Evolving Status Dimension
- Inclusiveness and Status in International Organizations
- Inclusive Multilateralism and Dialogue on Democratic Governance
Selected Publications
Hecht, Catherine (2020): When Democratic Governance Unites and Divides: Social Status and Contestation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Cooperation and Conflict (Online first) |
Hecht, Catherine (2017): Advantages and Disadvantages of Inclusive Multilateral Venues: The Rise and Fall of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution on New or Restored Democracies. International Politics 54(6): 714-728. (Article was an invited contribution to a special issue on Foreign Policy Change and International Norms.) |
Hecht, Catherine (2016): Success after Stalemate? Persistence, Reiteration, and Windows of Opportunity in Multilateral Negotiations. Journal of International Organizations Studies 7(2): 23-38. |
Hecht, Catherine (2016): The Shifting Salience of Democratic Governance: Evidence from the United Nations General Assembly General Debates. Review of International Studies 42(5): 915-938. |
Seminars and Conferences
Invited Presentations:
• “Inclusive Processes and Dialogue on Democratic Governance in the UN General Assembly,” at workshop on the United Nations and Democracy Building: Emerging Trends, New Trajectories, hosted by International IDEA, New York, October 15, 2019.
• “Salient Status Dimensions in Multilateral Diplomacy: Dynamics in the United Nations General Assembly,” at Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, January 22, 2019.
• “The United Nations as an Arena of Contested Authority,” paper presented at workshop on Shifting Patterns of Global Authority: Driving Foreign Policy Change? Heidelberg Center for American Studies, University of Heidelberg, Germany, September 17, 2018.
• “Social Identity Expressions and Group Fluidity: Dynamics and Consequences of Social Categorization in International Organizations,” paper presented at pre-ISA workshop on Institutionalized Inequalities: The Role of International Organizations in a Stratified Global Society, International Studies Association Annual Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, February 21, 2017.
• “When Democratic Governance Unites and Divides: Conflicting Expressions of Justice in Multilateral Diplomacy,” paper presented at panel on Justice and Justice Conflicts in International Institutions, sponsored by the German Political Science Association, at the International Studies Association Annual Convention, Baltimore, Maryland, February 23, 2017.
• “Evolution and Effects of Democratic Governance as a Basis of Intergroup Differentiation in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe,” paper presented at workshop on Inequalities and Global Institutional Order, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, Germany, January 23, 2015.
Conference Presentations:
• “Democratic Governance and Evolving Status Dimensions in the UN General Assembly: Implications for International Order(s),” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Political Science Section of the German Association for American Studies, Heidelberg, Germany, November 8, 2019.
• “Salient Status Dimensions in Multilateral Diplomacy: Dynamics in the United Nations General Assembly,” paper presented at European International Studies Association, Pan-European Conference on International Relations, Sofia, Bulgaria, September 12, 2019.
• “Changing Patterns of Contestation in the United Nations General Assembly: Implications for International Order(s),” paper presented at International Studies Association Annual Convention, Toronto, Canada, March 27, 2019. An earlier version was presented at European International Studies Association, Pan-European Conference on International Relations, Prague, Czech Republic, September 13, 2018.
• “Social Identity Expressions, Dynamics of Informal Social Hierarchies, and (de-)Legitimation in the UN General Assembly,” paper presented at European International Studies Association, Pan-European Conference on International Relations, Prague, Czech Republic, September 14, 2018. An earlier version was presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, California, April 4, 2018.
• “Dynamic Elements of a Common International Lifeworld and Salient Social Identities: Quantitative and Qualitative Discourse Analysis of the United Nations General Assembly General Debates” (with Mor Mitrani), paper presented at conference on Researching the United Nations and Other International Organizations: Rethinking Methods of Investigation, Geneva, Switzerland, June 19, 2018.
• “Democratic Governance as a Basis of Social Status in International Organizations: Multilateral Diplomacy and the Ukraine Crisis,” paper presented at workshop on Institutionalized Inequalities – How International Organizations Shape Global Order, at 3rd European Workshops in International Studies, Tübingen, Germany, April 7, 2016. An earlier version was presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, March 19, 2016.
• “Success after Stalemate? Persistence, Reiteration and Windows of Opportunity in Multilateral Negotiations,” paper presented at the International Studies Association Annual Convention, Atlanta, Georgia, March 19, 2016.