Univ.-Ass. Zeus Hans Mendez, MA
About the Person
Since 10/2025 │ Coordinator of the Doctoral College “Dynamics of Inequality and Difference in the Age of Globalization”, University of Innsbruck
Since 10/2025 │ University Assistant (prae-doc), Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Innsbruck. Project Title: “Political Worldmaking Otherwise: Order, Resistance and Disobedient Epistemologies of Peace”. Supervisors: Dr. Andreas Oberprantacher, Dr. Maša Mrovlje
Since 07-2025 | PhD Candidate in Humanities and Cultural Studies, University of Innsbruck
2025 │ MA Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Innsbruck, Austria. Masters Thesis: "Interrogating the Disciplinary Avatars of Eurocentrism : An analysis of state centrism, coloniality and epistemic discipling within the discipline of Peace and Conflict Studies in India". Supervisors: Dr. Sladjana Lazic, Dr. Andreas Oberprantacher
03/2023 - 03/2025 | Student Assistant for Research and Administration, Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Innsbruck.
10/2023 - 03/2024 | Teaching Assistant, Feminist and Queer Challenges to Peace Studies (Dr. Sladjana Lazic), University of Innsbruck.
2021 - 2022 | Program Assistant, MOOC, O.P. Jindal Global University and U.S. Embassy New Delhi
2021 | BA (Honors) Global Affairs, O.P. Jindal Global University, India. Bachelors Thesis: "Peace Accords and the Challenges of Postconflict Statebuilding: An Analysis of Accord Implementation Politics"
11/2019 - 07/2021 | Centre Coordinator, Centre for Security Studies, O.P. Jindal Global University, India.
02/2020 - 07/2021 | Research Coordinator, Centre for Middle East Studies, O.P. Jindal Global University, India.
11/2020 - 07/2021 | Research Assistant, Centre for Afghanistan Studies, O.P. Jindal Global University, India
03/2020 - 03/2021 | Research Assistant, Centre for Security and Strategy Studies (CeSCube), New Delhi, India
05/2020 - 06/2021 | Associate Editor, Jindal Journal of International Affairs, India
PhD Project
Political Worldmaking Otherwise: Order, Resistance and Disobedient Epistemologies of Peace
This research project investigates how anti-hegemonic movements in India articulate disobedient epistemologies of peace that challenge the casteist, colonial and statist logics underpinning dominant peace discourse. The project foregrounds Dalit-feminist, Indigenous, queer, and anti-state mobilizations and imaginaries in India as insurgent epistemic practices reimagine peace beyond state-mandated order, as a relational, pluriversal, and ethical praxis. The theoretical framework integrates decolonial, feminist, and anti-caste scholarship, situating Indian resistance movements in dialogue with global debates on resistance, decolonization and the politics of solidarity. Conceptually, the dissertation advances 'resistance-as-peace' as a mode of ontological and epistemic worldmaking, highlighting radical relationality, epistemic disobedience, coalition-building, and insurgent temporalities as mechanisms through which historically marginalized communities contest hierarchies of caste, gender, religion, and state power. By linking empirical analysis with decolonial and anti-caste theorization, this research contributes to a pluriversal understanding of peace, justice, and equality; repositioning these movements as epistemic interlocutors in both Indian and global debates on difference, violence and the politics of coexistence.
Research Interests
- Peace and Conflict Studies
- Critical Peace Pedagogies
- Anti-hegemonic and Anti-State Social Movements
- Decolonial and Anti-colonial Thought
- Feminism and Intersectionality
- Critical Race Theory
- Debrahmanization and Anti-Caste Politics
Publications
- Mendez, Zeus Hans. (forthcoming 2026) "Against Casteist-Statist Order: Naming Death in the Grammar of Peace." Peace Review.
- Alluri, Rina and Zeus Hans Mendez. (2026). “Challenging structures of coloniality through co-authorship: A framework for praxis.” Community-Engaged Praxis in Peace, Social Justice, and Human Rights Education: Partnering for Transformative Change eds. Sirota S, Hantzopoulos M, & A Argenal.
- Mendez, Zeus Hans and Andreas Oberprantacher. 2025. Subaltern Silence: A Postcolonial Genealogy. Contemporary Political Theory. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-025-00767-8
- Jha, Pankaj, Zeus H. Mendez, Swati Batchu, Rayan Bhagwagar. 2021. Crafting a National Security Strategy for India. New Delhi: Shipra Publications.
- Mendez, Zeus H. 2022. “PCA Arbitration and China's Position in the South China Sea,” In South China Sea: Contesting Narratives and Global Realities, eds. Pankaj Jha. New Delhi: Shipra Publications, 40-55.
- Mendez, Zeus. 2020. Repression and Revolt in Balochistan: The Uncertainty and Survival of a People’s National Aspirations. Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs: Vol 3, No.3. August 2020. Pg. 43-61.
Conference Papers
- Mendez, Zeus Hans. "Peace Beyond Order: Solidarity and Resistance Against Statist-Brahmanical Hegemony." Intergalatic Conference on Resistance Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA June 18-21, 2026.
- Mendez, Zeus Hans. “Against Eurocentric Conformity: Intellectual DIsciplining and Epistemic Coloniality in Peace and Conflict Studies India.” International Conference, Empires and (Post)Colonialism: (Counter)Narratives of Power in Educational Media in a Global Perspective, Braunschweig, 21 November 2025.
- Mendez, Zeus Hans. “Peace For Whom? Eurocentric Conformity and Disciplinary Foreclosures in Indian Peace and Conflict Studies.” EISA Pan-European Conference on International Relations, Bologna, 28 August 2025.
- Lazic, Sladjana & Zeus Hans Mendez. “Pedagogies of (Non-) Domination and the Entrenchment of Epistemic Violence.” EISA Pan-European Conference on International Relations, Bologna, 27 August 2025.
- Mendez, Zeus Hans & Rina Alluri. " Challenging structures of coloniality within academic settings: A framework for praxis." Aurora International Peace Conference, Innsbruck, Feb 2025.
- Alluri, Rina & Zeus Hans Mendez. "Moving from intention to impact: Reflections on decoloniality in promoting peace and transforming conflicts." British International Studies Association, Jul 2023.
Membership
- Since 2025 | Member, European International Studies Association (EISA)
- Since 2026 | Member, European Peace Research Association (EUPRA)
- 2021-2024 | Member, Institute for Global Negotiation (IGN)
Contact
Innsbruck Doctoral College "Dynamics of Inequality and Difference in the Age of Globalization"
Research Focus "Cultural Encounters - Cultural Conflicts"
Unit for Peace and Conflict Studies, GEIWI tower, 11th floor, room 4DG25
Mail: zeus.mendez@uibk.ac.at Phone: +43 512 507-39704