Jelena Belic is an assistant professor of political philosophy at the Institute of Political Science and a co-director of the Center for Political Philosophy at Leiden University.

More information about Jelena Belic

I am an assistant professor at the Institute of Political Science and a co-director of the Center for Political Philosophy at Leiden University. My research interests include a range of topics in contemporary political philosophy. So far, I have worked on various fundamental problems concerning global justice as well as the normative foundations of human rights. I am increasingly turning my attention to challenges posed by climate change as well as digital technologies. From 2025-2026, I am pursuing an NWO ‘XS’ grant, Are We Subjected to Digital Coercion?

I have published my work in various journals, including Social Theory and Practice, Journal of Ethics, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Journal of Moral Philosophy and Politics and Global Justice: Theory, Rhetoric, and Practice. I am also a co-editor of the book series Environmental Justice (Leiden University Press).

Besides doing philosophical research, I am also passionate about teaching and supervision, which I understand as thinking together with my students. In particular, I am interested in pedagogical approaches that nurture students’ curiosity and help them develop and enhance their critical and analytical thinking skills. I earned my doctorate in political philosophy from the Central European University in 2018. Before joining Leiden University, I was a Postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Advanced Studies (University of Rijeka), Central European University as well as at the ‘ETHOS’ Horizon2020 project led by Utrecht University. As a PhD student, I also spent some time as a visiting researcher at the Australian National University (2016).

PhD supervision

I am available to supervise PhD students who have a strong research interest in the areas of:

• Global and climate justice
• Philosophy of human rights
• Political philosophy and digital technologies

See more information on PhD positions:

› Institute of Political Science: PhD

Publications

Activities