I have an interdisciplinary background in social sciences with a focus on anthropology, human rights and rights-based development. My book Contested Civil Society in Myanmar: Local Change and Global Recognition (based on my PhD thesis which won the Praemium Erasmianum Prize in 2018) was published by Bristol University Press in 2024: see here for hybrid access

My research focuses on social and political activism on various levels: community, regional and (trans)national. I particularly look at issues of voice, representation and legitimacy within rights-based advocacy. I study the views and identities of organised civil society actors, their transnational advocacy strategies, and their relationship with Western supporters. I have published articles on civil society in Kenya and Myanmar, and am working with Seng Bu on an article about the Myanmar diaspora in the Netherlands.

I have worked for various civil society organisations in The Netherlands on issues such as discrimination, international justice and refugee rights, and served as a board member for the Dutch Foundation for Peace Studies (Stichting Vredeswetenschappen). I was a postdoctoral researcher in projects on land rights advocacy in Kenya at Radboud University and on urban intermediaries in the Netherlands at Tilburg University, where I co-authored reports for the Dutch Ministries of Foreign Affairs (BuZa) and the Interior (BZK).

In 2021-2023 I conducted a follow-up project in which I further explored community relations with CSOs in Ghana and Kenya, and developed a toolkit for development practitioners. For this project I partnered with Partos and RIVA Illustrations. Two cartoons coming out of this project can be found under publications. This project has been shortlisted for the Routledge Area Studies Impact Award.

I currently coordinate the education programme of the Anthropology department at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and teach interdisciplinary courses in Conflict and Peacebuilding and thesis writing. I am co-supervisor of Indonesian PhD candidates Linggar Putra (on riverine hydrosocial dynamics in Surabaya) and Rachma Lutfiny Putri (on waste recycling in Semarang and Denpasar).

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