I am Senior Lecturer at the School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, University of Dundee. Previously, I was Marie Curie Individual Fellow at the European Network on Independent Living (2017-2019), and Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the Centre for Public Policy Research, King’s College London (2013-2016). I am author of Critical Theory and Indepednent Living (2024, MUP), Disability and Postsocialism (2018, Routledge), and Critical Theory and Disability: A Phenomenological Approach (2015, Bloomsbury). In the period 2000-2009, I was actively involved in campaigning for disability rights in Bulgaria.

I have research interests and expertise in:

• disability studies
• disability policy (including the right to independent living, personalisation, self-directed support, personal assistance, direct payments, deinstitutionalisation, activation, disability assessment, disability benefits)
• inclusive education
• social movements (with a focus on the disability rights movement and disability activism)
• critical theory (broadly conceived, i.e., not only the original Frankfurt School and Habermas, but also Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, Zizek)
• social justice (specifically, the approaches of Fraser and Honneth)
• co-production, political participation
• civil society, non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
• state socialism and postsocialism in Central and Eastern Europe (with a focus on state socialist and postsocialist social policy and civil society)
• neoliberalism (welfare state retrenchment, marketisation, responsibilisation, governmentality, managerialism, NGO-isation)
• international and comparative social policy (Europeanisation, welfare regimes, European civil society)
• human rights (with a focus on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
• actor-network theory

I have led the development and implementation of the following research projects:

User-led Personal Assistance in the European Union: A Critical Comparative Analysis (2017-2019) - a two-year research project funded by the Research Executive Agency of the European Commission through Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (GA 747027).

Moral Identities and Contemporary Social Policy: The Case of Disability (2013-2016) - a three-year research project co-funded by the Leverhulme Trust and King’s College London (ECF-2013-246).

Policy Development – module lead

Policy Development is a 2nd year MSc module focusing on co-production of social policy and the role of service users and social work professionals in this process. The module is part of the MSc in Social Work programme at the School of Education and Social Work, University of Dundee.

Comparative Social Policy Development and Leadership - module lead

Comparative Social Policy Development and Leadership is a 1st year MSc module that focuses on the policy development process in comparative perspective and in relation to various forms of marginalisation experienced by diverse groups locally and globally. The related challenges of the social work role are also explored, emphasising the significance of leadership and exploring various approaches to effective leadership.