Who are we?
We are a group of researchers at Utrecht University who have turned to ecologically sustainable and socially just ways to organise our economy and society. We believe that contemporary issues – like socio-economic inequality, climate change and the COVIC-19 pandemic – ask us to look at new, more horizontal, interconnected ways of working together between the university and the communities that experience these struggles firsthand.
We each work departing from our own expertises, but towards operating as a collective with a common goal.
Team
Current members
Ozan Alakavuklar
Utrecht University School of Governance (USG)
Utrecht University
With his research, Ozan attempts to access, support and work with/for activist communities that address the most urgent and current issues of our contemporary society concerning unsustainable practices and socio-ecological crises. He studies (non-capitalist) activist organisational practices as the main drivers of social change that transform the governing bodies and dominant market relations. By drawing arguments from critical political economy, he problematises hegemonic power relations leading to economic inequalities and social exclusion at the organisational and societal levels, and focuses on theories of post-capitalism to offer ecologically sustainable and socially just alternatives.
Giuseppe Feola
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Utrecht University
Giuseppe conducts research on social-ecological change in modern societies, with a focus on agri-food systems, civil societies and social movements. He aspires to contribute to the societal debate on the transformation towards sustainability, by bridging theory and political action. Mostly using interdisciplinary and mixed-methods approaches, Giuseppe’s’ research examines why and how social, cultural, political and economic processes can lead to – or prevent – change towards a more sustainable world.
Yousra Rahmouni Elidrissi
Utrecht University School of Governance (USG)
Utrecht University
Yousra’s research is situated at the crossroads of Social Movements and Organisation Studies. It focusses on the significance of bodies, embodiment and identity in activists’ practices. Her research highlights the body as part of our self-identification, for example by addressing existing tensions between passionate commitment and a vulnerable body. For the last four years she has been working as an activist-scholar, investigating the work of a French climate movement engaged in the practice of non-violent direct action. More generally, she is interested in collective forms of resistance and dynamics of solidarity within communities.
_________________________________________________________________________________
J
ulia Tschersich
Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development
Utrecht University
Julia Tschersich, with an interdisciplinary social science background, is interested in how we can organize in more socially and ecologically just ways, challenging dominant capitalist and state-based systems. Working in close collaboration with initiatives on the ground, she aims to shine light on the many already existing ‘real utopias’, grassroots which demonstrate in the here and now that another way of living is possible. She is fascinated by community self-governance and how such initiatives build networks from the local to the global level. Moreover, she looks into how such grassroots and social movements can generate meaningful transformative change. In addition, she assesses how such grassroots position themselves in light of rising right-wing authoritarianism and the escalating ecological crises.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Jonathan Sendker
Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development
Utrecht University
Jonathan is a student in the MSc Sustainable Development and project assistant for AndersUtrecht and the Transforming Cities research community at Copernicus Institute. He holds a BA in Liberal Arts & Sciences from University College Utrecht with specializations in Philosophy and Psychology. His current thesis research brings together infrastructure and mystery with contemporary progressive politics.
Past members
Dan Hassler-Forest
Humanities Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON)
Utrecht University
Dan has a background in film and television studies and English literature. In his research, Dan addresses the complex interplay of 21st century entertainment with politics and ideology – as popular culture is one of the primary domains where we consume, resist and define political identities. His first monograph Capitalist Superheroes breaks down how superhero movies embody neoliberal ideologies. In other research, he has shown how fantasy and science fiction offer ways of imagining alternatives to global capitalism. Dan’s work is grounded in neo-Marxist critical theory and critical race theory.
Patrizia Zanoni
Utrecht University School of Governance (USG)
Utrecht University
Patrizia is specialised in the theme Organisational Culture & Change at Utrecht University. She researches topics like diversity, control and resistance in organisations and alternative economies. Her work is based in the tradition of critical studies, critical discourse analysis and neo-Marxist theories. She has specifically researched the role of social identity (gender, ethnicity, (dis)ability, age) in relation to power, within and between organisations.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Bobbi Jelgerhuis Swildens
Copernicus Institue of Sustainable Development
Utrecht University Alumni
As a researcher with a background in both arts and academics Bobbi looks at complex urban challenges from a critical perspective whilst always making space for radical imaginations. Bobbi is actively involved in several urban environmental/social movements and her lived experiences fuel an ever-growing need to research for and with the city: to seek out stories, hopes and dreams that don’t naturally surface; that need untangling, probing and beckoning
Anya Al-Salem
Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development
Utrecht University Alumni
Anya was a student of the Sustainable Development MSc programme at Utrecht University, where she specialised in the Energy & Materials track. She has a background in energy and sustainability and has previously conducted research on degrowth of aviation, the greenwashing practices of major fossil fuel companies, and pro-environmental behavior spillover. Through her work, Anya is interested in contributing to a radical societal transformation towards a system that prioritises social wellbeing within ecological limits.
Alina Miericke
Utrecht University Alumni
Alina is afgestudeerd aan BSc Philosophy, Politics and Economics aan Universiteit Utrecht. Ze heeft onderzoek gedaan naar hernieuwbare energiecoöperatieven als een post-kapitalistisch alternatief voor huidige energieproductie en eigendomsstructuren. Als klimaatactivist is Alina geïnteresseerd in het nadenken over en het organiseren van socio-ecologische transformatie door grassrootsorganisaties, gemeenschapsintiatieven en activistische organisaties te ondersteunen.
Marie Sijbers
Departement Bestuurs- en Organisatiewetenschap (USBO)
Universiteit Utrecht Alumni
Marie is deed haar Master in duurzame ontwikkeling aan de Universiteit Utrecht. Ze heeft een achtergrond in duurzaamheid en economie en deed eerder onderzoek naar de rol van burgerparticipatie in de energietransitie. Marie heeft een specifieke interesse in stedelijke duurzaamheidsuitdagingen en eerlijke maatschappelijke transities in een stedelijke context.
Belle Tonk
Departement Bestuurs- en Organisatiewetenschap (USBO)
Universiteit Utrecht Alumni
Belle heeft een achtergrond in Communicatiewetenschap en Life Sciences, die haar in staat stelt bruggen te bouwen tussen theoretisch complexe onderwerpen als duurzaamheid, natuur, gezondheid en klimaat en de alledaagse praktijk. Met een Master in Organisatie, Verandering en Management heeft Belle specifieke interesse in organisatiecultuurverandering en alternatieve manieren van organiseren om een (sociaal) duurzamere maatschappij te creëren.
