(Sophie) S van Balen

Biography

Sophie van Balen (MA) is PhD researcher at Erasmus School of Philosophy and Lecturer Humanities at Erasmus University College. She also is head of programme at philosophical café Felix & Sofie in Amsterdam and regularly moderates (public) philosophical conversations.

Her PhD project, which received NWO-funding within the research program PhD in the Humanities (2021), brings together contemporary continental climate philosophy with feminist theory and politics. Picking up on the 'forgetting of air' that both Luce Irigaray and Peter Sloterdijk theorise, Sophie van Balen approaches climate disruption by thinking through air. If we figure out a way to think about our (human and non-human) existence as situated in air, what might that tell us about how intimately exposed we are to climate change? Via phenomenological and ontological work, and by doing case studies on the nitrogen crisis and the biodiversity crisis, Sophie van Balen develops a politics of breath.

Together with dr. Irene van Oorschot and Maaike van Papeveld (MA), Sophie van Balen furthermore works on the societal research project ‘Voel je het veranderen?’ into the citizen experiences of a changing climate in the city of Rotterdam which received funding from Rotterdams Weerwoord. In 2019, Sophie van Balen co-organised the fourth biennial conference in Performance Philosophy ‘Between Institution and Intoxication: How does Performance Philosophy Intervene?’ and was guest-editor together with Ricarda Franzen (UvA) for the subsequent journal issue.

She taught many courses in political philosophy and climate philosophy, among which recently: Contemporary Challenges (guest lecture), Close Reading bell hooks (coordination & teaching), Contemporary Political Philosophy, Climate Crisis, Feminist Philosophy.