Jann Boeddeling holds a PhD and MRes (distinction) in Political Science from LSE. He is an expert in the Historical Sociology of popular politics and revolutions and has done extensive fieldwork in the Middle East and North Africa. His doctoral research showed that the self-activity of mostly young, unemployed Tunisian men in provincial regions was key to creating revolutionary mass mobilisation in the country in 2010/11 (available for download here). Prior to joining LSE, he studied Management and Economics (BA&MA distinction) at Witten/Herdecke University, Germany, and worked in international development in the Middle East and North Africa.  

His research enquires into the potential and limitations for subaltern self-emancipation under socio-historical conditions of hegemony. It approaches these questions using qualitative, historical approaches in political sociology, looking concretely at dynamics of learning and self-change in the context of popular mobilisation and revolutions. The hypothesis is that these phenomena entail the formation of new knowledge that is potentially counter-hegemonic, can lead to profound changes in (collective) political subjectivities, and even enable revolutionary projects. Jann’s PhD demonstrated how such dynamics allowed young, previously non-politicized men in provincial Tunisia to articulate and successfully mount a challenge to the 23-year dictatorship of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In his postdoc research, he analyses the role of learning and self-change in the German council movement with an emphasis on the Workers and Soldiers Councils from 1918 to 1923.