Simone Claar

Dr. Simone Claar is a Research Fellow and post-doctoral researcher at the University of Kassel's Department of Political Science, where she co-leads the BMBF-funded GLOCALPOWER research group focused on renewable energy transitions in Ghana, Zambia, and South Africa. She holds a PhD in Political Science from Goethe University Frankfurt and has held positions at multiple German institutions including as Senior Policy Advisor for the German Education Union.

Her research examines African capitalism through lenses of comparative political economy, materialist state theory, and class analysis, with specific focus on:

• Green energy transitions in the Global South
• Trade-development relationships in Africa
• BICS (Brazil, India, China, South Africa) economic models
• North-South political and economic relations

Publication analysis shows consistent focus on African political economy, with recent work emphasizing renewable energy finance in Zambia. Her scholarly output includes books, journal articles, and policy analyses examining how global economic structures impact development trajectories in Southern Africa.

She teaches bachelor's and master's courses covering African political economy, international trade, and power structures while supervising student theses. As leader of the GLOCALPOWER lab, she coordinates research on sustainable energy transitions with international fieldwork connections in Africa.