معرفی
Hannah Oorts is a Research Fellow at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) within the Centre for Democratic Futures, affiliated with the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences and Solvay Business School. She holds a Political Science PhD and an Advanced Master in Cultural Anthropology and Development Studies from KU Leuven (2021–2022). Her research focuses on political leadership, representation mechanisms, and Belgian political dynamics, particularly examining how political leaders construct legitimacy and identity through performative acts and digital media.
Key areas include analyzing metaphors of political representation, the role of social media in shaping political identity (e.g., Instagram's impact on leadership imagery), and the interplay between descriptive and substantive representation. She leads the 2022–2026 project Performing political representation: Varieties, strategies, and effectiveness, exploring how leaders' performative actions influence public perception and democratic engagement.
Oorts has been recognized with the ECPR Standing Group on Elites and Political Leadership Best Paper Prize (2023). Her work bridges cultural anthropology and political science, emphasizing discourse analysis and institutional frameworks. Active in academic conferences and media commentary, she discusses topics like political authenticity, diversity representation in left-wing parties, and the societal implications of the Vlaams Belang party.
