Biography

I am a sociologist with a general research interest in citizenship, minority policies, social inequalities, statelessness, migration and EU integration. My main research focus has been on the position of Romani minorities as marginalized citizens in the context of post-Yugoslav states.
Prior to joining the EUI, I was a CITSEE Research Fellow at the School of Law, University of Edinburgh. Within theCITSEE Research Project , I conducted a socio-legal analysis on how the transformations of post-Yugoslav citizenship regimes have impacted the position of Romani minorities (besides Roma, also other diverse marginalized populations such as Ashkali, Egyptians, Sinti, etc.).
Earlier, I worked as a researcher on various EU-funded projects (FP7, IPA SI-HR, ESF, etc.) at the University of Ljubljana, where I also defended my PhD thesis in 2013. My dissertation deals with the transformation of minority cultural representations and its correlation to the position of Romani minorities before and after the disintegration of socialist Yugoslavia, with special attention given to the Romani minority in Slovenia. I hold an MA degree with distinction in Nationalism Studies from the Central European University. I also have a decade-long experience of working as an NGO activist in Romani settlements.
As a Max Weber Fellow, I  addressed how the position of post-Yugoslav Romani minorities as (non-)citizens is affected through policy transformation (i.e. minority legislation) specifically due to EU conditionality and whether such transformations correspond to the creation of new transnational migration patterns.