Short bio

I am a postdoctoral researcher (recipient of the grant of the Research Foundation – Flanders) at Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussels.  

My expertise is situated at the intersection of several domains: migration and ethnicity, youth crime and youth justice, institutional discourses, the (in)sensitivity to diversity of judicial institutions, and (countering) discriminatory practices. Theoretically, my work is informed by critical and cultural (narrative) criminology and it aims to further advance insights fostered within these fields.  

I’m currently working on a three-year project Performing culture in youth courts: An active ethnography of narrative negotiations. This project further develops insights of narrative criminology, legal anthropology and participatory action research. It is set up in collaboration between Ghent University, Vrije Universiteit Brussels and the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford. 

Work details

Selected societal impact activities

  • Promotor of CESSMIR (Centre for the Social Study of Migration and Refugees)
  • Director of the NGO SEER (Social Enhancement and Empowerment of Roma)
  • Ghent – Close collaboration and reflections on the project Intra European Migration 

Selected media

Selected events

Expertise

  • Youth justice and social exclusion
  • Critical and cultural criminology
  • Qualitative research methods

Selected projects

  • Performing culture in youth courts: An active ethnography of narrative negotiations (postdoctoral fellowship, funded by Research Foundation – Flanders)

Publications