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GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies

In January 2006, the German Overseas Institute (DÜI) – established in 1964 – was renamed to GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies (Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien). GIGA is the largest German research institute and one of the biggest European think-tanks for area studies and comparative area studies.

The research activities of around 50 academic staff members combine systematic and comparative area studies within the framework of a two-dimensional organisational structure: specialists on different world regions are simultaneously assigned to four area studies research institutes (German Institute for Middle East Studies, Institute of African Affairs, Institute of Asian Affairs, Institute for Ibero-American Studies) and three overarching research programmes (“Legitimacy and Efficiency of Political Systems”, “Dynamics of Violence and Security Cooperation”, “Transformation in the Process of Globalisation”).

GIGA engages in three central activities: basic and applied research on political, economic and social developments in Asia, the Near and Middle East, Africa and Latin America, (policy) advice to political institutions, the business community and the media and networking within the area studies and comparative area studies community.

GIGA’s research projects are multi- and inter-disciplinary, designed to test contemporary theory and provide impetus to area studies and comparative area studies and empirically based on sources specific to the observed regions. The research analyses national and regional contexts in order to explain motivations, relevance, and the reproducibility of specific policies.

GIGA cooperates with universities and research institutes in Germany, Europe and the regions under study. Similarly, the area studies research institutes and programmes are in close contact with national and international area studies networks.

The Institutes were instrumental in setting up the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD), the German Association for Asian Studies (DGA), the German Middle East Studies Association for Contemporary Research and Documentation (DAVO) and the German Association of Research on Latin America (ADLAF). GIGA is also a member of German and European research networks such as AEGIS, EuroMeSCo and the European Alliance for Asian Studies.

Publications vary from scientific analyses of complex themes to short analyses of individual topics. The findings of mid-term and long-term research increasingly appear as contributions in refereed journals and other renowned periodicals, edited volumes and monographs. Other important publications include the institutes’ journals, monographs and yearbooks on Africa, Japan and Korea.

The research findings of GIGA staff are presented at scientific conferences both in Germany and abroad, at internal and external workshops and colloquia.

GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Neuer Jungfernstieg 21
20354 Hamburg
Tel: +49 (0)40 / 42825-593
Fax: +49 (0)40 / 42825-547
E-Mail: info@giga-hamburg.de

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Further Information: www.giga-hamburg.de

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