We are happy to welcome Carla Boulos, who will join the Dialogics of Justice team in September this year. Carla obtained a Hestia-grant from NWO (Impulse for refugees in Science) to pursue her PhD-project titled ‘Conflict as a transformative moment for gender social justice in Syria’, exploring the more invisible effects of the war in Syria. While war creates destruction, war has also changed gender roles. Women now head households and take leading roles in public life. This project, bridging academia and activism, explores how this change can be sustained. How can civil society in Syria transform this initial spark into lasting gender social justice?

Carla has been a human rights activist for the past 10 years. She has worked in local and international development and human rights fields in complex conflict contexts, including Syria and Lebanon. She received an MA in Human Rights and Cultural Diversity at the University of Essex in the UK and has been awarded the prestigious Civil Society Leadership Award from the Open Society Foundation for her work on justice. As Syrian refugee and human rights activist, Carla has found a new home in the Netherlands. With this PhD project she aims to combine activism and scholarship on social and gender justice.