- Interns of the Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen completed their project - December 6, 2024
- Populism discussed by Hans Blokland at a conference of the Humboldt-Foundation. - November 6, 2024
- Akram Yahiaoui interns at Social Science Works - November 2, 2024
Muriel Akkerman, Evelyn Callapino Guarachi, Noëlle Wendling and Eline Sap joined our team. The stays of Muriel and Evelyn have been made possible by the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, IfA). Muriel and Evelyn will stay for three months, Eline (University of Groningen) and Noëlle (Sciences Po) five months. All will participate in our research on populism and radicalization. Below some more information.
Muriel Akkerman holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and Government from the Fundação Getúlio Vargas São Paulo School of Business Administration (FGV EAESP), specializing in policy implementation, social policies, and organizational studies. She is an accredited lawyer in Brazil with over three years of experience managing projects for nonprofit organizations (NGOs), particularly focused on designing and implementing initiatives that promote access to justice for socially vulnerable populations. Recently, she was awarded a fellowship from the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) to join the Social Science Works (SSW).
Muriel is interested in mixed-methods approaches, empirical puzzles, and frameworks for policy analysis. She is particularly focused on fostering advocacy efforts to drive social change through effective collaboration between civil society organizations and government bodies. Over the years, she has developed skills in social research methods to address social inequalities, strengthen democracy, and tackle climate change across diverse contexts. Her recent research includes topics such as public security—specifically the prison system—street-level bureaucracy, the reproduction of inequalities, and bureaucratic representation.
Eline Sap is a Masterstudent from the Netherlands, working at Social Science Works as an intern. She completed a bachelor’s degree in Pedagogical Sciences at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, after which she switched to the Faculty of Religion, Culture and Society. Though these studies may not usually be connected to one another, both fields are concerned with people, worldviews and societal dynamics. Eline’s interest in exactly these topics has caused her to enroll in the masters programme Religion, Conflict and Globalisation in Groningen. The masters’ focus on politics unlocked a new interest, which she further developed during her master thesis, titled Islam as “violent ideology” and immigration policies as “leftist hobbies”: nativist trends in the election manifestos of the Dutch Freedom Party. During this 5 month internship, Eline hopes to learn more about the German political situation and its impact on people’s day to day lives. In her free time, she likes to travel and discover the world.
Evelyn Callapino Guarachi is from Potosí, Bolivia. She is Master of Arts in History of the Andes, fellow of the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO-Ecuador). Licentiate in Political Sciences from Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo.
She won the Margaret McNamara Education Grant for her Master thesis entitled: “Mujeres mineras potosinas: Género, memoria e historia, 1975-2022” (Female Mine Workers in Potosí: Gender, Memory, and History, 1975-2022). Recently, she was awarded a fellowship from the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa) to join Social Science Works (SSW).
Currently, her research focuses on Political Sciences, Andean History, Gender and Subaltern Studies.
A strong believer in the positive changes that grassroots organizing can achieve, Evelyn co-founded “Mujer de Plata”, an independent and non-partisan feminist collective that provides psychological and legal support to victims of gender-based violence and their families in a context of violence and inequality. She has developed awareness campaigns on rights and equality through 
talks, prevention programs, and theatrical art, and has played an active role in the reopening and monitoring of cases of violence, femicides, and child abuse.
Evelyn has published in various journalistic outlets, including several Bolivian newspapers, speaking out against violence and highlighting her feminist struggles. Her opinion column, Pushka/Qapu Feminista, addresses the situation of women in Bolivia, the problems of inequality and exclusion in Potosí, and the national public debate.
Evelyn is committed to knowledge in the service of all, but in particular that of historically excluded people. Given the current situation of violence, machismo, inequalities, and rights violations.
Evelyn believes that the academic studies will be connected with the street realities. For that, is so important to knowledge democracy and to implement projects that are committed to improving society and to emphasize the importance to drive of social change.
Noëlle Wendling is enrolled in a French-German double degree program in political science, at the Albert-Ludwigs Universität Freiburg, and Sciences Po Aix. She is very interested in connecting research to practice. After having studied the general political landscape of both Germany and France, she would like to focus on how the practice of democracy can be improved through education, dialogue, participation, deliberation. At SSW Noëlle hopes to learn more about this. Noëlle is also interested in a better understanding of the situation of migrants in Germany. She hopes that a better understanding can contribute to a more human dealing with migration in western Europe.
In her free time, she enjoys creative activities, especially making music, ranging from classical to experimental. She also loves traveling and getting to know new people and places.