Research

My research examines the conditions under which asymmetries of resources are transformed into effective and relatively durable capacities to secure compliance. I focus on the interaction between social and political structures and individual agency, particularly on obedience, adaptation, circumvention and resistance. My work combines theoretical analysis of power with qualitative research on the mechanisms through which power becomes effective in institutional and social settings.

Power, agency and social structures

A central area of my research concerns the relationship between individual agency and structures of social and political power. I am interested in how power is exercised, reproduced, resisted and transformed, including through mechanisms that are not immediately visible in formal institutional arrangements.

Obedience, compliance and resistance

I study the conditions under which individuals comply with, adapt to, circumvent or resist power. This includes both institutional settings and broader social contexts, with particular attention to the interaction between individual choices and structural constraints.

Institutional power

My research also addresses power within public and political institutions, including the relationship between formal rules, organisational practices, access to decision-making processes and less visible mechanisms shaping institutional outcomes.

Theoretical framework

My theoretical work draws on contemporary theories of social and political power, particularly multidimensional and relational approaches to power. I am interested in how structural conditions, available resources and mechanisms of interaction shape actors’ capacities to secure compliance, while leaving room for agency, adaptation and resistance.