Isabell Lorey

Isabell Lorey is a political theorist and professor specializing in queer studies, critical theory, and social movements. She currently holds the professorship for Queer Studies in Science and Arts at the Academy for Media Arts Cologne (since 2018). Previously, she was a professor of Transnational Gender Politics at the University of Kassel (2015–2018), and held roles at the University of Basel, Humboldt University Berlin, and the University of Vienna. Her work focuses on neoliberal precarization, social movements (including the Euromayday and care strike movements), and critiques of representational democracy. She co-founded the activist group 'kleines postfordistisches Drama' (kpD) in 2003, blending theory with feminist and anti-authoritarian practices.

Her research explores intersections of biopolitical governance, immunization politics, and queer-feminist strategies. Key themes include the precarization of labor and life under neoliberalism, authoritarian populism, and the concept of 'presentist democracy' as a temporal critique. Her 2020 book Demokratie im Präsens (translated into English and Spanish) proposes a radical rethinking of democracy based on mutual dependencies and care.

Lorey’s work bridges academia and activism, addressing global struggles such as the 2011 democracy movements and the feminist strike wave. She critiques immunization logics in governance and advocates for collective care as a political practice, emphasizing the potential of plebeian struggles and exodus strategies.