Carin Berg

Peace and Development Research
PhD Student

About

• Bachelors Degree in International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER), with a focus on human rights, at Malmö Högskola.
• Masters Degree in Global Studies, with a focus on peace and conflict resolution, at the University of Gothenburg.

I am currently conducting my PhD dissertation within peace and development studies at the School of Global Studies at the University of Gothenburg.

Areas of interest

My main interest lies within the regional area of the Middle East. Specifically I am interested in issues concerning conflict resolution, re-construction of war-torn societies, security, Islamist resistance and democracy. Specific focus lies on Israel, the Palestinian self rule areas, Syria, and Lebanon. Parallel with my dissertation I am active in different projects concerning Hamas and democracy, Hamas and music and the EU as a security actor in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Current research

My PhD dissertation is a comparative study of the performance of two Islamic organisations (Hamas and Hezbollah) in order to identify similarities and/or differences in managing their organizational tasks. Moreover, the study aims at analyzing Hamas’ and Hezbollah’s performance in reconstruction and peace-building processes of war-torn societies. The contexts refer to the organizations’ internal procedures, spill-over effects from the war-torn societies, and international impact.

Besides my PhD-study, I am conducting research within an FP7 project on the EU’s role as a peace- and security actor in the Israeli-Palestinian confict. Moreover I am part of projects concerning the meaning of Hamas music as a tool of resistance, Hamas music in relation to Islam, Palestinian music, and the EU and the Arab Spring in Syria and Lebanon.

Teaching and tutoring

I am one of the course leaders of Middle Eastern studies at the School of Global Studies. Moreover, I teach and supervise within the program of International Relations at the same department.