On leave from Roskilde University until December 2021.

I'm a Swiss political scientist with a broad interest in comparative politics and international development. I follow and contribute to academic and policy debates on the political sociology of the state, the causes and consequences of violent conflict and natural resource management in the global South. Since 1998 my research has concentrated on the Horn of Africa - particularly Ethiopia and the Somali territories - whose dynamism and complexities continue to intrigue me. I work predominantly with qualitative research methods and enjoy interdisciplinary collaborations.

I coordinate a four year research programme entitled 'Governing economic hubs and flows in Somali East Africa' (GOVSEA) that studies the nexus between everyday economic activities and state formation dynamics across the Somali territories, see GOVSEA website.

I am also a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute in London/Nairobi and a research associate at the University of Zürich's Political Geography chair.

Research interests

State failure and formation, state theories, armed conflict, peacebuilding, natural resource management, development policy, social theory, East Africa.

Academic positions

Associate Professor, Department of Business and Social Sciences, Roskilde University (since 2012).
Visiting scholar, Department of Political Science, University of California, Berkeley (2011-2012).
Public policy scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington DC (2010).
Lecturer, Department of Geography, University of Zürich (2007-2010).
Instructor, Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel (2006-2007).
Visiting researcher (non-resident), Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa (2003-2005).
Researcher, Swiss Peace Foundation, Bern (2002-2007).

Complete CV and publication list

www.tobiashagmann.net

Books

Aid and Authoritarianism in Africa: Development without Democracy, London, Zed Books, 2016 (edited with Filip Reyntjens).

Reconfiguring Ethiopia: The Politics of Authoritarian Reform, Abdington, Routledge, 2013 (edited with Jon Abbink).

Contested Power in Ethiopia: Traditional Authorities and Multi-Party Elections, Leiden & Boston, Brill, 2012 (edited with Kjetil Tronvoll).

Negotiating Statehood: Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa, Oxford & Malden, MA, Wiley Blackwell, 2011 (edited with Didier Péclard).