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Developing states’ regulation at the intersection : the impact of bilateral investment treaties on the ICESCR right to food through two case studies
No full textDefence date: 08 May 2023Examining Board: Prof. Jürgen Kurtz, (European University Institute, supervisor), Prof. Joanne Scott, (European University Institute), Prof. Michael Fakhri, (University of Oregon), Prof. Makane Moïse Mbengue, (University of Geneva)This doctoral thesis engages the question of state regulation at the intersection of the international legal regimes of international investment and international human rights law. It seeks to examine the state regulation problematics in real-life interactions of foreign investments, as protected under bilateral investment treaties (BITs), with the international right to food in developing states. It takes as case studies the states of Egypt and South Africa. The two states have relatively dissimilar reformatory reactions to their existing traditional BITs, born of their unique historical trajectories. They also share comparable human rights commitments to the right to food, not only under their constitutions, but also under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Drawing from the two states’ food and agro-investment contexts, BIT stipulations, ICESCR right to food obligations, and investment arbitration awards, the thesis investigates how BIT provisions on expropriation and fair and equitable treatment (FET) impact the two states’ ICESCR-based duty to regulate for the right to food. To illuminate the requisites of the right to food, it makes a case for a Covenant-based duty to regulate, reconceptualized from the mandates of ICESCR Article 2(1), to serve as its analytical lens. This is particularly in light of some of the right’s substantive and interpretative ambiguities. Distinct from the sovereign and discretionary right to regulate which BITs may address, this duty lens is subsequently employed to discern the bearings of BIT compatibility of state actions on arbitral prospects for state regulation as an obligation in the right to food context. Through analyzing the arbitral interpretative practices and attitudes in a selected collection of food-relevant arbitration awards, the thesis demonstrates states’ restricted regulatory maneuverability to accommodate food-related interests and concerns. It further shows the unfavorable chances for the wide-scoped duty to regulate under the current interpretative perspectives regarding expropriation and FET provisions. Ultimately, the conclusion reached is that a full-ranged tackling of the right to food necessitates that either states or arbitrators introduce changes to the system
Party politicisation of the European Union and public opinion formation : the role of individual predispositions, framing effects, and party cues
No full textDefence date: 18 September 2023Examining Board: Prof. Ellen Immergut (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Hanspeter Kriesi (European University Institute); Prof. Sara Hobolt (London School of Economics); Prof. Christopher Wratil (University of Vienna)How does party politicisation of the European Union (EU) influence public opinion formation? I employ different methodological approaches and sources of data to demonstrate that party politicisation of the EU exerts a moderating role on the effect of drivers of EU support – individual predispositions, framing effects, and party cues – on public opinion formation. Chapter 2 discusses the measurement of party politicisation of the EU in this thesis. Chapter 3 uses multilevel regressions with cross-level interaction terms to explore how individual predispositions on national politics influence support towards European integration at different levels of party politicisation of the EU. The main findings suggest that when the EU is highly politicised in national party systems, citizens tend to rely less on national political attitudes that depend on satisfaction and evaluation – satisfaction with the national economy and trust in national institutions – to form their views on the EU when the issue is highly politicised. The effect of attitudes towards immigrants on public formation is not dependent on the level of party politicisation of the EU. Chapter 4 relies on original experimental data and disentangles the moderating role of the two main dimensions of party politicisation of the EU – salience and polarisation – on the influence of framing effects on public opinion formation. The results suggest that individuals are less affected by frames on high-salience EU issues than on low-salience EU issues. The evidence also indicates that the effect of polarisation on public opinion depends on the level of issue salience. Polarisation moderates the effect of frames on public opinion only on low-salience EU issues. Chapter 5 exploits the case of the 2019 European Parliament election as a moment of intense party politicisation of the EU. I estimate the effect of party cues on support towards European integration and uncover the moderating effect of the temporal proximity to the election date. The evidence suggests that the positive effect of the EU position of individuals’ preferred parties on public opinion formation decreased after the election
Before multiculturalism? : Windrush activists and the London schooling system (1948-1971)
No full textDefence date: 12 December 2023Examining Board: Prof. Laura Lee Downs, (European University Institute); Prof. Federico Romero, (European University Institue); Prof. Clarisse Berthezene, (Université Paris Cité); Prof. James VERNON, (University of California, Berkeley)This dissertation delves into the struggles of Black families against the British educational system. Emerging from the economic upheaval in the Caribbean post-World War II, these families actively contributed to the metropolis's reconstruction, linking their aspirations to accessing diverse educational opportunities for their children. In the face of global anti-migrant sentiments and the rise of right-wing parties, examining the immediate post-decolonization period becomes crucial to decipher the transformation of colonial racism into stereotypes that questioned the belonging of these migrants, revealing distinct shifts in racial formations since 1945 (Omi and Winant, 1986). Scholars have increasingly focused on migrant group agency since the 1990s (Grosvenor, 1997; Hammond-Perry, 2015). In Britain, migrants organized from the 1960s onwards to impact change in various educational realms (Warmington, 2014; Estèves, 2018). This thesis analyzes the ideas and actions of these parents, demonstrating how their protests complicated the process of comprehensive state education in Britain, a cornerstone of the post-1945 welfare state. The 1960s witnessed significant expansion and restructuring of London schools, aiming for education for all children and the establishment of more inclusive, egalitarian environments. Contrary to the Inner London Education Authority’s (ILEA) claims, Black families discovered systemic discrimination and racism in British schools, with many children unfairly placed in "Special Education" classes, limiting their advancement opportunities. Drawing on archives, government reports, educational texts, and statements from parents and pupils, this research reveals how Caribbean parents utilized the organizational skills honed in anticolonial struggles to protest racism in the British school system. They linked the unequal treatment of their children to their experiences of housing and job discrimination, echoing the approach of the US Civil Rights movement
Natural disasters : demographic and health outcomes for women and children
No full textDefence date: 2 February 2023Examining Board: Prof. Juho Härkönen, (EUI, Supervisor); Prof. Fabrizio Bernardi, (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, former EUI); Assoc. Prof. Kathryn Grace, (University of Minnesota); Assoc. Prof. Tiziana Leone, (The London School of Economics and Political Science)Natural disasters have increased in frequency, intensity and magnitude in recent years, and with climate change more extreme weather events are expected in the future. The aim of this dissertation is to better understand how populations are affected by such disasters by analysing demographic and health outcomes for women and children in low- and lower-middle-income countries. In the first empirical chapter, I and a co-author investigate the impact of the 2010 Haiti earthquake on parity specific fertility by applying event history analysis in a differencein-differences design. The results show no impact from the earthquake on first, second, or third births. In the second empirical chapter, set in the same context, I investigate child nutrition by applying linear regression in a cohort-based difference-in-differences design. The findings show a short-term improvement in child nutrition in less affected areas, and a long-term lack of improvement in child nutrition in the most affected area. In the third empirical chapter, I investigate storms and infant mortality in the Philippines. I apply linear probability models and mother fixed-effects to explore whether storm exposure two months after birth to five years prior to birth has an impact on infant mortality. Overall, the results indicate limited or no association between storms and infant mortality, in both the short- and the long-term. In the final empirical chapter, I and co-authors investigate the associations between floods and maternal healthcare utilisation in Bangladesh. Flood exposure from in utero to five years prior to birth is analysed with a multilevel design, and shows no impact of flood exposure on maternal healthcare utilisation. Findings from this dissertation contribute to a better understanding of the potential consequences of natural disasters for women and children in low- and lower-middleincome countries, which is needed to ensure better targeted measures to protect vulnerable population sub-groups in natural hazard related disasters
Awakening the sleeping giant : rising Euroscepticism and turnout in European Parliament elections
No full textPublished online: 30 September 2025After decades of decline, voter turnout in European Parliament (EP) elections has surged since 2014. This article hypothesis is that the recent increase in voter participation results from the politicisation of European integration and the rise of Eurosceptic parties at the national level. Two empirical analyses support this hypothesis: a time-series cross-sectional analysis of aggregate turnout across all 202 EP elections held between 1979 and 2024, and a hierarchical analysis of nearly 200,000 individual voting decisions from all ten European Election Studies to date. The results indicate that, while EP turnout is unrelated to economic or cultural political divisions, it is strongly associated with the prior success of Eurosceptic parties in national elections. Turnout increases as these parties gain domestic seats, primarily reflecting stronger participation among Eurosceptic voters and, to a lesser extent, counter-mobilisation by pro-Europeans. Secondary findings underscore the influence of institutional factors, such as compulsory voting and election frequency
Three essays on the legitimate authority of immigration control
No full textDefence date: 16 October 2023Examining Board: Prof. Andrea Sangiovanni, (King's College London; European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Rainer Bauböck, (European University Institute); Prof. Paulina Ochoa Espejo, (Haverford College); Prof. Ashwini Vasanthakumar, (Queen's University)Political theorists have often maintained that the pursuits of justice, freedom or democracy give states moral rights to exclude would-be immigrants. But it is not clear if such general considerations can decisively answer the question if states can generate morally legitimate authority over the particular subjects of their migration control regimes, that is, hold an enforceable right to their compliance with such regimes’ directives. This thesis provides three essays to argue that such authority is often absent. All three essays contend that a liberal conception of legitimate authority in migration control requires that states treat those whose compliance they seek according to certain moral principles, and that entrenched features of states’ migration control regimes habitually stand in the way of the realization of these principles. The first essay argues that states operating according to dominant conceptions of sovereignty cannot robustly respect migrants’ basic human rights. The second essay contends that the international behavior of at least some states is characterized by their perpetration of ‘colonial norms,’ and thus undermines the moral equality of some of the people they later come to claim migration control authority over. Finally, the third essay argues that global power relations sometimes condition the bargaining processes that precede the conclusion of bilateral migration management (or ‘border externalization’) agreements between migration destination and origin and transit states in a way that undermines the latter states’ sovereign equality. These arguments have significant upshots for adherents of liberal political thought. The first two essays imply that there are many migrants who have no moral duties to comply with the migration rules of the states they strive to migrate to. The third essay implies that migration management ‘partner states’ in the Global South often have no moral duties to treat contractual agreements as binding.Chapter 1 'Saving migrants' basic human rights from sovereign rule' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an Open Access article 'Saving migrants’ basic human rights from sovereign rule' (2022) in the journal 'American political science review'.Chapter 2 'Colonial injustice, legitimate authority, and immigration control' of the PhD thesis draws upon a succeeding published article 'Colonial injustice, legitimate authority, and immigration control' (2025) in the 'European Journal of Political Theory'
Artificial intelligence and the transformation of criminal trials : preserving fairness in Europe
No full textDefence date: 23 January 2023Examining Board: Prof. Deirdre Curtin (European University Institute); Prof. Mireille Hildebrandt (VUB); Prof. Serena Quattrocolo (Università del Piemonte Orientale); Prof. Giovanni Sartor (European University Institute)This thesis explores the transformative impact of AI in criminal trials and questions whether procedural fairness can be preserved in the automation age. This work aims to contribute to the academic debate on AI and fundamental rights, stimulate discussions concerning AI regulation at the EU level, and anticipate legal issues that member states will increasingly face in the years to come. By focusing on the use of AI systems to generate criminal evidence, this thesis provides a reconstruction of fairness in criminal trials as a normative and legal concept and reframes the rights enshrined in Article 6 of the ECHR for the automation age (Ch. II). Secondly, it conducts a doctrinal analysis of the EU legislative measures regulating AI according to three key themes: secrecy, transparency and the reliability of AI systems (Ch. III). Finally, it shows how AI challenges the core principles of a fair trial, focusing on the redefined roles of trial actors (Ch. IV), and advances proposals to counterbalance such a transformation whilst preserving fairness in criminal trials (Ch. V). In this thesis, I contend that the use of AI systems to generate evidence in criminal trials leads to a threefold transformation: 1) new actors enter the scene, bringing commercial interests into the proceeding; 2) criminal trials become increasingly mediated by experts; 3) the traditional model of evidence examination is fundamentally changed: from inside the courtroom, audi alteram partem, to outside the trial, in absentia of the parties. To address this transformation and preserve the core principles of a fair trial, I argue for the need for legal reforms to guarantee access to information and experts for the defence. In the sector of criminal justice, a multi-level legal response, encompassing EU law, human rights law and national criminal law, is necessary to face the challenges brought by AI.Chapter 2 'Reframing procedural fairness for ai' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as chapter 'The black box on trial : the impact of algorithmic opacity on fair trial rights in criminal proceedings' (2021) in the book 'Algorithmic governance and governance of algorithms : legal and ethical challenges'
Internal armed conflicts : an international legal duty to settle them peacefully?
No full textAward date: 21 September 2023Supervisor: Prof. Sarah M.H. Nouwen (European University Institute)Is there an international legal duty on states to settle their internal armed conflicts peacefully? Traditionally, it has been understood that states were only obliged to settle peacefully disputes with other states. However, in other areas, laws and regulations that once applied to inter-state relations have gradually expanded to include intra-state relations. The question then arises: has a similar extension taken place for the peaceful settlement of internal armed conflicts? This thesis questions whether an international legal duty to settle internal armed conflicts peacefully has emerged or is emerging, as a matter of treaty or customary law. The thesis argues that, at present, international law does not impose a legal obligation on states to settle internal armed conflicts peacefully, nor is such an obligation emerging as a matter of international customary law. However, there is an emerging political recognition and consensus that armed conflicts within states must be resolved peacefully
A refuge and a hope : an oral history of contemporary utopian communities in Russia and Italy
No full textDefence date: 19 September 2023Examining Board: Prof. Laura Downs (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Corinna Unger (European University Institute); Luisa Passerini (European University Institute); Robert Kramm (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)This thesis analyzes the practices of three contemporary utopian communities in Russia and Italy in relation to the societal ills they identify and the historical contexts under which they were born. In the case of Italy, the two contemporary utopian communities analyzed developed as a direct result of members’ participation in the student movements of the 1960s and 1970s. In the case of Russia, the community developed in relation to the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent search for a new identity at both the national and grassroots level. The three communities were studied using a combination of oral history and ethnographic methods. The thesis found that while all three communities developed in relation to greater demands for authenticity leading to acute moments of societal upheaval, they took different shapes in terms of intent and organization: political (authoritarian/charismatic, democratic, anarchist, consensual), secular or religious, sexual orientation (ex. some form of non-standard marriage), and more, based on historical-national factors. In the case of Italy, the communities were shaped by members’ demands for greater democracy in the 1960s and 1970s’ student movement, with both communities sharing resources to a greater extent, e.g. accommodation, property, families, economy, etc., while in the case of Russia, the community was made up of individual families living in separate households with minimal sharing, due to the rejection of the collectivism imposed during the Soviet Union. The main uniting thread between all three communities is their ecological nature and emphasis on a return to local production, varying degrees of self-sufficiency, a re-examination of the relationship between humans and nature, and a desire for small-scale and local alternative forms of governance. The main themes explored in relation to the historical contexts under which the communities were born included member’s reasons for conversion, their relationship with nature, their social organization (family, sexuality, gender roles), their economic organization, their views on traditional politics, and finally their belief in education as conducive to societal revolution
The green gender gap : environmental attitudes and pro-environmental vote choice across Europe
No full textPublished online: 02 March 2026Does gender matter for how we engage with green political ideas? Using more than twenty years of data across 36 European countries, this paper identifies a robust and persistent empirical regularity: women consistently express greater concern about climate and environmental issues than men. I refer to this empirical regularity as the Green Gender Gap. The gap is widespread across Europe and cannot be explained by gender differences in education, occupation, residential location, risk aversion, or left–right political ideology. The paper further examines whether this attitudinal gender gap translates into political behaviour. Looking at vote choice, I find that men in Northern and Western Europe are less likely to vote for green parties and less likely to vote for parties with a pro-environmental political agenda. However, in Southern and Central/Eastern Europe, there is no clear voting gap, despite women holding greener views than men. This suggests that the political outcomes of the Green Gender Gap are shaped by country-specific contexts, such as party-system characteristics, issue salience, and the availability of credible green political alternatives. In short, the Green Gender Gap is robust, widespread, and has real-world political consequences