Wiebke Rabe
Wiebke Rabe is Assistant Professor of International Relations, specializing in the politics of global resources at the Institute of Intercultural and International Studies (InIIS) at the University of Bremen. Her research and teaching focuses on the global distribution of natural resources and related interdependencies and conflicts as well as on international politics of digital data as an economic resource. A special focus lies on the role of China in international affairs and related domestic political processes and interests under central-local relations. Before joining the InIIS, Wiebke was an Assistant Professor at the Department of China Studies at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, and a Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Chinese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. She holds a doctorate in political science from the Hertie School and is author of the book “China’s Provinces Go Global: Internationalization under Guided Autonomy” (2023, Routledge).Her research has appeared in journals such as Energy Policy, the Review of International Political Economy, The China Quarterly and the Journal of Contemporary Asia. Wiebke covers a range of methodological approaches which include fieldwork, surveys and documentary analysis.
Currently
2023– Assistant Professor of International Relations, specializing in the politics of global resources, Institute of Intercultural and International Studies (InIIS), University of Bremen, Germany
Previous positions
2022–2023 Assistant Professor for China’s Political Economy and International Relations, Department of China Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China
2019–2022 Postdoctoral researcher, Institute for Chinese Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
2015–2017 Research Associate, Hertie School, Berlin, Germany
Education
2019 Dr. rer. pol, summa cum laude
2013 M.A. International Relations / Conflict Studies, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands
2010 B.A. European Studies, University of Bremen, Germany
Research and studies abroad
Zhejiang University (2017, 2018) | Nanjing University (2016) | Peking University (2011-2012) | China University of Political Science and Law (2012) | University of Groningen (2011) | St Petersburg University (2009-2010)
Research grants and scholarships
Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes | Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung | Haniel Stiftung | Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst | University Alliance for Sustainability
Governance and politics of global resources
Digitalization and data politics
China’s political economy
China’s foreign relations
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2800-2596
Book
Rabe, W.A. (2023). China’s Provinces Go Global: Internationalization under Guided Autonomy. London: Routledge.
Peer-reviewed, international journal articles
Guo, D., Bondes, M., Kostka, G. and Rabe, W. (2025). In or outside the box? Citizen action between institutional and extra-institutional channels in Chinese environmental governance, Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning (online first). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2024.2423804
Schulhof, V., Hartley, K., Rabe, W., Kostka, G. and Kirchherr, J. (2025). 'Conceptualizing sustainability in China's Belt and Road Initiative: A Longitudinal Analysis of Scholarship (2013 - 2024)', Resources, Conservation and Recycling (online first). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2024.107891
Bondes, M., Kostka, G. and Rabe, W. (2024). 'ICT-based environmental participation in China: Same, same but digital?', Environmental Science & Policy, 154. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103688
Rabe, W. and Kostka, G. (2024). ‘Perceptions of social credit systems in Southeast Asia: An external technology acceptance model’, Global Policy, forthcoming.
Rabe, W. (2023) ‘China’s outward investment under “hierarchical steering” and “grassroots internationalization”’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 53(3), pp. 494-596. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00472336.2022.2045514
Rabe, W. and Kostka, G. (2023) ‘China’s growing digital reach: Explaining citizens’ high approval rates of fintech investments in Southeast Asia’, Review of International Political Economy, 30(3), pp. 1098-1124. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2022.2044884
Rabe, W. and Kostka, G. (2022) ‘Leaping over the Dragon's Gate: The “Air Silk Road” between Henan Province and Luxembourg’, The China Quarterly, 249, pp. 160 – 182. Available at: https://www.doi.org/10.1017/S0305741021001120
Rabe, W., Kostka, G. and Habich-Sobiegalla, S. (2020) ‘Socio-Economic Development and Infrastructure Cost Performance in China: Comparing Transport and Energy Sectors’,Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 49(2), pp. 185-206. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1868102621990666
Rabe, W. and Gippner, O. (2017) ‘Perceptions of China’s Outward Foreign Direct Investment in Europe’s Critical Infrastructure and Strategic Industries’, International Politics, 54(4), pp. 468-486. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41311-017-0044-x
Rabe, W., Kostka, G. and Smith Stegen, K. (2017) ‘China’s Supply of Critical Raw Materials: Risks for Europe’s Wind and Solar Industries?’ Energy Policy, 101, pp. 692-699. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.09.019
Autumn term 2023/24 International Resource Politics and China
Autumn term 2023/24 Introduction to Political Science Research (in German)
Spring term 2023 China's Foreign Policy
Spring term 2023 Global Resource Politics (in German)