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Professor Dr. Zoe Lefkofridi holds the first Chair of Politics and Gender, Diversity and Equality ever established in Salzburg. Internationally, this interdisciplinary chair (Political Science & Gender Studies) is unique in its explicit intersectional focus and its methodological pluralism. Professor Lefkofridi’s research and teaching focus on unequal representation and participation in Europe and the European Union. Her work appears in leading international journals such European Political Science Review, Politics & Gender and West European Politics, among others. Lefkofridi coordinates gender research and teaching at PLUS (all faculties). She is chief (founding) editor of Political Participation, specialty section of the new golden open access online journal Frontiers in Political Science, and co-editor of Politics and Democracy in the Smaller European Democracies, NOMOS Publications. Also, she is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of European Public Policy and of the Advisory Board of European Journal of Politics and Gender (EJPG). In addition, she is an elected member of the Steering Group of the Austrian Association for Gender Research (ÖGGF) and the Interdisciplinary Board of Experts in Gender Studies at PLUS. Together with colleagues from over twenty disciplines, Professor Lefkofridi is currently establishing the first Salzburg center for intersectional transdisciplinary gender research. Professor Dr. Lefkofridi has been a recipient of a number of prestigious grants and fellowships. Professor Dr. Lefkofridi has a multidisciplinary background (European & International Studies, Theatre Studies).
Prof. Heinisch is a university professor specializing in Austrian politics from a comparative European perspective. He works on comparative populism and party politics with a specialization on Austrian politics. His research and teaching focuses on democracy, comparative populism studies, Euroscepticism, and political party behavior. His work has been published in over 60 academic publications, including leading international journals such as the Journal of Common Market Studies, Party Politics, West European Politics, Democratization, and Comparative European Politics. He has authored and edited eight books, including Kritisches Handbuch der Demokratie in Österreich (Böhlau – 2020) and The People and the Nation: Populism and Ethno-Territorial Politics in Europe (Routledge 2019). Other publications in English include Understanding Populist Organization: The West European Radical Right (Palgrave 2016), Political Populism: Handbook of Concepts, Questions and Strategies of Research (Nomos 2021), and, most recently, Politicizing Islam in Austria: The Far-Right Impact in the Twenty-First Century (Rutgers‘ University Press 2024).
You can find more information here:
https://reinhardheinisch.com/
Dr. Vera Beloshitzkaya is a postdoctoral researcher and project manager for the Horizon Europe Push*Back*Lash project led by Professor Dr. Zoe Lefkofridi. Dr. Beloshitzkaya’s scholarly interests lie in reframing conventional thinking on Central and Eastern European politics, particularly on gender and politics, democratic backsliding, and authoritarian resilience in the post-communist region and beyond, through theoretical innovation and rigorous empirical studies. Two overarching themes thread her research projects. First, she is interested in political parties and social movements as women's interest framers, translators, and challengers. Her second line of research examines the role of family, legacy, and structure in the formation of political and gender attitudes in the post-communist region and beyond. Dr. Beloshitzkaya’s methodological expertise is in mixed-methods research designs, with training and applied experience in advanced statistical methods and data analysis. Her grant and project management experience comes from her work in state government, where she led a team responsible for the design and implementation of multiple programs and projects related to maternal and child health. Dr. Beloshitzkaya previously taught Introduction to Sociology and Social Problems courses at Broward College and College Writing, Introduction to Comparative Politics, and Russian Politics at Florida International University in Miami, Florida. She was also a Dissertation Scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Her work has appeared in Party Politics, East European Politics, Societies: and Cultures, and The European Journal of Politics and Gender.
Dr. Zwiener-Collins' research examines how the political behaviour and attitudes of citizens and politicians in Europe is affected by gender inequalities in other areas of life, such as the labour market and the family. Zwiener-Collins has published on trust as well as on the decolonization of quantitative research methods pedagogy and has taught extensively on quantitative research methods and data analysis. Zwiener-Collins is chair of the section on Feminist Theory and Gender Studies (FThG) of the Austrian Sociological Association and strengthens PUSH*BACK*LASH with methodological expertise in gender research. Before joining PLUS, she was a Lecturer (Teaching) at the Social Research Institute at University College London (UCL).
Matilde Ceron completed her PhD in Political Studies at the University of Milan (NASP). Her dissertation investigated the multilevel interplay between the EU fiscal framework and domestic political, institutional and economic factors in shaping the composition of public expenditures in the Member States. Matilde holds an MSc in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University and an MA in Public Policy Analysis from the College of Europe. Her research interest clusters at the intersection of EU economic governance, fiscal policies, gender equality and representation. Prior to her doctoral studies, she gained experience in policy-oriented research contributing to evaluations and impact assessments for the EU institutions. As a postdoctoral fellow in political economy at the University of Pavia, she contributed to a project examining the digital inclusion of people with disabilities, specifically analyzing the effects of pandemic digital surveillance and AI on discrimination and the rights of vulnerable groups. During her postdoctoral fellowship at Luiss University, her research focused on the policy-making and legitimacy implications of EU executive leadership selection. As a Max Weber Fellow at the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies of the European University Institute, she extended her research on national and EU emergency and recovery responses to the pandemic addressing the changes in fiscal policies and governance frameworks after Covid-19. In parallel, she expanded her work to a gendered analysis of EU economic governance with a focus on pandemic recovery policies. Her current project focuses on substantive representation and gender mainstreaming in the National Recovery and Resilience Plans. As an incoming postdoctoral researcher in the Activating European citizens’ trust in times of crises and polarization (ActEU) project, she will continue to work on representation and legitimacy with a focus on gender equality policies.Dear Nikita, Thank you for the update. We have added you and Natalia to our contact list. Please let us know if we can also add you to the website. If so, we would kindly ask for a short bio and a photo to include. Thank you once again, and feel free to reach out if there’s anything else we can assist with. Best wishes, [Your Name]
Elisabeth Kleinlercher is responsible for the communication and dissemination of Push*Back*Lash. With a broad knowledge of European politics and society, as well as a graduate of English and American Studies, she brings a multidisciplinary perspective to this role. Since 2023, she has been working as a project assistant for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programme "Digital Communication Leadership" at the University of Salzburg, which has provided her with EU project management knowledge. Her previous experience includes internships at the European Parliament and the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, as well as positions at Austrian newspapers and in political public relations. Ms. Kleinlercher is committed to cross-cultural and transnational collaboration to tackle the complex challenges of the 21st century - especially to foster, sustain and reinforce democratic principles.
Laura Kulterer is a Bachelor's student in Politics, Philosophy, and Economy at the University of Salzburg, where she also completed a supplementary study program in Gender, Diversity, and Equality. As a study and research assistant at the Chair of Politics and Gender, Diversity, and Equality, she has worked with scholars to support their research and teaching. Her commitment to human rights is reflected in her leadership role at Amnesty International Youth Salzburg and her international activism, including an Erasmus+ voluntary year supporting disabled people in Wales. Kulterer has also co-authored a publication on the rise of the far-right in Austria and its implications for gender rights and democracy.
Dr. Karabegović focuses on transnationalism, diaspora, migration, democratization, human rights, transitional justice, and the Balkans. She has done consulting work with local and international organizations focused on diasporas and development, returnees, education, and civil society. Karabegović strengthens the intersectionality dimension with expertise on the intersections of gender and migration. Her academic work has been published in multiple peer-reviewed academic journals, including a recent special issue she co-edited with Maria Koinova in Ethnic and Racial Studies on causal mechanisms and diaspora mobilization. Dženeta has a co-edited volume (with Jasmin Hasić) on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s foreign policy since independence with Palgrave. Other publications include reports completed for IOM and the World Bank, as well as blog posts and opinion pieces in Bosnian and English.
Lena Ramstetter is a Senior Scientist in Politics and Gender, Diversity and Equality (PGDE) at the Department of Political Science at the University of Salzburg. Funded by the State of Salzburg, she supports Prof. Zoe Lefkofridi in the management of ongoing research projects, the coordination and implementation of PGDE activities (e.g. DSP Gendered Body Politics, study supplement Gender, Diversity, and Equality) and the acquisition of third-party funding. She is particularly interested in the psycho-emotional foundations of equality and diversity and contributes to the establishment of an organisational culture that values diversity.
Larissa Lotter is a MSSc Student at the University of Salzburg where she studies Sociology with a focus on migration and gender. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences at the University of Göttingen, with a focus on Sociology, Ethnology, and Gender Studies. In 2020, Lotter completed an internship at the German Women's Council in Berlin. She gained her research experience during an internship at Ifes (Institute for Empirical Sociology at the Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg). In her bachelor's thesis, Lotter studied discrimination in university context by conducting a qualitative survey.
Leo Neuwirth (they/them) is a BA student of English and American Studies at the University of Salzburg. In 2021, they wrote their pre-scientific thesis (Vorwissenschaftliche Arbeit) on the experiences of trans* and genderqueer teenagers and young adults in Germany and Austria. After completing a semester abroad in Norwich, UK, at the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writingat the University of East Anglia (UEA), they started their Gender, Diversity& Equality internship in the Horizon Europe Push*Back*Lash project underthe supervision of Dr. Vera Beloshitzkaya. Leo’s main interests are the dismantling of heteronormativity and patriarchal structures and systems, as well as marginalized groups’ experiences, struggles, and activism. In their academic studies, they are especially interested in the role of art, film, music, literature, culture, and academia in advancing equality and intersectional awareness.
Ermela Gianna focuses on gender-related topics and politics. Since November 2020, she has been a member of the SCEUS doctoral program. Her dissertation examines the role of the European Parliament in EU economic policy during the COVID-19 crisis, analyzing its interactions with other EU institutions, internal dynamics, and accountability mechanisms. Her research interests include EU institutions, economic policy, gender equality, and representation. She holds an MA in European Union Studies from the University of Salzburg and a BSc in Statistics and Economics from the University of Piraeus, Athens. Fluent in five languages, Ermela brings a diverse skill set to her academic pursuits. Before her doctoral studies, she gained experience in the private sector, specializing in marketing within the life insurance industry. She also served as a Schuman Trainee at the European Parliament, worked as a research assistant at Panteion University in Athens, and was a staff member and junior policy advisor at the Greek Parliament.
Nikolina Sokic is a doctoral researcher in Comparative Politics at the Department of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Salzburg and Politics and Gender, Diversity and Equality Chair administrator. She graduated in the field of Defense Studies and Political Science at the Faculty for Social Sciences in Ljubljana (Slovenia). Her Diploma Thesis related to the political dimensions of environmental issues in China. Her research interests lie mainly in the field of politics and policy of energy technology innovation systems
Anna is in her last year of a Bachelor program at the University of Bologna, Italy. She studies Mediterran Societies and Culture, Politics, Rights and Resources. The core courses of her BA program address the topics of migration, European integration, human rights, and security. She is also learning Arabic at the University as a part of her curriculum. Besides Arabic, Anna speaks Italian (mother tongue), English and German. She has a scholastic level of French and Greek. She is currently spending a semester abroad at the University of Salzburg (PLUS), where she is taking courses and doing an internship in work package 8 at the Politics and Gender, Diversity and Equality Chair. Additionally, she is writing her BA thesis studying the responses of the Italian government to feminist claims in the period between the end of World War II and 2008. In 2021, she attended the summer school of the Società Italiana Delle Storiche on the topic of “environment, histories, and conflicts in a gender perspective” , and in 2020 and 2021, the annual seminars of Diotima, the women’s philosophical community at the University of Verona.
Julia Gorny is studying a MSc at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU) in ‘Socio-Ecological Economics and Policy’ where she specialises in Socio-Ecological Economics and Economics of Inequality. In 2023 she completed her bachelor’s degree in ‘Global Responsibility and Leadership’ at the University of Groningen. This programme as well as her semester abroad at Northeastern University in Boston have equipped her with mixed method research skills and a strong interdisciplinary orientation. During her bachelor’s thesis she developed a conceptual framework and index to measure sustainable well-being in an accessible manner. Julia aspires to apply a decolonial, ecological, and intersectional lens to all her work, with her core fields of interest including ecological economics, postgrowth, well-being, inequalities, climate change, agroecology, basic services and provisioning theories. Julia is a scholarship holder of ‘Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes‘ and volunteers for the youth-led NGO ‘We Are Tomorrow Global Partnership’.
Joschka Köck is a participatory theatre maker and producer at Theater der Unterdrückten Wien (TdU Wien/ (Theatre of the Oppressed Vienna, TO Vienna) and a PhD candidate at the Dept of Political Science, University of Kassel. Here, he writes his dissertation on Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) as spiritual activism within the Anthropocene and towards socio-ecological transformation. Taking up a social movement research lense and post/decolonial and feminist theory, in this dissertation he researches both possibilities and limitations of TO as a global movement towards socio-ecological transformation. He also is a review editor for PTO Journal in which he has also published besides many edited volumes. Within Push*Back*Lash, he is coordinating partners for WP9, mainly developing context sensitive theatre interventions in the universities of Salzburg, Amsterdam and Budapest that take up the project’s researched developed pushback strategies within a practical framework.
TdU Wien (WP9 lead organization) is a (queer-)feminist organization that works with marginalized groups (e,g, LGBTIQA*, precarious workers), activists and with young people and in the field of training of professionals and adults from diverse fields. Its objective is the application, dissemination and further development of “Theatre of the Oppressed” (TO) which uses theatre as a means of foster social change and is especially applied to educational contexts to foster dialogue on social inequality issues. The focal topics of TO Vienna’s work are feminisms, climate justice as well as precarity.
The scope of work of the Theatre of the Oppressed Vienna include but is not limited to: developing society interventions by using the tool of theatre within marginalized groups of population in Austria; fostering adult education by using the tool of theatre; conducting workshops in order to facilitate dialogue with diverse groups of the population on relevant contemporary issues; and organizing street artistic campaigns. The work TdU Wien is doing, is also constantly evaluated academically from outside and inside the organisation, resulting in various master theses, brochures on projects etc.
Find out more about the organization’s work on tdu-wien.at, on Facebook on Instagram or within our Telegram Channel.
Linda Raule is a participatory theatre maker, dance pedagogue and producer at Theater der Unterdrückten Wien (TdU Wien/ (Theatre of the Oppressed Vienna, TO Vienna). Also, she currently teaches at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) as social scientist and humanities scholar in the art of applying Theatre of the oppressed to contexts of social work. In her gender- and power-critical educational work she focuses on feminist and embodied practices. She is particularly interested in the idea of combining art and social science to encourage people to reflect and act together. Within Push*Back*Lash, Linda is developing and carrying out theatre interventions to practically anchor possible pushback strategies.
Kiara Gezels (they/them) - participatory theatre maker and community organiser Kiara works as a theatre educator and producer at TO Vienna, mainly on topics of queer feminism and climate activism. Kiara combines TO methods with with other street threatre approaches such as clowning. Their research focus lies within arts-based research, relying on TO methods to examine resilience strategies in the climate justice movement. Within PushBackLash, Kiara is co-creating and implementing theatre processes in Amsterdam to put potential pushback strategies against gender backlash into practice.
Prof. Dr. Nikita Dhawan holds the Chair in Political Theory and History of Ideas at the Technical University of Dresden (TUD, DE). In PUSH*BACK*LASH, she leads Work Package 1 that develops project’s theoretical framework. Prof. Dr. Dhawan specializes on gender issues (has previously held Chairs in Political Science and Gender Studies at Giessen and Innsbruck) and is a leading figure in postcolonial feminism.
Natalia Fomina studied her bachelor's degree in Political science and Philosophy in Dresden, London and Mexico and is currently completing her master's degree in Philosophy in Berlin. In her bachelor's thesis, she problematised the German coming to terms with the Nazi past and the continuities of Antiromaism. Her core topics include problematising the history of philosophy, Critical Theory, Antiracism, Antisemitism and Antifeminism.
Dr. Ana María Miranda Mora is a philosopher with expertise on gender violence. Besides her substantive expertise, Dr. Mora will offer the project insights from Latin America, inter alia thanks to her membership in the Latin American Interdisciplinary Gender Network (LAIGN) (Yale MacMillan Center) and Network of Women Philosophers of Latin America.
Camila Nobrega Rabello Alves is an Associate Researcher at Work Package 1. With a multidisciplinary background as a researcher, writer, and transmedia journalist, she is a Ph.D. candidate in the final stages of her doctoral investigation at the Political Science Department at the Free University of Berlin, within the Gender and Diversity Division. As a journalist, she has contributed to numerous international media outlets, including Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil and The Guardian, and has received several prestigious international grants and fellowships. She has initiated and coordinated projects that merge academic research, investigative journalism, and immersive documentary, as well as collaborations based on multiple artistic languages—primarily exploring gender and queer perspectives on transnational dynamics of knowledge hierarchies and social-environmental conflicts.
Dr. Alexia Katsanidou is a Professor of Empirical Social Research at the University of Cologne and Scientific Director of the Survey Data Curation - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences (GESIS, DE). Professor Dr. Katsanidou's research interests are in the field of comparative electoral studies (incl. political behavior, quality of representation and radicalization of European societies). She has been awarded research grants from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Leibniz Alliance, British Academy and the Max Planck Society the DFG and the European Union (FP7 and H2020). Katsanidou has published in the leading journals of political science and European politics, inter alia European Union Politics, European Journal of Political Research, Journal of Common Market Studies.
Dr. Kristi Winters areas of interest are American and British political behaviour, with an emphasis on the intersections of sex and gender with political values and voting. In 2010 she founded The Qualitative Election Study of Britain which collected qualitative data at every British general election since.
Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Alexia Katsanidou, Juno Juliane Reichelt will work as a PhD student on the project. In the course of her master's degree in social sciences, which she completed in March 2023 at Heinreich Heine University in Düsseldorf, she focused on gender differences in political efficacy and political participation. In the context of Push*Back*Lash, she will work on comparing citizens’ views on gender equality across time and space as well as analyzing stability and change of gender attitudes within individuals over their life course.
Dr. Magda(lena) Szarota is a Senior Researcher at Lancaster University (UK), an award-winning disability, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), public policy, and cross-sectional strategist, consultant, campaigner, public speaker, and NGO executive with over 15 years of experience in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. She is considered one of the pioneers of the disabled women's movement in post-socialist Poland. Dr. Szarota has collaborated with leading human rights think tanks, watchdogs, grassroots organizations, and (co)created cross-sectoral projects involving academia, business, NGOs, and the arts. She has also been engaged in effective policy-related advocacy and expert interventions in the European Union and the United Nations. Dr. Szarota has (co)authored books, journal articles, reports, and change-making tools and has (co)led research and advocacy projects on technologies for innovative social change, impact, and outreach. She received merit-based and highly competitive scholarships & advocacy fellowships from Yale University, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Ashoka Foundation, and the Allianz Foundation among others. In 2019, she was honored with the title of Ambassador for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) in recognition of her impactful contributions in the realm of disability and intersectional justice. Dr Szarota is a co-creator of the UprzedźUprzedzenia/PreemptPrejudice evidence-based initiative, winner of the 2024 Internauts Award in the Forum of Responsible Business Charter Award Competition (Nagroda Karty Różnorodności Forum Odpowiedzialnego Biznesu) for innovative work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Her academic and advocacy work has gained media attention in English, French, Polish, Czech, and Nepalese.
Dr. Liza Mügge is an associate Professor of Political Science and research theme co-theme leader of the 'Diverse Europe' theme group of the Amsterdam Center for European Studies (ACES) at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). She is Founding Editor of the European Journal for Politics and Gender (EJPG). She was convenor of the ECPR Standing Group Politics and Gender (2013-2016) and director of the Amsterdam Research Centre for Gender & Sexuality (2016-2019). Her research and expertise concern political equality, diversity, transnationalism, intersectionality, representation and social safety. She currently leads two research projects: 1) "Misrepresenting Diversity? How personal identities clash with ethnic pigeonholing in politics" funded by a VIDI-grant of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) (2017-2023). 2) 'Barriers and opportunities: towards equal representation of people with a migration background in the Netherlands', funded by Porticus (2022-2024). The past years, Liza has held several international competitive residential fellowships and visiting positions at Berlin Institute for Integration and Migration Research (BIM), Humboldt University Berlin (fall 2021) funded by a Alexander von Humboldt Alumni (AvH) Short Return visiting grant, Berlin Social Science Center - WZB (2020-2021) funded by a AvH grant, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences - NIAS (2016-2017), Harvard Kennedy School Women and Public Policy Program (2014-2015) and the Harvard Minda de Gunzberg Centre for European Studies (2012). Her work has been awarded the 2021 Journal of Common Market Studies best article prize; 2018 Politics Best Article Award; the American Political Science Association (APSA) Cynthia Weber Award for the best paper presented at the 2019 annual meeting on the topic of sexuality and politics.
Cato Koomen is a first-year student in the Research Master Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, where she graduated cum laude last year with a Bachelor’s in Political Science, specializing in Comparative Politics. In fall 2023, she spent a semester at the University of Salamanca, immersing herself in Spanish-language courses on Political Science, Political Anthropology, and Cultural Sociology. Though early in her academic journey, Cato is deeply committed to studying democratic backsliding, with a keen interest in right-wing populism, illiberalism, and sexual freedoms. Her bachelor’s thesis used a vignette-based survey experiment to investigate how meritocracy influences populist attitudes and impacts democratic deconsolidation. Now, as part of the Push*Back*Lash project, she’s taking her first steps into extracurricular research, focusing on The Netherlands and studying the issues of abortion, academic freedom, and sexual education. Looking ahead, Cato aims to pursue a PhD, further specializing in the study of challenges to democracy.
Dr. Rebekka Kesberg is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam. Her research examines how morality and democratic values impact the perception of (political) violence, threats to democracy and polarization. In the context of Push*Back*Lash she will be investigating the emergence, spread and framing of gender-based violence in online networks across Europe. Before joining Push*Back*Lash she worked as a research fellow at the University of Sussex (UK) on a project about political polarization in European democracies.
Dr. Norah Schulten is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam. In the context of Push*Back*Lash, she investigates online gender-equality backlash strategies against political candidates during the European Parliament (EP) election campaign in 2024. She additionally assesses how EP candidates and online communities cope with this form of online backlash related to gender. Before joining Push*Back*Lash, she worked as a PhD candidate at the UvA and conducted research on violent extremism and psychopathology.
Dr. Michael Hunklinger is a political scientist and postdoctoral researcher in Politics of Diversity and Inequality at the University of Amsterdam. Before joining UvA, he was a research fellow and lecturer at the Department for European Policy and the Study of Democracy at the University of Krems (Austria), as well as a lecturer at the University of Vienna (Austria) and the Justus Liebig University of Giessen (Germany). In 2021/2022, he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He has been working in various interdisciplinary and international projects that research European democracy and citizenship as well as political participation, activism and representation of LGBTQ+ citizens.
Raphaëlle de Coen is in the final year of her Research Master Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam. Before this, she graduated magna cum laude from her interdisciplinary bachelor in Social Sciences at the Free University of Brussels and University Ghent, specializing in Sociology. These degrees, alongside a semester abroad at the Humboldt University of Berlin gave her a unique international and interdisciplinary approach to the social sciences. In her current program, she is specializing in quantitative research methods and focused on the domain of gender & sexuality studies. More specifically, she is interested in health sociology, family studies, heterosexual dynamics, gender equality, and education. Combining both a radical feminist perspective and quantitative/mixed methods has led to interesting research topics, such as her last project on menstrual education in Flanders, or her bachelor paper on the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields of study. After this year, she is ambitious to pursue a career in research related to these topics.
Professor Dr. Isabelle Engeli is a Chair of Public Policy in the Department of Politics at the University of Exeter. Her research expertise includes the investigation of the gender dynamics in party competition, issue attention and agenda setting, and policy change, as well as methods for comparative research. Her research appears in top-tier journals in political science and public policy (e.g., Journal of European Public Policy, West European Politics, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Regulation & Governance) and has been awarded the 2012 APSA Best Comparative Policy Paper Award and the 2011 Carrie Chapman Catt Prize. She currently serves as Lead Editor of the European Journal of Political Research, is Founding Editor of the European Journal of Politics and Gender (EJPG), and vice- president of the International Public Policy Association. She served as the Scientific Representative of the COST Action Professionalization and Social Impact of European Political Science (2017-2019), and as the Convener of the European Conference of Politics and Gender (2017-2019).
Dr. Florian Stöckel is an Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Exeter. His areas of expertise are comparative public opinion research and political psychology. His work uses large-N surveys and experiments to examine how cultural conflicts shape public opinion, which is directly related to the project. For instance, one current line of inquiry examines determinants of citizens’ attitudes towards gender equality and feminism. His other work focuses for instance on the relationship between politics and public health as well as on fake news and the problem of misinformation on social medial. Stöckel’s work is interdisciplinary and his articles appear in leading international journals (such as the European Journal of Political Research, Political Psychology, European Union Politics, the Journal of Common Market Studies, Vaccine, the International Journal of Press/Politics, the European Journal of Public Health, and Public Understanding of Science). His work was awarded the Best Paper Award of the Journal of European Public Policy in 2014. He occasionally writes for lay outlets (e.g., The Monkey Cage previously at The Washington Post, The European, and the LSE Europp blog).
Dr Emilia Belknap is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology, working with Professor Dr Isabelle Engeli, who leads Work Package 3. She recently completed her PhD entitled ‘Sex, gender and constitutional attitudes: voting behaviour in the Scottish independence referendum’. Her thesis utilised a mixed-method approach to investigate an under-researched dimension of the complex relationship between sex, gender and voting behaviour. The thesis focused on the dynamics of gender, voting behaviour and constitutional change using the case of the gender vote gaps in support of Scottish independence. She has worked on a range of gender- and political-focused projects, such as EU Horizon’s Co-Creating Inclusive Intersectional Democratic Spaces Across Europe (CCINDLE), the British Academy’s Gender and Ministers project, the State of the Unions Survey and the Domestic Abuse Court Experiences (DACE) project.
AdamMcDonell is a Research Director of Political and Social Research at YouGov. He has over ten years’ experience in public opinion research and specialises in large academic projects in the UK and mainland Europe. During his time, he has worked on numerous elections in the UK including the 2015, 2017, and 2019 general elections, as well as national elections in France and Germany. Notable academic projects Adam coordinates on behalf of YouGov include the British Election Study, and the ERC-funded Digital Campaigning and Electoral Democracy (DiCED) project.
Abigail Axe-Brown is a Research Manager in the YouGov Political and Social Research Team. In her six years at YouGov, she has worked on a number of projects, including for academics, political parties, and charities. She has experience managing multi-country projects for clients such as the Universities of Exeter and Southampton, and currently, manages YouGov's partnership with the University of Manchester for the ERC-funded Digital Campaigning and Electoral Democracy (DiCED) project.
Dr. Zsuzsanna Vidra is an Associate Professor at Eötvös Lóránd University, Intercultural Psychology and Education (Hungary) and a researcher at the Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Sociology (Hungary). She holds a Ph.D. in sociology from École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (France). Her main areas of research are poverty, ethnicity, migration, education, racism, political extremism, and media and minorities. She has published several articles on Roma and non-Roma interethnic relations, educational inequalities, labour market, and social policy issues. She has edited a volume on Roma migration to Canada, and another volume on the far-right and Roma self-mobilization and she has co-authored a book on ethnic relations, migration, labour market conditions, and the informal economy in marginal rural communities. Her recent work focused on child trafficking, mainstreaming extreme-right discourses, limits of tolerance, Islamophobia in Hungary, and violent extremism.
Dr. Monika Kovács is an Associate Professor of social psychology and a research assistant as well as by Yougov UK (fieldwork). Professor Dr. Kovács has published on gender stereotyping political leaders, stereotypes of feminists, feminist identification and sexism, as well as tokenism and the perception of fairness, in English and in Hungarian. Recently, she has been a participant of the international project Towards Gender Harmony. Kovács will strengthen PUSH*BAK*LASH with expertise on gender stereotypes, different types of sexist attitudes, and experimental social psychological research. She has been teaching courses on the social psychology of gender since more than a decade and she was one of the developers and the lecturers of the interdisciplinary Gender Studies MA program at ELTE that was eliminated as part of the illiberal and anti-gender policy of the Hungarian government in 2018.
Dr. Enikő Anna Virágh is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Intercultural Psychology and Education at the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Faculty of Education and Psychology and a reasearcher at the Budapest Business School in Budapest, Hungary. She earned her degrees from the Faculty of Social Sciences of Corvinus University of Budapest (2005) and from the Faculty of Social Sciences of ELTE (2016). Her main field of research is the social perception of rape and victimhood, and the role the media has to play within that. Dr. Virágh participated in the research project „Justice for Victims of Sexual Violence in Hungary” funded by Fulbright Hungary and conducted in cooperation with the National Institute of Criminology in 2017/18. She defended her PhD-thesis in the Doctoral School of Sociology in ELTE in 2022. Her dissertation examined the public discourses on sexual violence and harrassment through cases with impressive media coverage. Dr. Virágh’s research has been published in Hungarian in Sociological Review, Socio.hu and the Interdisciplinary eJournal of Gender Studies, and in English in Trauma, Violence and Abuse.
Barbara Helfferich, Ph.D. is an independent consultant who has more than 25 years of experience in European policy making and gender equality. Over the course of her career, she worked in the non-governmental sector as well as in the European Commission as member of cabinet responsible for gender equality/mainstreaming. She has been the leading expert for the European trade unions on gender and care work, work-life balance, working conditions and violence and harassment at work, conducting both studies and surveys on these issues. She has also served as an advisor and consultant for many European and international organisations. She holds a Ph.D. in comparative politics from Columbia University in New York.
Agnes Hubert is a co-founder of G5+ and associate researcher at PRESAGE (Programme de Recherche et d’Enseignement des Savoirs sur le Genre) Sciencepo/Paris. Hubert is a Visiting Professor at the Collège d’Europe – Bruges where she teaches on gender and social inequalities and managing gender in European Policies).
Valentina Maglietta holds a Ph.D. with international distinction in EU Constitutional Law. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Law at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She also collaborates with several institutions and European think tanks in projects related to the study of fundamental rights, gender equality, minority rights and European integration policies.
Dr. Jorge Garcés Ferrer holds PhDs in Political Science and Public Administration & in Social Psychology. He is a Full Professor at the Universitat de València and Prince of Asturias Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC (USA). Professor Dr. Ferrer is also a Director of the Institute for Research in Social Welfare Policies of the University of Valencia (Polibienestar) and Doctor Honoris Causa by the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló and the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Jorge Garcés’s main contribution to the Social Sciences has been to create synergies between the Social and Human Sciences and the Experimental Sciences, following interdisciplinary and sociotechnical models. He has implemented, communicated and disseminated this scientific perspective within his area of knowledge and in the network of universities and public and private research centres, with which he collaborates, via the Institute of Social Welfare Policies at University of Valencia that he’s lead in the past 20 years.
Carlos Serra Castells is a graduate in Law and master’s in public economy and political economy from the University of Valencia with an extraordinary master's degree award. He is a predoctoral researcher at Polibienestar Research Institute and has experience in European research projects related to public policy evaluation, citizen participation, democracy, ecological transition and social justice.
Júlia Vilaplana holds a degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of Valencia and has studied International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, having been awarded a scholarship in recognition of her academic excellence. Currently employed as a research technician in POLIBIENESTAR, her professional and voluntary experience encompasses social care and education, as well as political research and management in public organisations, including the Office of the Ombudsman in Buenos Aires.
Lidia Bueno-Sánchez is a graduate in Social Work from the University of Valencia where she obtained the Award for academic excellence promotion 2012-2016. Lidia is currently a predoctoral researcher developing her doctoral thesis in the program of Design, management and evaluation of public policies of social welfare. She has research experience in areas such as fertility, childhood, gender, aging, health, migration, and dependency.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2021 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 101061687.
Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
UK consortium partners funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the UK government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee [grant numbers 10051932 and 10048433]. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency or UKRI. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Professor Dr. Zoe Lefkofridi
pbl@plus.ac.at
Dr. Vera Beloshitzkaya
pbl@plus.ac.at