Research

My engagement in the field of social entrepreneurship and social innovation is rooted in a long-standing interest in civil society and social movements. More specifically, the role and contribution of citizen-driven organisations and initiatives to democratic process and the impact of civic participation on groups and individuals. As a political scientist I like to connect the agency of local actors perspective with the broader institutional level. Within the field of social entrepreneurship I am therefore interested in social and political change promoted by actors engaging in social innovation through collaboration with multiple stakeholders, while giving voice to the people affected by social inequalities that their organisations seek to address. My latest research interests are the role of social entrepreneurship in the way we think about work, and the conditions for success and failure in transformative social innovation.

My PhD thesis (started in the UK and finished here at RUC) was on the participation of Muslim civil society organisations in policy discourses in Berlin, using democracy and social movement theories. The concept of social entrepreneurship entered my radar with the EMES Network, the biggest academic network for research in social enterprise, solidarity economy and social innovation. I joined EMES for a few years as a staff member, before returning to RUC for a Post-doc based on research on solidarity in Europe. Before embarking on my PhD I worked for an NGO in London promoting human rights and sustainable development through the use of ICTs.