About
Sofie Rose is a political scientist, currently leading a two-year postdoctoral research project at the Center for War Studies under the Department of Political Science at University of Southern Denmark (SDU). The project investigates the interconnection between ideals of masculinity and stigmatization faced by Ukrainian men who flee the full-scale invasion and chose not to fight.
Having earned a PhD in 2023, her doctoral research explores the gendered dimension of stigmatization of survivors of wartime sexual violence, children born from wartime rape, and former child soldiers, focusing on comparing the experiences and implicates across gender. The doctoral research was part of the DFF-funded research project on “Protection Complexities” led by Dr Chiara de Franco at the Center for War Studies, SDU.
Sofie Rose’s academic work is rooted in feminist political theory, focusing on themes revolving around armed conflict, peace processes, reconciliation, human rights, and protection of civilians in times of war. Drawing from a diverse range of research fields, her interdisciplinary academic background enhances a nuanced understanding of these critical issues.
Background
Sofie Rose hold a bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from Aarhus University and a master’s degree in International Security and Law from SDU, the latter sparking the beginning of an international career. In 2016, she dedicated her work to Nonviolence Peaceforce in Myanmar, an International NGO specialized in unarmed civilian protection, community empowerment in peace processes, ceasefire dialogue, and human rights training. During her doctoral studies, she was a visiting fellow at Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI) in Finland in 2022 where she collaborated with leading feminist peace researchers and experts on gender and armed conflict. This stay further enriched her academic perspective on the complexities related to peace and violence.
Beyond her scholarly work, Sofie Rose functioned as leader and chairwoman of the Danish Foreign Policy Society Aarhus from May 2021 to January 2024. In this capacity, she managed and co-organized more than fifty events, debates, and conferences on foreign political matters with topics ranging from the war in Ukraine and geopolitical struggles in Africa to climate diplomacy, elections in Belarus and feminist foreign policy.
Research areas
Sofie Rose work in the span between political science, sociology, and gender studies to explore complex issues related to reconciliation, social cohesion, and gendered inequalities, emerging within contexts of armed conflict. Her research problematizes hidden and sensitive aspects of modern warfare and peacebuilding processes. Her previous research examined the complex connection between stigma, gender, and violence, and it has contributed with a renewed understanding of the significant role played by stigmatization in the experience, healing, and reintegration of survivors of wartime abuses.
Her research has evolved to center on masculinity and civilian men’s rights in wartime, with a special focus on the social contract underpinning military mobilization, societal perceptions of draft evasion, and the impacts of masculinized conscription systems in the context of the war in Ukraine.
