Sylff Fellow Rafael Bohlen
Faculty for Social Science
Resilience of Organized Violence against Disruptive Events
“It’s like chopping the head of the Hydra - for every head cut off, two more heads grow back.” Measures against organized violence seem to fail repeatedly. Military interventions, iron fist policies, international development measures, trainings, peace-building efforts or truces - they all seem to have little or no effect on combating organized violence, neither do global pandemics or natural disasters. Instead, some interventions or non-man made disruptions even seem to have contrary results, and (unintendedly) strengthen organizations responsible for violence why?
This dissertation closely examines two cases of organized violence in the Americas, the Mara Salvatrucha (“MS-13”), a gang operating mostly in Central America and the US and the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (“CJNG”), a relatively young, but quickly growing, yet powerful Mexican cartel.
Through sociological practice theory, the PhD develops an innovative analytical approach that contributes to the already rich insights of research, intelligence and law enforcement.
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ludger Pries
About Rafael Bohlen
- Organized Violence
- Organizational Resilience
- Transnational Migration
- Regional Focus: Latin America
| 09/20-present | Ruhr-University Bochum, Social Science, PhD Candidate |
| 04/17–04/20 | Ruhr-University Bochum, Social Science, M.A. Thesis: ”Que salga el regimen!” ´ – Transnationale Handlungsraume des politischen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Aktivismus von venezolanischen Migranten in Kolumbien“. |
| 08/18–02/19 | El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Tijuana, Mexico), Estudios Culturales, M.A., Semester Abroad. |
| 10/13–12/16 | Ruhr-University Bochum, Social Science, B.A.. Thesis: Unintended Effects of Interventions in New Wars - The Example of Plan Colombia and forced displacement in the Chocó Region. |
| 09/2020 | Scholarship at the Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research (Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund, SLYFF), three-year grant |
| 2020 | Nominee for best Master thesis in 2020 by the German Sociological Association |
| 2019 | DAAD-PROMOS “Stipendium zur Förderung der Mobilität deutscher Studierender” grant to support the mobility of German students, funding for travel and accommodation in Bogotá and Cúcuta, Colombia, fi eldwork Master Thesis (July 2019). |
| 2018 | DAAD-PROMOS “Stipendium zur Förderung der Mobilität deutscher Studierender” grant to support the mobility of German students, funding for travel and accommodation in Tijuana, Mexico, exchange Semester (August 2018 – February 2019). |
| 09/2020 – present | Research Associate, Chair of Sociology (Organization, Migration, Participation), Ruhr University Bochum |
| 12/2019 – 06/2020 | Intern at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), Division Governance and Conflict, Competence Center Peace and Emergency Aid |
| 05/2015 – 12/2019 | Student/Scientific Assistant, Chair of Sociology (Organization, Migration, Participation), Ruhr University Bochum |
| 03/2015 – 12/2019 | Student/Scientific Assistant, Institute for the Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) |
| 02/2016 – 05/2016 | Intern at Federal Offi ce for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), Research Center, Group: International Migration |
- Bohlen, Rafael (2020): ‘¡Que Salga el Régimen!‘ – Transnationale Handlungsräume des politischen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Aktivismus von venezolanischen Migranten in Kolumbien. In: IFHV Working Papers, Vol. 10, No. 1. [‘For the Regime to disappear!’ – Transnational Spaces of Action within Political and Societal Activism of Venezuelan Migrants in Colombia]
- Pries, Ludger and Bohlen, Rafael (forthcoming): Transnational Organizations. In: Collins, F. L. und Yeoh, B. (Eds.): Edward Elgar Handbook of Transnationalism.
- Dijkzeul, Dennis; Fauser, Margit and Bohlen, Rafael (2020): Conclusion: What is the Relevance of Diaspora Organizations for International Relations Theory and Research? In: Fauser, M. and Dijkzeul, D. (Eds.): Diaspora Organizations in International Affairs. London: Routledge. pp. 176-193.
- Pries, Ludger and Bohlen, Rafael (2019): Transnational Migration and the Traveling of Religious Beliefs. In: Bieler, A.; Kim-Cragg, H.; Nord, I.; Karle, I. (Eds.): Religion and Migration. Negotiating Hospitality, Agency and Vulnerability. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt. pp. 21-41.
- Pries, Ludger and Bohlen, Rafael (2019): Lateinamerika und Internationale Migration. In: Maihold, G. und Sangmeister, H. (Eds.): Handbuch Lateinamerika. Baden-Baden: Nomos. pp. 634-642. [Latin America and International Migration]
- Dijkzeul, Dennis; Bohlen, Rafael and Mehrabi, Flora (2017): Auf Krisen Vorbereiten: Summer School ‚Humanitarian Action in the 21st Century‘. In: Neues Handbuch Hochschullehre, C 2.38. [Preparing for Crises: Summer School‚ Humanitarian Action in the 21st Century’]
- Bohlen, Rafael; Schulte, Stefanie and Bahar, Yeter (2015): Report Malta. In: Gansbergen, A.; Pries, L. and Witkowski, J. (Eds.): Versunken im Mittelmeer – Flüchtlingsorganisationen und das europäische Asylsystem. Bielefeld: Transcript. pp. 91-122.