Dr. Wim Zimmermann is Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam Center for International Law. Trained in law, sociology, and human geography, he brings a distinctive sociolegal perspective to the study of international law. His research broadly seeks to understand how international legal practices shape and sustain particular forms of political and social life, and vice versa. His first monograph, Interpretation as Reputation Management: On the Social Life of International Law, is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press. His current research focuses on the role of legal advice in the making of state violence, and the responsibilities of government legal advisers who help determine the legal limits of state violence by interpreting (international) law.

Having completed his PhD at the University of Amsterdam in 2023, he rejoined ACIL in 2026, after a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Salzburg. He has been a visiting researcher at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, the International Institute for the Sociology of Law, and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Wim is involved in teaching international law at Bachelor’s and Master’s levels. He is a member of the Coordinating Committee of the European Society of International Law Interest Group on Social Sciences and International Law, and has worked as a legal officer at the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service’s Centre for International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters in Amsterdam.