About
I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology at Tilburg University (the Netherlands) and currently hold the Jean Monnet Chair on Identities and Cohesion on in a Changing European Union. I obtained my doctoral degree in Social Sciences from the University of Leuven (Belgium) on a study on the impact of immigration on generalized trust across Europe. So far, I held visiting fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the Department of Government at American University. Further, I am member of the Editorial Board of Sociologie and Sociologos, and represent my department at the Dutch Sociological Association (NSV). My research to date is predominantly concerned with the cross-national study of the social consequences of immigration and ethno-cultural diversity in European welfare state contexts, i.e. the question whether and how immigration would weaken social solidarity. As an “outstanding young scholar”, I was awarded research fellowships by the Flemish Research Council (FWO) and the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) on “The Ties that Bind”-project to study the relationships between national identity and social solidarity. My expertise specifically focuses on social capital and generalized trust, national identity, social cohesion, and welfare state legitimacy. I have wide experience in the analysis of comparative cross-national data sources using a wide range of analysis techniques, leading to some publications in academic journals.