Koen Slootmaeckers is a Reader in International Politics at City St George’s, University of London. He is a political sociologist whose research explores focuses on the politics of Othering and engages the  intersections of sexuality, gender, nationalism, and European integration. His work critically examines how LGBT rights are instrumentalised in global politics, with a regional focus on post-socialist Europe and the Balkans. He is the author of Coming In: Sexual Politics and EU Accession in Serbia, awarded the 2025 EUSA Best Book Prize. Koen’s current projects investigate the politics of compassionate curiosity as a response to polarisation and ideological radicalisation.