ABOUT ME

I have a PhD in Business Studies focused on Organization. I am Associate Professor of Business Studies, and I am employed as a Lecturer in Business Studies, focused on Public Administration, as part of the department of Public Administration.

My PhD thesis focused on a comparative study of philanthropists’ accountability. I also have an M.Sc. in Business (including a BA) with a major in Organization from the Stockholm School of Economics, and a BA in Theatre Studies from Stockholm University, where I wrote a thesis on the Aesthetics of Philanthropy. Beyond my academic work, I have extensive international experience as a fundraiser and civil society project leader, and I have coached civil society initiatives across Europe.

My research and teaching intersect organization theory and broader societal issues related to social media, autocracy, and sustainability. While my primary focus is on civil society, I also consider the public and corporate sectors.

RESEARCH INTERESTS AND PROJECTS

With a background in organizational institutionalism, my research centers on organizing and accountability, particularly within civil society. This includes studying the organizational impacts of social media and the legislative challenges faced by civil society in increasingly illiberal contexts.

I am interested in the intersection of grassroots activism, often facilitated by social media, and elite engagement, typically in the form of philanthropy, with a focus on the implications of independent wealth. My research explores emerging, partial organizational initiatives formed through social media and compares them to established organizations. I also conduct cross-national comparisons, examining the movement of ideas and funding across borders, and engage with questions of sustainability and resilience.

My work is exemplified by two international special issues I am currently co-editing, both aimed at understanding mechanisms for organizing in a polarized world:

1. A special issue on social media and civil society organizing in Social Media + Society (to be published in 2025).
2. An upcoming special issue in Voluntas on civil society and foreign funding restrictions (to be published in 2026).

These special issues reflect my commitment to elucidating the global dilemmas of civil society organizing and democratic repression.

Methodologically, I employ qualitative interviews, focus groups, witness seminars, text analysis of social media interactions, and document analysis, primarily using archival materials.

I am currently involved in several research projects:

1. Project member: “Supporting democracy and human rights in illiberal regimes – a case study of a ‘closing space’ for civil society in Russia,” supported by The Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, led by Zhanna Kravchenko. To be concluded in 2025.
2. Project member: “Audit society 2.0 – Taking a new turn? Organizational use and consequences of external reporting on social media,” supported by the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation, led by Cecilia Gullberg. To be concluded in 2025.
3. Project leader: “The organization of Jewish life and culture during the 2022 war in Ukraine,” supported by Paideia, the European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden, and the Annika and Gabriel Urwitz Foundation. To be concluded in 2025.
4. Project leader: “Social sustainability in urban and rural Belarusian, Russian, and Ukrainian communities: How can democracy and human rights be promoted through transnational donations to civil society?” supported by FORMAS. Started in 2024.

TEACHING

I teach and develop courses in Organization Theory at all levels, from undergraduate to PhD, in both Public Administration and Business Studies, with a focus on sustainability in a broad sense. Additionally, I have been involved in organizing several rounds of civil servant education funded by the Swedish Institute, focusing on Transnational Public Administration in the Baltic Sea Region and the Eastern Partnership countries.

PHD SUPERVISION AND EVALUATION

I am the main supervisor for Agnes Käll, a PhD student in Business Studies at Södertörn University. I have also co-supervised Petya Burneva, a PhD student in Business Studies at Uppsala University, who defended her dissertation in March 2022. I have also served as an evaluator and discussant of PhD work at all levels at different universities.

PUBLIC LECTURES AND POPULAR PRESS

I regularly lecture on my research for civil society practitioners in various public settings. I also publish in the popular press, particularly in practitioner-oriented civil society journals.

ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP

I served as the research leader at the Centre for the Study of Political Organization at Södertörn School of Social Sciences from 2020 to 2023. Currently, I am a member of the steering group at the university-wide research platform Contested Democracy (2024-), where I also oversee Södertörn’s collaboration with a broad Swedish civil society network focused on democracy. Additionally, I am the deputy director of the Academy of Public Administration at Södertörn (2023-), leading its international work. I am also an elected member of the Institutional Committee at Södertörn School of Social Sciences (2024-).

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

I have completed extended research stays in California, Alberta, Seoul, and Cape Town. Furthermore, I have presented at various major organizational and civil society conferences, including EGOS, ISTR, ARNOVA, and ECPR, as well as giving talks at different universities outside of Sweden.

KEYWORDS

Organizational Institutionalism, Accountability, Civil Society, Nonprofits, Philanthropy, Translation, Organizing through Social Media, Digital Activism, Authoritarianism, Transnational, Resilience, Sustainability