I earned my Bachelors of Science in Political Science from Leiden University, specializing in International Relations and Organizations with a minor in Chinese Economy and Society. Throughout my undergraduate degree I developed my interests across international development in the Global South, peace and conflict studies, critical theory (particularly queer theory and anti-/decolonial approaches), postcolonial politics, and contemporary Chinese governance.
In my undergraduate thesis, “The Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2023 and the Politics of Inequality in Uganda: Conditionality, Aid Dependency & Political Scapegoating,” I studied the framing of homosexuality, sexual minority rights and foreign aid in Ugandan parliamentary debates through the method of Critical Discourse Analysis. I ultimately concluded that rather than leading to the adoption of less stringent anti-queer legislation, the enactment of aid conditionality mechanisms rather risks the collapsing of queerness and foreign aid into one singular “corrupting Western influence” to Ugandan society, which potentially drives further backlash to and persecution of the Ugandan queer community.
During my time in the MA/MSc International and World History degree I intend to study how colonial legacies shape the politics of post-colonial states and how precolonial and Afro-Indigenous knowledge production inform contemporary anti-colonial resistance and decolonization initiatives, particularly within the context of Francophone Africa and the French Caribbean.
