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I am passionate to talk about European affairs, international relations, and my research with various audiences: academics, students, policy-makers, journalists, and the public.
I am a frequent presenter and discussion organiser in professional networks such as the International Studies Association and the European International Studies Association. I am always happy to share my knowledge with others.
Together with Isabel Hernandez Pepe, I published a policy study on the concept of care in European Union's discourse and political practice. The study is directed to European decision-makers and published by the Foundation of European Progressive Studies.
In the European Union context, in recent years, ‘care economy’ has become a buzzword, not least thanks to the efforts of social democratic actors. With the adoption of the European Care Strategy in 2022, the EU consolidated its role as a particularly powerful actor in social protection of care work. With this policy study, we seek to bring the discussion on care and policy back from its limited and limiting demarcation as a ‘care economy’ to its origin in feminist thought. We briefly discuss feminist scholarship on the ethics of care, introduce the concept of a ‘care society’ and contrast it with the concept of a ‘care economy’. We propose a guiding framework for analysing a policy from a care perspective. This framework can be applied to a policy in any policy domain and at any policy level.
You can read the policy study here.
I gave an interview on legal and political decision-making and distribution of power in the EU for The European Correspondent.
The interview was used as a training material for journalists who want to report on European affairs.
You can watch it here.
I had a pleasure to review the report 'Advancing gender rights at the Human Rights Council in times of backlash' published in February 2026. The report is authored by Ayesha Khan and Ján Michalko and published by a think-tank ODI Global.
The report studies the discussions on gender issues at the 59th session of the Human Rights Council and makes practical recommendations for practitioners.
You can read it here.
Ján
In January 2026, I participated in a panel "Challenges of Today - Polarizing (Gender Wars)" as part of the gender equality conference of Swedish Armed Forces.
I talked about the scope and character of differences on gender equality issues between states and how gender, as an important aspect of individual, national, and state identity, can be used to mobilize against European unity and international stability.
In November 2025, I gave an interview on the intricacies of the Istanbul Convention for the European Centre for Populism Studies. You can read the interview here.
The interview took place in the context of the recent attempt to withdraw Latvia from the Convention.
I was reassured to see a civil society protest in support of the Convention, one of the biggest in Latvia's history, focused on what truly matters: protection of victims of violence, locally, in Latvia. This is what the conversation should be premised on: not essentialised notions of who is European and who is not, nor unproductive and misinformed debates about the meaning of "gender". What is important now is to ensure that the Istanbul Convention does not become a polarising token in the context of Latvia’s elections next year.
In July 2025, I convened and led a workshop "International Politics of Gender and Sexuality: Is There Place for Ambiguity in a Polarized Context?". The workshop was organised as part of the 2025 European Workshops in International Studies in Kraków. You can learn more about the workshop here.
In May 2025, I was invited by Brännpunkt Europa to give a lecture on the Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence, in particular European Union's accession to the Convention.
In April 2025, I gave a popular science interview on the topic of my PhD dissertation "Gender Wars in Europe: Diplomatic Practice Under Polarized Conditions". The thesis argues that diplomatic practice mitigates polarization between states on gender and sexuality topics. You can find this succinct and accessible text here.
In November 2024, I gave a talk about the contestation of the concept of gender equality in European Union's documents at Bahçeşehir University.
You can watch the recorded presentation here.
In January 2024, I was a podcast guest on the podcast "Your Monthly Dose of Europe". I talked about European Union's institutions and explained how European Union laws are adopted based on ongoing processes.
You can listen to the podcast here.
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