Stephan studies political philosophy with a focus on the concept of the Political and started his PhD at CISRUL in October 2018. His PhD dissertation, supervised by Dr. Ritu Vij and Dr. Tamas Gyorfi, seeks to investigate the interdependencies between democracy and populism and how populists challenge the status quo by advocating a counter-hegemonic understanding of the people.
Stephan holds a BA in Cultural Studies as well as an MA and MSc in Global Studies. He studied at the Viadrina European University and Leipzig University in Germany, as well at Paris VIII in France, and Roskilde University in Denmark.
Apart from political philosophy, his research interests also include global politics, transitional justice, history, as well as Marxist and Postcolonial Theory.
Before starting his PhD, Stephan worked at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Germany’s national center for contemporary arts and critical debates.
