Recently, the Dutch parliament has undoubtedly been getting more diverse than before. Since 2021 the first transgender woman MP, the first MP wearing a hijab, the first black woman party leader, and the first non-binary MP have been elected - to name just a few examples. But what challenges do these MPs face once in office? There is a need for better understanding of how these politicians can not only be elected, but also be included, stay in office, and build expertise and power.

Zahra Runderkamp
PhD Candidate

Intersectionality is a theory, method and praxis to understand political marginalization and privilege and to counter inequalities based on intersections of – among others – gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, ability, religion, age, class, and citizenship. In our work we examine fruitful ways to apply intersectionality in political science research, methods, and teaching. We also we incorporate intersectionality in practical policy advice and popular scientific interventions.

Projects Intersectionality

  • Ideal democracies should accommodate the full diversity of their citizenries. The follow-up assumption is that elected representatives should mirror the ethnic make-up of the population: if there are enough 'German-Turks' in the Bundestag, the Turkish minority is thought to be properly represented. But in fact, it is wrong to assume that citizens share interests and worldviews because their...

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    Themes
    Project lead
    dr. L.M. Mügge
    VIDI grant NWO
    2017–2024
  • Democratic societies view the representation of identifiable groups in parliament as a key means to give these groups political voice and to legitimize governance. While the parliamentary under-representation of both women and ethnic minorities has received considerable attention, much of this work has treated women and ethnic minorities as internally homogenous and conceptually separate groups.

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    Themes
    Project lead
    dr. L.M. Mügge
    VENI grant Dutch Research Council (NWO)
    2013–2017

Team Intersectionality

  • Michael Hunklinger

    Postdoctoral Researcher (2022–2024)
    Interests: Politics of Diversity and Inequality, Democracy and Political Participation, LGBTIQ+/ Queer Politics

  • Liza Mügge

    Associate Professor
    Principal Investigator
    Political Science Department
    University of Amsterdam

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  • Brit Anlar

    Postdoctoral Researcher (2025–)
    Interests: Political representation, political party organizations, gender/gender roles, intersectionality, feminist institutionalism, mixed methods

  • Vivien Fabry

    Research Master Student (2022–2023)
    Interests: Computational methods, political representation, disability studies

  • Zahra Runderkamp

    PhD Candidate (2019–)
    Interests: Representation of women and ethnic minorities in politics and media in the Netherlands.

  • Melanie Ihuoma

    Junior Researcher (2024–)
    Interests: Gender, sexuality, intersectionality, race, class

  • Fatimah Saadi

    Visiting scholar (2024)
    PhD Candidate (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

    Interests: Intersectionality, feminist institutionalism, candidate selection, voter behavior, violence against women in politics, identity politics, political representation, sectarianism, power-sharing systems, and Middle Eastern politics.

News & Media Intersectionality

Outreach Intersectionality