Dr. Sonja Blum
Photo: Hardy Welsch
Curriculum Vitae
Professor of Comparative Politics and Policy Research at the Universität Bielefeld as of March 2023
Born 7 June 1983 in Siegburg, two children (born 2015, 2018)
Biography
Dr. Sonja Blum is a Senior Researcher at the Chair for policy research and environmental politics at the Institute of Political Science at the FernUniversität in Hagen. In addition, she is a Research Fellow at the Public Governance Institute at the KU Leuven. She has held positions at the KU Leuven, the Universität Wien, and the Universität Münster, where she received her doctorate for her thesis on transformations in family policy in Germany and Austria. Her research has, among others, been published in Policy and Society, Social Politics, Social Policy & Administration, International Review of Administrative Sciences, European Policy Analysis, Evidence & Policy, Critical Social Policy, and Policy Studies.
| 04/2017 - present | Senior Researcher at the Chair for policy research and environmental politics, Institute of Political Science, FernUniversität in Hagen |
| 10/2017 - present | Fellow at the Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven |
| 02/2017 - 09/2017 | Visiting Professor, Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven (joint acting professorship of Public Policy and Administration) |
| 11/2015 - 01/2017 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven (Funded by the DAAD Postdoctoral Researcher Program) |
| 02/2012 - 03/2017 | Senior Researcher at the Österreichisches Institut für Familienforschung (ÖIF), Universität Wien |
| 2011 | Doctorate (Dr. phil) at the Universität Münster, Graduate School of Politics (GraSP) |
| 11/2007 - 02/2012 | Researcher at the Chair for German Politics and Policy Research, Institute for Political Science, Universität Münster |
| 2007 | M.A. Political Science, Universität Münster |
Research and Teaching Visits
| 09/2015 | Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut (WSI), Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf (Invited as visiting researcher) |
| 09/2011 | University of Iceland, Institute of Political Science (Funded by the Erasmus teaching staff mobility program) |
| 02-03/2009 | Universität Wien, Österreichisches Institut für Familienforschung (Funded by the DAAD doctorate students program) |
Research Interests and Current Research
- Policy Research
- Comparative social policy research, especially family policies, pension policies
- Policy process and policy design
- Policy narratives
- Politics and gender
- Evidence and politics
Current Projects
- COST Action “Professionalization and Social Impact of European Political Science” (ProSEPS; led by G. Capano), Working Group 4 ‘The advisory role of political scientists in Europe’, 2016-2021
Publications
Current Publications (For a comprehensive list of publications see the profiles on Google scholar and Researchgate)
Journal Articles (*SSCI/ESCI)
- *2022. How are evidence and policy conceptualised, and how do they connect? A qualitative systematic review of public policy literature. Evidence & Policy, online first. (with V Pattyn)
- 2022. Sozialpolitische Erzählungen. Ein Vergleich narrativer Strategien in der Finanzkrise und der Corona-Krise. Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 32: 117-140. (with J Kuhlmann)
- *2021. The lesson learned from COVID-19 and the climate crisis is not to let experts decide on policies. A response to Robert C. Schmidt. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. (with AE Töller, M Böcher & K Loer)
- *2021. Narrative plots for regulatory, distributive, and redistributive policies. European Policy Analysis, 7(S2): 276-302. (with J Kuhlmann)
- *2021. Childcare policy responses in the COVID-19 pandemic: Unpacking cross-country variation. European Societies, 23(sup1): 545-563. (with I Dobrotić)
- 2021. Wir sind Helden. Sozialpolitische Maßnahmen und politische Kommunikation in der Corona-Pandemie. dms - der moderne staat, 14(2): (with J Kuhlmann)
- 2020. Besondere Freiheit, besondere Verantwortung? Eine empirische Studie zur deutschen Politikwissenschaft in der Politikberatung. dms - der moderne staat, 13(2): 486-506. (with J Jungblut)
- *2020. Inclusiveness of Parental Leave Benefits in Twenty-One European Countries: Measuring Social and Gender Inequalities in Leave Eligibility. Social Politics, 27(3): 588-614. (with I Dobrotić)
- *2019. Academic policy advice in consensus-seeking countries: The cases of Belgium and Germany. International Review of Administrative Sciences, online first. (with V Pattyn, E Fobé, M Pekar-Milicevic & M Brans)
- *2019. Reform narratives and argumentative coupling in German pension policy: Constructing the ‘deserving retiree’. Policy and Society, 38(3): 389-407.
- *2019. Stories of How to Give or Take – Towards a Typology of Social Policy Reform Narratives. Policy and Society, 38(3): 339-355. (with J Kuhlmann)
- *2018. The Multiple-Streams Framework and Knowledge Utilization: Argumentative couplings between problem, policy and politics issues. European Policy Analysis, 4(1): 94-117.
Books
- 2022 (forthcoming) Research Handbook on Leave Policy: Parenting and Social Inequalities in Global Perspective. Edward Elgar. (Co-edited with I Dobrotić & A Koslowski)
- 2020. Routledge Handbook of European Welfare Systems. Routledge. (Co-edited with J Kuhlmann & K Schubert)
- 2018. Politikfeldanalyse - Eine Einführung, 3. edition, Springer VS. (with K Schubert)
- 2013. Policy Analysis in Germany. The Policy Press. (Co-edited with K Schubert)
- 2012. Familienpolitik als Reformprozess. Deutschland und Österreich im Vergleich. Springer VS.
Contributions to Books
- 2021. Upcycling a trashed policy solution? Argumentative couplings for solution definition and deconstruction in German pension policy. In P Zittoun, N Zahariadis & F Fischer (eds.): The political formulation of public policy. Bristol University Press.
- 2021. Understanding ‘the welfare state’ in a context of austerity and populism. In B Greve (ed.): Research Handbook of Austerity, Populism, and the Welfare State. Edward Elgar. 93-105. (with J Kuhlmann)
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2017. Academic policy analysis and research utilization for policymaking. In M. Howlett, I. Geva-May & M. Brans (eds.): Handbook of Comparative Policy Analysis. Routledge. (with M Brans)
Academic Networks
- Member of the Board of DVPW (2021-2024)
- Co-Chair of the EGPA Working Group Policy Design and Evaluation (European Group for Public Administration; with V Pattyn, C Van den Berg & E Fobé)
- Co-Editor of the International Review of Leave Policies of the International Network for Leave Policies and Research (LP&R) (with A Koslowski, I Dobrotić, G Kaufman & P Moss)
Affiliations
- Deutsche Vereinigung für Politikwissenschaft
- Österreichische Gesellschaft für Politikwissenschaft
- European Network for Social Policy Analysis (ESPAnet)
- International Public Policy Association (IPPA)
Journals, Editorial and Reviewer Activities
Co-Editor of the book series Elemente der Politik (Springer VS)
Editorial Board
Policy and Society; European Policy Analysis; Social Inclusion
Reviewer for:
Community, Work & Family; Central European Journal of Public Policy; Croatian Journal for Social Policy; dms - der moderne staat; East European Politics and Societies; ERC Starting Grant; European Journal of Social Work; European Policy Analysis; European Research Council; European Societies; Evidence & Policy; German Policy Studies; German Politics; Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research; International Journal of Care and Caring; International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy; Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis; Journal of Family Studies; Jubiläumsfonds der Österreichischen Nationalbank; Österreichischer Austauschdienst; Policy Design and Practice; Policy Studies; Policy Studies Journal; Policy Sciences; Politics & Gender; Population Research & Policy Review; Regulation & Governance; Social Inclusion; Social Policy & Administration; Social Politics; Social Sciences; Sustainability; Swiss Political Science Review; The Policy Press; Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft
