I earned my Bachelor´s degree in Political Sciences, Sociology and Communication Sciences from Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf and my Master´s degree in International Development Studies from the University of Amsterdam. I have conducted postgraduate research at the New Media Department of the University of Amsterdam and the Center on Social Movement Studies at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence. Over the last years I trained in permaculture, systems thinking and feminist leadership.
I am a convinced hybrid, working across academia and practise. I also believe that the world needs more cross-disciplinary research and that we need critical discourse around dominations within science and dedicated investment in Citizen Science and Citizen Social Science approaches that contribute to the eradication of colonial structures in the popular shaping of knowledge.
As academic researcher with the DATACTIVE research collective, I combined my expertise in the fields of critical development studies, communication for social change and political science into extensive work on the shaping of power in transnational activism. I researched transnational civic engagement in the context of civic technology activism and the wider open governance field with particular attention on collective action and collective identity formation. I have developed a methodological framework, bringing media theory and social movement theory into dialogue to unpack the power dynamics within transnational civic tech communities, applied in my research.
As project lead of the Horizon 2020 project CoAct, seeking to create a Citizen Social Science approach, she led a transnational community process to unpack postcolonial forms of hegemonic power playing into contemporarily dominant practices in community engagement processes.
2015 – 2021
Research Associate / PhD Candidate DATACTIVE, University of Amsterdam. ERC Grant project. Data Activism: The Politics of Big Data According to Civil Society [DATACTIVE]. PhD candidate: [supervisors: Dr. Stefania Milan, Prof. Cees Hamelink, Prof. Donatella de la Porta].
Focus: Transnational Civic Tech Activism from a Social Movement perspective (digital activism, collective action and collective identities, inclusive growth)
Doctoral research: Biased collectivity – The visible and invisible power in transnational civic tech activist communities. Case study: Alaveteli Freedom of information community in 20+ countries. Satellite cases: The Global Innovation Gathering, Global Voices.
2018 – 2020
Guest Researcher Centre on Social Movement Studies, Scuola Normale Superiore. Florence, Italy. Cross-disciplinary engagement and theory development on the intersection of participatory communication theory and social movement theory.
Teaching
I believe that experiential and practise oriented education play central to the shaping of critical change makers. Throughout my career I have always contributed part of my time to education and in creating synergies between academic institutions and NGOs.
I have developed courses and lectures on the intersection of digital transformation and justice and theory classes around participatory communication and movement building. Since 2016 I have successfully supervised +10 master theses.
I am open for new lecturing and supervision engagements.
2016 – 2021
Lecturer MSc Communication for Development, Malmö University. Malmö, Sweden. Curriculum development, lecturing, thesis supervision of 15+ graduate students.
Courses taught: New Media and ICT, Advances in Communication for Development: Social Action, Planning and Evaluation, Media, Globalization and Development, Culture and Media Analysis, Block Seminar – Context driven and participatory ICT program strategy design, Responsible Data.
2011 – 2013
Lecturer BA Global Project and Change Management (GPCM), Windesheim Honours College. Zwolle, The Netherlands. Curriculum Development, lecturing, thesis supervision, development and oversight internship regulations and NGO partnerships.
Courses developed and taught: International Communication and Media Development, Online Media – theory, tools and skills, Communication for Social Change, Visual Problem Appraisal, Entertainment Education.