Mathea Loen

Mathea Loen is a PhD Fellow at the Centre for Research on Discretion and Paternalism and the Department of Government at the University of Bergen. She holds an M.Phil and Bachelor’s Degree in Comparative Politics from the same institution, with additional international experience from a year abroad at the University of Southampton.

Education:

• M.Phil in Comparative Politics (University of Bergen)
• Bachelor in Comparative Politics (University of Bergen)
• Exchange year at University of Southampton

Her research focuses on human rights, social norms and networks, public opinion, and public discourse related to children's rights, child protection, and family values in Europe. Recent work examines legitimacy of state interventions and constitutional frameworks for human rights.

Mathea has contributed to publications in Journal of European Social Policy, Journal of Social Policy, and Water, analyzing topics such as cross-national perspectives on child protection legitimacy and comparative constitutionalism in water rights. Her methodological approach combines empirical surveys with comparative institutional analysis.

She has served as a Teaching Assistant at the Department of Comparative Politics and actively engages in public discourse through podcasts like Ut av skapet. Her work intersects with child welfare policy, social norms, and transnational human rights frameworks.