Carla Koppe, M.A.

Since October 2025
Participant in the KarriereWegeMentoring programme for female doctoral researchers

Since October 2025
Early-Career Spokesperson (naprok), “Public Relations and Organizational Communication” Division, The German Communication Association (DGPuK)

March 2023 – August 2025
Mid-level Academic Staff Representative, Institute Council, Department of Political Science and Communication Studies (IPK), University of Greifswald

Since October 2022
Research Associate and PhD Researcher, Chair of Communication Science with specialization in Organizational Communication, University of Greifswald

September 2021 – February 2022
Student Research Assistant, Chair of Communication Science with specialization in Organizational Communication, University of Greifswald (Tutorial: “Introduction to Organizational Communication Research”)

April 2021 – September 2021
Participant in the KarriereWegeMentoringprogramme for graduates preparing for doctoral studies

October 2017 – August 2021
Student Assistant, University Communications (Press Office/Student Marketing), University of Greifswald

October 2019 – July 2022
Master of Arts in Organisational Communication, University of Greifswald
Thesis: “Values and Power in the German Federal Election Campaign Communication 2021”

October 2014 – June 2019
Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies and German as a Foreign Language, University of Greifswald

• Protest communication and civil resistance in social movements, particularly within the German climate movement
• Conflict in organisational communication, both internal (e.g., conflict management and mediation) and external (e.g., public communication of social movements)
• (Ethical) decision-making in organisational communication
• Qualitative research methods, with a particular focus on Grounded Theory Methodology

Victory at All Costs? – Moral Choices in the Communicative Struggle for Climate Justice.

A Qualitative Study on Ethical Decision-Making Among Climate Activists in Value and Interest Conflicts.

Despite declining media attention, climate change remains a highly contested issue worldwide. In Germany, in particular, public forms of civil resistance associated with the climate movement – most notably the former group Last Generation and its successor initiatives - have provoked strong reactions across politics, media, and the wider public. This has contributed to a dominant public narrative that frames activists as impulsive, morally questionable, or even criminal, thereby calling into question their legitimacy as participants in public discourse.
Against this background, the doctoral project examines ethical decision-making and related areas of conflict in contemporary climate protest communication in Germany. Drawing on Grounded Theory methodology, the study is based on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. Its aim is to develop a descriptive model of climate protest communication ethics as currently practiced, making visible the moral foundations of communication strategies and structures, as well as the challenges activists encounter in public communication. The project also contributes to organisational communication research by conceptualizing social movements as actors with distinct moral and strategic communication demands, offering insights that may be relevant beyond the context of social movements.

• Koppe, C. (2026). Responsible Conflict – A Contradiction in Terms? Exploring the Potential of Postmodern Ethics through Contemporary Climate Protests. 
  Paper presented at the 57th Colloquium of the Association for Peace and Conflict Studies (AFK). "Ideas and intersections in peace and conflict studies: the relevance of inter- and transdisciplinary research", University of Leipzig, Germany, 11 March 2026. 
   
• Hödt, M., Koppe, C., Thummes, K., Wallis, E. (2025). Intersectional Research in Communication Studies: On the (Un)Sustainability of Emancipation in Organized Climate Activism.
  Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the German Communication Association (DGPuK) Division “Sociology of Media Communication”. "Transformation as Subject and Method in Communication and Media Studies", University of Münster, 7 November 2025. (https://www.uni-muenster.de/Kowi/transformation/index.shtml)
   
• Koppe, C., Mehlan, H. (2025). Organizations as Role Models for Transformative Conflict Communication Practices?! Potentials of a Postmodern Shift for the Study of Internal Conflict Management. 
  Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the German Communication Association (DGPuK) Division “PR and Organisational Communication”. „Contested transformation – organisational communication as a motor for or obstacle to social change?”, University of Greifswald, 23 October 2025. (https://ipk.uni-greifswald.de/forschung/tagungen-workshops-publikationen/prok2025/)
   
• Koppe, C. (2025). Small and Scratchy vs. Large and Likeable – Group Structure and Decision-making in German Climate Activism.
  Paper presented at the 26th Annual Congress of the European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA). „At the Intersection between Academia and Practice in Public Relations and Strategic Communication“, Lund University, Sweden, 26 September 2025.