Sophia Hoffmann joined CERAH in September 2011 as a teaching fellow. She is a final-year PhD student in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, London.

Sophia has worked on the contemporary politics of the Middle East, with a special focus on Syria, since 2005. She has extensive field research experience, and recently conducted an in-depth study of the humanitarian programmes aimed at Iraqi migrants in Damascus, with a particular emphasis on UNHCR and the Syrian state. The theoretical aspect of her research concerns state sovereignty.  Her PhD argues that state sovereignty should not be regarded as a form or location of abstract power, but as a historically particular political organisation, which is maintained through every-day practices.

Sophia holds a Master in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and a BA in International Relations and Development from the University of Sussex. Before returning to academia to complete her PhD, Sophia worked for several years in the public and private sector in London and the Middle East. Initially trained as a journalist at Euromoney London, she covered the politics and economics of emerging markets, and the annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF, before moving to Syria as a freelancer. She later worked as a consultant in the investigations department of a large security consultancy, conducting and leading numerous investigations into all aspects of corporate security. She has presented and written on Middle East security issues, Syrian current affairs and international relations theory for a range of media and conferences in Europe, the US and the UK.

Sophia is a member of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), the International Studies Association (ISA) and a founding member of the Geneva-based Iraqi Studies Group. 

Fields of interest :

• International relations and politics
• Contemporary politics of the Middle East
• Politics of humanitarian intervention
• Migration

Selected publications:

Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Annual Conference November 2011, Paper titled “The humanitarian regime of sovereignty: UNHCR in Syria”.

DAVO (German Middle East Studies Association), Annual Congress October 2011, Co-organiser of panel “Perspectives on practices of authoritarian governance in Syria”, presented paper titled “Humanitarian vs. authoritarian: techniques of power on Syrian territory”.

BRISMES (British Society for Middle Eastern Studies), Annual Conference, May 2011, Presented paper titled “The humanitarian regime of sovereignty: UNHCR in Syria”.

Graduate Institute, Geneva, May 2010, Presentation of field research results to graduate course “Migration: Between Conflict and Development”.

World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies, July 2010, Presented paper titled: “Citizenship in Syria”.

Roundtable by German Foreign Ministry and Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, December 2009, Presented policy report titled: “Migration and Security: The Iraqi Refugees in Syria and Damascus”.

Hoffmann, S. “Sovereignty in the lives of Iraqis in Damascus“, Research Report, CBRL Bulletin, November 2010, No 5, Vol 1. London: Maney Publishing.

Al-Khalidi, A., Hoffmann, S., Tanner, V. (2007), Iraqi Refugees in the Syrian Arab Republic: A Field-Based Snapshot, Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Washington DC: The Brookings Institution.