Lena Wittenfeld

Academic work experience:

• since 09/ 2023 Research assistant in the Working Group on Political Theory and the History of Ideas (Prof. Dr. Oliver Flügel-Martinsen), Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University.
• 09/ 2022 - 04/ 2023 Student assistant at the Equal Opportunities Office of the University of Osnabrück
• 03/ 2021 - 03/ 2023 Student assistant at the Gender Studies Research Unit of the University of Osnabrück

Academic career:

• 10/ 2020 - 03/ 2023 Master's degree at the University of Osnabrück (M.A. Political Science: Demokratisches Regieren und Zivilgesellschaft/Democratic Governance and Civil Society), Master's thesis topic: Feminist Foreign Policy, Sovereignty and Genderedness: Rethinking the Concept of the Sovereign State.
• Bachelor's Degree at the University of Osnabrück (B.A. Social Sciences: Major Political Sciences)
• Bachelor's Degree at the University of Osnabrück (B.A.: English & German Studies)

Publications:

• Domres, Sophie and Lena Wittenfeld. “Below its potential – Navigating the complexity of Feminist Foreign Policy." Polis Paper, no. 23 (2023). https://polis180.org/polisblog/2023/10/10/polis-paper-n-24-below-its-potential-navigating-the-complexity-of-feminist-foreign-policy/.
• Wittenfeld, Lena. “Feminist Foreign Policy’s Potentials and Obstacles to Critically Re-Imagine Nuclear Disarmament” In Expanding Perspectives on Nuclear Disarmament, edited by Wilfred Wan and Vladislav Chernavskikh (The Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament, 2023). https://www3.uu.se/digitalAssets/1076/c_1076590-l_3-k_202312-amcexpandingperspectivesfinal.pdf.
• Domres, Sophie and Lena Wittenfeld. "Empowering Civil Society." Internationale Politik Special, no. 3 (2024). https://www.dizf.de/cms/upload//IPS_03-2024_STF_Gesamt_ENG.pdf.
• Kalas, Annkatrin und Lena Wittenfeld. "Macht, Gewalt und Sex - Grenzüberschreitungen aus Perspektive einer Gleichstellungsakteurin." In Macht, Gewalt und Sex. Grenzüberschreitungen als Problem der Werte-Bildung, hrsg. von Talisa Groß, Laura-Marie Mork, Florian Oepping, Nhan Gia Vo, Joran Yonis (2025). [German]
• Franken, Lara und Lena Wittenfeld. "Feminist Foreign Policy at Risk? What are the Cases of Sweden and Germany Able to Teach Us and Where to Go from Here.” Polis Brief, no. 32 (2025). https://polis180.org/wp-

content/uploads/2025/06/PolisBrief32_final.pdf

Presentations (selection):

• 06/2025 “Out of the Shadows: The Nuclear Taboo and its (Un)Intended Effects in Light of Sweden's Turn to NATO” presented at AMC Annual Conference, Uppsala (Sweden)
• 08/2024 “All Constructed?! Feminist Foreign Policy and Securitization: Rethinking Security (Policy)” presented at EISA PEC, Lille (France)
• 07/2024 “Feminist State Theory in Conversation with Arendt and the In-Between: Rethinking the Private/Public Dichotomy in the Face of Polycrisis” presented at ECPR European Conference on Politics and Gender, Gent (Belgium)
• 07/2024 “Feminist Foreign Policy, Sovereignty and Genderedness: Rethinking the Concept of the Sovereign State” presented at ECPR European Conference on Politics and Gender, Gent (Belgium)
• 06/2024 “Making Silence(s) Visible – A Feminist Perspective on Europe’s (Un)Challenged Nuclear Narratives” presented at AMC Annual Conference, Uppsala (Sweden)
• 06/2024 “The Performativity of Feminist Foreign Policy: Meaning, Performance, and Construction” presented at BISA, Birmingham (UK)
• 03/ 2024 “The Epistemological Violence of Feminism(s) and the Engagement with its Inherently Biased Situatedness” presented at the Frühjahrstagung der Sektion für Politische Theorie und Ideengeschichte (DVPW) Politische Theorie nach dem Eurozentrismus. Ressourcen nicht-westlichen Denkens in politischen Herausforderungen der Gegenwart, Rostock (Germany)
• 11/ 2023 "Germany's Feminist Foreign and Development Policy Through a Critical Feminist Epistemological Lens" presented at the international conference Knowledge Production and Human Rights, Fulda (Germany)
• 10/ 2023 "Feminist Foreign Policy - a New Variable in Peace and Conflict Studies?!" presented at the anniversary symposium Science for Peace of the journal Wissenschaft und Frieden, Bonn (Germany)
• 09/ 2023 "Emphasizing the Individual: Feminist Foreign Policy's Potential to Critically Re-Imagine the Concept of Security" presented at the EISA PEC, Potsdam (Germany)

Further:

• since 06/2024 President of Polis180 e.V. (Grassroots-ThinkTank for Foreign and European Policy)
• 01/ 2023 - 01/ 2025 Head of the Program "Gender and International Politics" at Polis180 e.V. (Grassroots-ThinkTank for Foreign and European Policy)
• 05/ 2023 - 06/ 2025 Sylke-Temple Fellowship 2023/2024 (Project: 'Why Feminist Foreign Policy Offers Realpolitik Solutions in Times of Geopolitical Crises')