معرفی
Sélima Kebaïli is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute for Gender Studies, University of Geneva, where she teaches courses in gender and postcolonial studies. She also holds visiting teaching positions at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and has previously taught at EHESS in Paris. Her academic work is deeply rooted in critical gender theory, transitional justice, and political violence, with a regional focus on the MENA region and Europe.
She earned her PhD in Sociology from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), Paris, in 2021, following an MA in Sociology (Gender Studies) from the same institution and a BA in Political Science from the University of Montreal. Her research employs qualitative and multisite ethnographic methods to investigate how international organizations shape the recognition of female victims in transitional justice contexts.
Her research interests include: gender and international feminist interventions, transitional justice, political violence, postcolonial and transnational feminism, and anti-veiling policies in Europe and the MENA region. She critically examines the gender mainstreaming practices of international organizations from a postcolonial feminist perspective, focusing on how these practices may marginalize local voices and experiences.
The trends in her recent publications reveal a strong interdisciplinary focus, bridging sociology, gender studies, political science, and postcolonial theory. Her work consistently centers on the lived experiences of women in post-revolutionary Tunisia, analyzing how their suffering is recognized—or silenced—within institutional frameworks. She explores themes of victimhood, agency, legal consciousness, and the racialized dimensions of transitional justice.
- Thesis prize, GIS-MOMM (Scientific Interest Group, Middle East and Muslim Worlds)
- Runner-up Thesis prize, Institut de Varenne (Prix-Louis Joinet) – Category Democratization (Democratic transition, Transitional justice and post-conflict)
Kebaïli has advised and collaborated with various international organizations, including UN Women and Impunity Watch, producing policy briefs and human rights reports. She has led research projects funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the European Research Council. She is actively involved in academic service, serving on the editorial committee of La vie des Idées / Books and Ideas, and organizing major conferences and seminars on gender, race, and justice. She regularly participates as an invited speaker at international forums, including the International Catalan Institute for Peace and the University of Torino summer school.
She has co-organized several academic events, including the conference The Government of Suffering with Rita Segato and Veena Das, and has led research seminars at the University of Lausanne. Her work is situated within collaborative research networks such as ERC-DREAM and the Centre for Gender Studies in Lausanne, reflecting her engagement with interdisciplinary and international scholarly communities.
