Franzisca Zanker

Dr. Franzisca Zanker is Deputy Director and Senior Researcher at the Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institute (ABI) in Freiburg, Germany. Her work focuses on migration governance, refugee protection, and peace processes in Africa. She leads the 'Patterns of (Forced) Migration' research cluster and has held roles at institutions like the GIGA Institute of African Affairs and the Overseas Development Institute. Zanker holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Tübingen and a Master's from Leiden University. Her research emphasizes African agency in migration governance, postcolonial dynamics, and the political dimensions of displacement. Key projects include the ERC-funded PolMig project and studies on pandemic mobility. She is a co-founder of the AMMODI research group and serves on editorial boards of journals like the Journal of Refugee Studies.

• Education: PhD Political Science, University of Tübingen (2011-2015); MA International Relations, Leiden University (2008-2010)

Research interests span migrant agency, forced migration policies, and the intersection of peace processes with civil society. Recent work critiques EU externalization policies and explores postcolonial continuities in mobility regimes. Her publications address topics like deportation geopolitics, West African resistance to European return policies, and refugee integration in South Africa.