You are here: Institute People Academic Staff et al. Mende, Janne
mende@mpil.de
Tel. +49 (6221) 482-635
Janne Mende is a political scientist with a specialization in International Relations. The awardee of the Franz-Xaver-Kaufmann-Prize 2022 is Senior Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law since 2020. In her Research Group MAGGI (“The Multiplication of Authorities in Global Governance Institutions”) she analyzes the governance authority of state, inter-state and non-state actors in the United Nations and the European Union. She also leads DFG-funded projects in the issue area of business and human rights and is Research Associate at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Geneva.
Prior to her time at the MPIL, she has held positions as deputy professor for Transnational Governance at the Technical University of Darmstadt (2019/20), project leader at the Institute for Political Sciences at the University of Giessen (2018-2020), postdoctoral fellow at the Bamberg Graduate School of Social Sciences (2017/18) and postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Development and Decent Work at the University of Kassel (2014-2017).
Over the past years, she has held visiting positions at the WZB – Berlin Social Science Center, Research Unit Global Governance, the Käte Hamburger Kolleg/Centre for Global Cooperation Research at the University Duisburg-Essen, the School of Global Studies in Gothenburg, the Danish Institute for Human Rights in Copenhagen, the Research Centre Human Rights at the University of Vienna and the New School for Social Research in New York.
In her latest publication (utb 2021), she develops a contextual and normatively open universalism of human rights. Her habilitation thesis (Nomos 2020) discusses the constellation of global governance and human rights between and beyond the public and the private sphere. Her PhD thesis (Campus 2015; Rowman & Littlefield 2016) analyzes liberal and communitarian approaches to collective rights, discussing the chances and challenges of indigenous human rights to culture and identity in the United Nations. A previous study on universalism, cultural relativism and female genital mutilation/cutting was published in 2011 (Transcript).
Academic Degrees:
07/2018: Habilitation and Venia Legendi in Political Science, University of Kassel
05/2014: Dr. rer. soc. in Political Science, University of Giessen
05/2010: Magistra Artium in Political Science, Social Anthropology, Psychology, Free University Berlin
Max Planck Research Group: The Multiplication of Authorities in Global Governance Institutions
DFG Research Project: Shaping Human Rights Due Diligence. Norm Contestation in the Business and Human Rights Regime
(Follow-Up of the DFG Project: Business Actors beyond Public and Private: Authority, Legitimacy and Responsibility in the United Nations Human Rights Regime)
Marcel Frentzel (student assistant)
Ronya Ramrath (student assistant)
Global Governance and Transnationalization
International Institutions
United Nations
European Union
Human Rights
Climate Governance and Sustainability
Business and Human Rights
Non-State Governance Actors
Authority, Legitimacy and Power
Qualitative Research in International Organizations
Transnational Democracy
International Political Theory
Theories of International Relations
Culture, Identity and Cultural Rights
Monographs
Mende, Janne (2021): Der Universalismus der Menschenrechte, Stuttgart: utb
Mende, Janne (2020): Global Governance und Menschenrechte: Konstellationen zwischen Privatheit und Öffentlichkeit (series: Internationale Politische Theorie, ed. by Christian Volk, Thorsten Thiel), Baden-Baden: Nomos
Mende, Janne (2016): A Human Right to Culture and Identity? The Ambivalence of Group Rights (series: Studies in Social and Global Justice, ed. by Benjamin Holland, Tony Burns), London: Rowman & Littlefield International (peer-reviewed)
Mende, Janne (2015): Kultur als Menschenrecht? Ambivalenzen kollektiver Rechtsforderungen, Frankfurt am Main/New York: Campus Verlag
Mende, Janne (2011): Begründungsmuster weiblicher Genitalverstümmelung. Zur Vermittlung von Kulturrelativismus und Universalismus, Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Drubel, Julia/Mende, Janne (2023): The Hidden Contestation of Norms: Decent Work in the International Labour Organization and the United Nations, in: Global Constitutionalism, online first: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045381722000259
Mende, Janne (2022): Business Authority in Global Governance: Companies beyond Public and Private Roles, in: Journal of International Political Theory, online first: https://doi.org/10.1177/17550882221116924
Mende, Janne/Heller, Regina/Reichwein, Alexander (2022): Transcending a Western Bias. Towards a Decolonised and Entangled Perspective in Norms Research, in: European Review of International Studies, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 339-362, online: https://doi.org/10.1163/21967415-09030001
Gadinger, Frank/Kortendiek, Nele/Mende, Janne (2022): Vermittlung in der internationalen Politik. Konturen eines neuen Forschungsfeldes, in: Zeitschrift Diskurs, no. 8, pp. 1-11, online: https://ojs.ub.uni-due.de/diskurs/article/view/533/136
Mende, Janne/Hoff, Anneloes (2022): The Governance Authority of Non-State Actors in the Business and Human Rights Regime, in: Journal of Human Rights, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 593-603, online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2022.2104119
Mende, Janne (2022): Norm Convergence and Collision in Regime Overlaps. Business and Human Rights in the UN and the EU, in: Globalizations, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 725-740, online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2021.1983342
Mende, Janne (2022): Extended Qualitative Content Analysis: Researching the United Nations and other International Institutions, in: Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 340-353, online: https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-11-2021-0127
Mende, Janne/Möllers, Christoph (2021): Was sind soziale Normen? Ein Dialog zwischen der rechtsphilosophischen und der konstruktivistischen Normenforschung, in: Leviathan, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 577-598, online: https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-0425-2021-4-577
Mende, Janne (2021): The Contestation and Construction of Global Governance Authorities. A Study from the Global Business and Human Rights Regime, in: Global Constitutionalism, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 377-399, online: https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045381721000113
Mende, Janne (2021): Are Human Rights Western – and Why does it Matter? A Perspective from International Political Theory, in: Journal of International Political Theory, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 38-57, online: https://doi.org/10.1177/1755088219832992
Mende, Janne (2020): Experteninterviews in internationalen Organisationen: Zwischen Standardisierung und Narration, in: Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 139-152, online: https://doi.org/10.5771/0946-7165-2020-2-139
Mende, Janne/Müller, Stefan (2020): Einfach komplex? Die gesellschaftliche Vermittlung politikwissenschaftlicher Analysen, in: Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 379-399, online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41358-020-00229-0
Mende, Janne/Drubel, Julia (2020): At the Junction: Two Models of Business Responsibility for Modern Slavery, in: Human Rights Review, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 313-335, online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-020-00596-9
Mende, Janne (2019): The Concept of Modern Slavery: Definition, Critique, and the Human Rights Frame, in: Human Rights Review, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 229-248, online: https://rdcu.be/bcW7r
Mende, Janne (2017): Die Entwicklung unternehmerischer Verantwortung für Menschenrechte: Privatisierung oder Diffusion?, in: Politische Vierteljahresschrift, Special Issue 52: Politik und Verantwortung, ed. by Christopher Daase/Valentin Rauer/Stefan Kroll/Julian Junk, pp. 409-435, online: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845271934-410
Mende, Janne (2016): Global Governance und libertärer Paternalismus: Akteure, Normativität und Legitimität, in: Zeitschrift für Praktische Philosophie, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 557-596, online: https://doi.org/10.22613/zfpp/3.1.16
Mende, Janne (2015): Privatheit und Governance in der Internationalen Politischen Theorie, in: Zeitschrift für Politische Theorie (Special Issue: Internationale Politische Theorie, ed. by Nicole Deitelhoff, Christian Volk), vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 207-222, online: https://doi.org/10.3224/zpth.v6i2.22878
Mende, Janne (2015): The Imperative of Indigeneity: Indigenous Human Rights and Their Limits, in: Human Rights Review, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 221-238, online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-015-0371-5
Mende, Janne (2011): Kultur, Volk und Rasse. Die deutsche Ethnologie im Nationalsozialismus und ihre Aufarbeitung, in: Anthropos, Internationale Zeitschrift für Völker- und Sprachenkunde, vol. 106, no. 2, pp. 529-545, online: https://doi.org/10.5771/0257-9774-2011-2-529
Book Chapters and Papers without Peer-Review
Müller, Stefan/Mende, Janne (2022): Vereinfachung, Abbildung und Übersetzung. Modelle der Vermittlung politikwissenschaftlichen Wissens, in: Bergem, Wolfgang/Schöne, Helmar (ed.): Wie relevant ist die Politikwissenschaft, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 39-55
Mende, Janne/Auethavornpipat, Ruji/Lohrum, Marie/Nakamura, Fumie (2022): The Multiplication of Authorities in Global Governance Institutions: A Research Agenda, in: Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law Research Paper Series, vol. 7, no. 2022-06, online: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4062679
Drubel, Julia/Mende, Janne (2022): The Hidden Contestation of Norms: Decent Work in the ILO and the UN, in: Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law Research Paper Series, vol. 7, no. 2022-05, online: http://ssrn.com/abstract=4051492
Mende, Janne (2021): Private Actors, NGOs and Civil Society in Multilevel Governance, in: Benz, Arthur/Broschek, Jörg/Lederer, Markus (ed.): A Research Agenda for Multilevel Governance, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, pp. 171-189, online: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789908374.00017
Mende, Janne (2021): Public and Individual Interests. Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic, in: Jahrbuch Technikphilosophie, vol. 7, pp. 315-318, online: https://doi.org/10.5771/9783748910961-312
Mende, Janne (2021): Common Identities, Overlapping Authorities and Complexity. Practices of (De-)Legitimation in the United Nations, in: Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law Research Paper Series, vol. 6, no. 2021-05, online: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3790292
Mende, Janne (2020): Public, Private and Societal: A Threefold Approach to Human Rights Responsibility, in: Michael Stohl/Alison Brysk (eds.): A Research Agenda for Human Rights, Northampton/Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 155-172, online: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788973083
Mende, Janne (2020): Business Authority in Global Governance: Beyond Public and Private, in: WZB Berlin Social Science Center Discussion Paper, no. SP IV 2020-103, online: https://bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/2020/iv20-103.pdf
Mende, Janne (2020): Unternehmen als gesellschaftliche Akteure: Die unternehmerische Verantwortung für Menschenrechte zwischen privater und öffentlicher Sphäre, in: Nikolaus Goldbach/Franziska Paulmann/Julia Druschel/Carolina Alves Vestena (ed.): Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Soziale Menschenrechte, Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 77-98 (Reprint)
Mende, Janne (2020): Global Governance, in: Scott N. Romaniuk/Manish Thapa/Péter Marton (ed.): The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies, Basingstoke/New York: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, online: https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_220-1
Mende, Janne (2020): Business Enterprises and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Hybrid Approach, in: Philani Mthembu/Miguelángel Verde Garrido/Adam S. Wilkins (ed.): The Global Politics of Human Rights. Bringing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) into the 21st Century, Berlin: Berlin Forum on Global Politics, pp. 112-116, online: https://bfogp.org/publications-and-projects/the-global-politics-of-human-rights/
Mende, Janne (2018): Normative and Contextual Feminism: Lessons from the Debate around Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, in: Gender Forum, An Internet Journal for Gender Studies, vol. 17, no. 68, pp. 47-69, online: http://genderforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/5_Mende_Normative-and-Contextual-Feminism.pdf
Mende, Janne (2018): Indigene Menschenrechte als Pluralisierung des Menschenrechts, in: Zeitgeschichte Online, Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, special issue: Menschenrechte und Humanitarismus, online: https://zeitgeschichte-online.de/indigene-menschenrechte-universalismus-oder-indigenitaet
Mende, Janne (2018): The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in: Fritz Thyssen Foundation Working Group on Human Rights in the 20th Century (ed.): Sources on the History of Human Rights, online: https://www.geschichte-menschenrechte.de/business-human-rights/
Mende, Janne (2017): Unternehmen als gesellschaftliche Akteure: Die unternehmerische Verantwortung für Menschenrechte zwischen privater und öffentlicher Sphäre, in: MenschenRechtsMagazin, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 5-17, online: https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/40432/file/mrm22_01.pdf
Mende, Janne (2016): Die Bedeutung und Legitimität nichtstaatlicher Akteure im Menschenrecht, in: Kritische Justiz, Vierteljahresschrift für Recht und Politik, vol. 49, no. 4, pp. 2-9, online: https://www.kj.nomos.de/fileadmin/kj/doc/2016/Aufsatz_KJ_16_04.pdf
Mende, Janne (2016): Öffentlicher Menschenrechtsschutz, privater Menschenrechtsbruch. Alte und neue Antagonismen in Zeiten der Globalisierung und Global Governance, in: Karl-Rudolf Korte (ed.): Politik in unsicheren Zeiten: Kriege, Krisen und neue Antagonismen, Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp. 278-292
Müller, Stefan/Mende, Janne (2016): Weder getrennt noch eins. Identität, Differenz und die Frage der Freiheit, in: Stefan Müller/Janne Mende (ed.): Differenz und Identität. Konstellationen der Kritik, Weinheim: Beltz Juventa, pp. 7-28
Mende, Janne (2016): Moderne Sklaverei: Unschärfen eines Begriffs, in: Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, vol. 61, no. 9, pp. 33-36
Mende, Janne (2016): Collective Identity, in: Paul Tiedemann (ed.): Right to Identity (Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie – Beiheft 147, ed. by Internationale Vereinigung für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie), Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, pp. 129-150
Mende, Janne (2016): Kulturelle Identität und Politik, in: Sybille de la Rosa/Sophia Schubert/Holger Zapf (ed.): Transkulturelle Politische Theorie. Eine Einführung, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, pp. 43-62
Mende, Janne (2014): Die Privatheit der Privatsphäre, in: Zeitschrift für Kritische Theorie, vol. 20, no. 38/39, pp. 230-234
Mende, Janne (2013): Die Ordnung der Moral, in: Erwägen Wissen Ethik, Forum für Erwägungskultur, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 271-274
Mende, Janne (2013): Amartya Sen: Identity and Violence. The Illusion of Destiny, in: Samuel Salzborn (ed.): Klassiker der Sozialwissenschaften. 100 Schlüsselwerke im Portrait (2. edition 2016), Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 389-392
Mende, Janne (2013): Ruth Benedict: Patterns of Culture, in: Samuel Salzborn (ed.): Klassiker der Sozialwissenschaften. 100 Schlüsselwerke im Portrait (2. edition 2016, 3. Edition 2021), Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 116-120
Mende, Janne (2013): Der Doppelcharakter von Kritik. Zur Konstellation immanenter und transzendenter Kritik, in: Stefan Müller (ed.): Jenseits der Dichotomie. Elemente einer sozialwissenschaftlichen Theorie des Widerspruchs (series: Frankfurter Beiträge zur Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie, ed. by Rolf Haubl, Katharina Liebsch, Dieter Mans), Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 157-180
Mende, Janne (2012): Normativität und Relationen im transkulturellen Vergleich, in: Holger Zapf (ed.): Nichtwestliches politisches Denken. Zwischen kultureller Differenz und Hybridisierung (series: Trans- und interkulturelle Politische Theorie und Ideengeschichte, ed. by Sybille de la Rosa, Holger Zapf, Sophia Schubert, Alexander Weiß), Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, pp. 47-63
Edited Volumes and Special Issues
Mende, Janne/Heller, Regina/Reichwein, Alexander (2022): Transcending a Western Bias. Towards a Decolonised and Entangled Perspective in Norms Research, in: European Review of International Studies, vol. 9, no. 3
Gadinger, Frank/Kortendiek, Nele/Mende, Janne (2022): Vermittlung in der internationalen Politik, in: Zeitschrift Diskurs, no. 8
Mende, Janne/Hoff, Anneloes (2022): The Governance Authority of Non-State Actors in the Business and Human Rights Regime, in: The Journal of Human Rights, vol. 21, no. 5
Finzsch, Norbert/Hulverscheidt, Marion/Mende, Janne/Oeming, Madita/Frederikson, Bodil (2018): On Clitoridectomy, in: Gender Forum. An Internet Journal for Gender Studies, vol. 17, no. 68
Mende, Janne (2016): Menschenrechte, nichtstaatliche Akteure und Legitimität, in: Kritische Justiz, Vierteljahresschrift für Recht und Politik, vol. 49, no. 4
Müller, Stefan/Mende, Janne (ed.) (2016): Differenz und Identität. Konstellationen der Kritik, Weinheim: Beltz Juventa
Mende, Janne/Müller, Stefan (ed.) (2009): Emanzipation in der politischen Bildung. Theorien, Konzepte, Möglichkeiten, Schwalbach/Ts.: Wochenschau Verlag
• German Political Science Association (DVPW)
• Section International Relations
• Working Group Sociology in International Relations
• Thematic Groups IR Norms Research
• Thematic Group International Organization
• Section “Norms and Changes in Global Politics”, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen (spokesperson)
• Standing Group “International Political Theory”, European Consortium for Social Research (ECPR)
• Working Group “International Relations as a Social Science”, British International Studies Association (BISA)
• Research Group “United Nations”, University of Potsdam
• Research Group “Migration and Human Rights”, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
• Working Group “Reforming the United Nations”, German Society for the United Nations (DGVN)
• Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association (BR2R)
• Academic Council on the United Nations System
• Connecticut/Baden-Württemberg Human Rights Research Consortium
• Max Planck Group on Business and Human Rights (spokesperson)
“Public(s) in Global Politics”, annual conference of the DVPW working group “Sociology in International Relations” in cooperation with the section “Political Sociology” of the German Sociological Association (DGS), 11.-12.11.2021 (with Ulrich Franke, Thomas Müller, Jasmin Siri)
“Human Rights Responsibilities beyond the State. Pushing the Boundaries of Public and Private“, online workshop, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, 10.-11.06.2021 (with Anneloes Hoff)
“Beyond Western Liberalism: Mapping Blind Spots in IR Norm Research”, GGS annual conference, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 2.-3.12.2019 (in cooperation with DVPW thematic group “IR Norms Research”, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, Institute of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt)
“The Concept of Mediation in International Relations”, annual conference of the DVPW working group “Sociologies in International Relations”, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 14.-15.11.2019 (with Frank Gadinger and Nele Kortendiek)
“Researching International Organizations Empirically”, workshop of the section “Norms and Changes in World Politics”, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 15.11.2018
Deputy Gender Equality Officer, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
Spokesperson of the Max Planck Group on Business and Human Rights, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
Head of Discussion Group on Human Rights, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law
Spokesperson of the section “Norms and Change in Global Politics”, Giessen Graduate Centre, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen
Valter Angelo da Silva Junior: Non-State Actors’ Authority under European Union’s Trade Agreements
Serdar Damar: The Changing Authority of the Kurdish Liberation Movement during the so-called Arab Spring
Marie Lohrum: The Governance Authority of Lobbyists in the EU
Fumie Nakamura: The Governance Authority of Transnational Municipal Networks
