Dr. Sebastian Schindler

Curriculum Vitae

Sebastian Schindler is Assistant Professor at the Geschwister Scholl Institute of Political Science at LMU Munich. The main focus of his research is on the relationship between theory and practice and on the problem of post-truth politics. His more general research interests include theories of International Relations, international organizations, theories of practice, and critical theories.

Sebastian Schindler studied political science, history, philosophy, and sociology in Munich, Paris, and Minneapolis, and received his Ph.D. from Goethe University Frankfurt with a thesis on the relationship between explanation and accusation. He won Millennium magazine's Northedge Essay Competition in 2014 and has published articles in other leading political science journals, including International Studies Quarterly, International Theory, and the Politische Vierteljahresschrift. He is the author of "Clausewitz zur Einführung" (Hamburg: Junius, 2020) and co-editor of the special volume "Rethinking Agency in International Relations" (Journal of International Relations and Development, 2019) and the edited volume "Theory as Ideology in International Relations" (London: Routledge, 2020).

Prior to his appointment at LMU Munich, Sebastian Schindler worked as a research fellow at the Cluster of Excellence "Normative Orders" at the University of Frankfurt and at the Hessian Foundation for Peace and Conflict Research. From 2016 to 2018, he was spokesperson for the junior research group "International Relations" at the German Political Science Association (DVPW). He has been a visiting researcher at the Universities of Sussex (England), Groningen (Netherlands), and Minnesota (USA) and at the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB). He has worked as an intern at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Swaziland, at the French National Assembly, and at the Permanent Mission of Germany to the World Food Organizations in Rome. During his studies, he served on the organizing team of the National Model United Nations (NMUN) project in New York and was an editorial assistant for the Journal of International Relations.

Research

In his habilitation project, Sebastian Schindler addresses the task of criticism in times of post-factual politics. Today, a certain form of pseudo-critical thinking is widespread, which only suspects power and interests behind truth claims and factual assertions. A proper understanding of this phenomenon can help us to fathom three more general questions, namely: (1) What is the current crisis in politics? (2) Why has it come about? (3) How should we respond to it? It may well be that post-factual politics is not so much the result of social media, postmodern theory, or specific economic or political interests, but instead of a deeper loss of the political experience of collective action in an era of unleashed competition.

Publications

Monograph

• Schindler, Sebastian (2020). Clausewitz zur Einführung, Hamburg: Junius.

Edited Volume

• Martill, Benjamin and Sebastian Schindler (eds., 2020). Theory as Ideology in International Relations: The Politics of Knowledge, London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429021008

Special Issue

• Braun, Benjamin, Sebastian Schindler and Tobias Wille (eds., 2019). “Rethinking Agency in International Relations”, Journal of International Relations and Development, Volume 22. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-018-0147-z

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Schindler, Sebastian (2020), “The Task of Critique in Times of Post-Truth Politics”, Review of International Studies, 46 (3), 376–394. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210520000091
• Schindler, Sebastian, and Tobias. Wille (2019). “How Can We Criticize International Practices?”, International Studies Quarterly, 63(4), 1014–1024. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqz057
• Braun, Benjamin, Sebastian Schindler, and Tobias Wille (2019). “Rethinking Agency in International Relations: Performativity, Performances, and Actor-Networks”, Journal of International Relations and Development, 22, 787–807. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-018-0147-z
• Brichzin, Jenni, and Sebastian Schindler (2018). “Warum es ein Problem ist, immer ‚hinter‘ die Dinge blicken zu wollen: Wege politischer Erkenntnis jenseits des verschwörungstheoretischen Verdachts”, Leviathan – Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft, 46(4), 575–602. https://doi.org/10.5771/0340-0425-2018-4-575
• Schindler, Sebastian, and Tobias Wille (2015). “Change in and through Practice: Pierre Bourdieu, Vincent Pouliot, and the End of the Cold War”, International Theory, 7(2), 330–359. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1752971915000068
• Schindler, Sebastian (2014). “Man versus State: Contested Agency in the United Nations”, Millennium – Journal of International Studies, 43(1), 3–23 (F.S. Northedge Essay). https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0305829814541167
• Schindler, Sebastian (2014). “The Morality of Bureaucratic Politics: Allegations of ‘Spoiling’ in a UN Inter-Agency War”, Journal of International Organizations Studies, 5(1), 59–70.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2012). “Macht oder Moral – das ist die falsche Frage. Eine Untersuchung des Legitimitätskonflikts in den Welternährungsorganisationen”, Leviathan – Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft, 40(SB 27), 135–150. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845245072-135
• Schindler, Sebastian, and Christopher Daase (2009). “Clausewitz, Guerillakrieg und Terrorismus. Zur Aktualität einer missverstandenen Kriegstheorie”, Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 50(4), 701–731. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-009-0153-2

Book Chapters

• Martill, Benjamin, and Sebastian Schindler (2020). “Introduction: Theory as Ideology in International Relations”, Theory as Ideology in International Relations: The Politics of Knowledge, eds. by Benjamin Martill and Sebastian Schindler, London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429021008
• Schindler, Sebastian (2020). “Microanalysis as Ideology Critique”, Theory as Ideology in International Relations: The Politics of Knowledge, eds. Benjamin Martill and Sebastian Schindler, 228-239. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429021008
• Schindler, Sebastian (2019). “Trump und das Post-Faktische: Die tieferen Ursachen eines nur scheinbar skeptischen Umgangs mit der Wahrheit”, Angriff auf die liberale Weltordnung: U.S. Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik unter Trump, eds. Christopher Daase and Stefan Kroll, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 59–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-23783-7
• Schindler, Sebastian (2018). “What is Wrong with the United Nations? Cynicism and the Translation of Facts”, World Politics in Translation, eds. Tobias Berger and Alejandro Esguerra, London: Routledge, 95–113. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315209333
• Schindler, Sebastian (2013). “Widerstand am Ort der Macht – Zwei UN-Exekutivchefs als Widerstandskämpfer”, Macht und Widerstand in der globalen Politik, eds. Julian Junk and Christian Volk, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 90–105. https://doi-org/10.5771/9783845245478-89

Other Publications

• Schindler, Sebastian (2022). Opinion - The Risk of Nuclear War With Russia, E-International Relations, March 3, 2022.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2022). Opinion - Russian Motives in Ukraine and Western Response Options, E-International Relations, February 28, 2022.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2021). “Stevens, Tim, und Nicholas Michelsen (Hrsg.) (2020): Pessimism in International Relations: Provocations, Possibilities, Politics.”, Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 62, 727–729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-021-00354-7
• Schindler, Sebastian (2021). “König, Helmut (2020): Lüge und Täuschung in den Zeiten von Putin, Trump und Co.”, Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 62, 387–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11615-021-00312-3
• Schindler, Sebastian (2021). Where Turns the Practice Turn? New Voices and Old Challenges, Centre for Global Cooperation Research, April 28, 2021.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2020). Zerstörung und Selbstzerstörung: Warum Donald Trump überall nur Lügen und Täuschungen sieht und was das für die Politik bedeutet, Theorieblog.de, November 9, 2020.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2020). Corona and Conspiracy: Post-Truth Politics Revisited, Duck of Minverva, May 13, 2020.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2020). Kontaktverzicht als Risiko und als Chance, Theorieblog.de, March 22, 2020.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2018). “The Crisis of Global Politics: Lessons from Hannah Arendt”. The Crisis of Global Politics: Perspectives from Continental Philosophy: An LSE Ideas Report, eds. Benjamin Martill and Lauren Kahn, 9–10.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2017). Lachen oder Weinen? Beobachtungen zum ersten Fernsehinterview von Präsident Trump, Sicherheitspolitik-Blog, February 9, 2017.
• Schindler, Sebastian (2014). “Ingram, James”, IO BIO – Biographical Dictionary of Secretaries-General of International Organizations, April 22, 2014.