Louise Knops

Louise Knops is a post-doctoral researcher and guest lecturer in political science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), with additional teaching appointments at Université libre de Brusselles. She is affiliated with the VUB Center for Democratic Futures and the Brussels Interdisciplinary Research Centre for Migration and Minorities.

Her research interests focus on climate and ecological transformations, democratic theory, social movements, and political affects and emotions. She has conducted significant work on 'political indignation' across multiple social movements including Youth for Climate, Yellow Vests, Citizen Platform for Refugee Support, and Schild & Friends. Her current research examines affective polarization within the Belgian-wide Excellence of Science project NotLikeUs, funded by FNRS and FWO.

Knops' recent publications demonstrate a clear thematic focus on understanding how emotions shape democratic processes, particularly in relation to climate politics and citizen resentment toward political institutions. Her work bridges empirical analysis with theoretical development in democratic theory, showing particular attention to Belgian political contexts while maintaining international relevance.

She has published in leading journals including Mobilization, Representation, South Atlantic Quarterly, Politics and Governance, and Political Research Exchange.

• Member of the board of administrators, Association Belge de Sciences Politiques (2023-2024)
• Member of the Steering Committee, ECPR Standing Group on Environmental Politics (2022-present)
• Vice President, Climate Expert Committee, Brussels Region (2022-2027)
• Member of the board of administrators, Etopia (2019-2024)

As guest lecturer at multiple institutions, she has supervised various student projects related to political emotions and climate movements. Her research is supported through the NotLikeUs project funding from FNRS and FWO. She actively participates in academic networks and regularly presents her work at international conferences including ECPR General Conferences.

Knops contributes significantly to public discourse through media appearances discussing climate movements, democratic challenges, and political emotions, with her expertise sought by media outlets on topics ranging from Extinction Rebellion to youth climate activism.