Heike Holbig

Prof. Heike Holbig is a dual-affiliation academic serving as an Associate at the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies (since 2024) and a professor at Goethe University Frankfurt. She holds a part-time chair (50%) for East Asian politics focusing on China within the Department of Social Sciences. Her career includes senior roles at GIGA and editorial leadership for journals like Journal of Current Chinese Affairs.

Education: PhD in Chinese Studies (Heidelberg University, 1997), Master of European Studies (Berlin, 1999). Pre-doctoral studies in China and Germany.

Research Interests: Chinese political ideology, state-society relations, authoritarian legitimacy, and comparative governance. Specializes in analyzing the Chinese Communist Party’s strategies for maintaining power through ideological frameworks and historical narrative control.

Recent Work Trends: Recent publications focus on global governance legitimacy under multipolarity, China’s pandemic policies, and the implications of the 20th Party Congress. Her work bridges domestic Chinese politics with international relations.

Grants & Projects: Led major projects like Legitimate Multipolarity (DFG-funded) and Ideological Change and Regime Legitimacy in China (BMBF-funded). Current projects address dissociation processes in international institutions.

Labs/Teams: Active in GIGA’s policy advisory and research networks, collaborating with institutions like the EU and South Korean think tanks on Indo-Pacific strategies.