Researcher biography

Dr Melissa Curley is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Political Science and International Studies. Her project, “Civil Society under Il-Liberal Democracy: The Case of Cambodia,” seeks to extend knowledge of how the civil society sector evolves and responds in practice to working in semi-authoritarian and low-quality democracies. She looks at the strategies and tools that organisations use to advocate for their agenda while working within and between institutions of the state and alongside donors and international NGOs, with particular focus on the area of child rights, advocacy and development.

Melissa will use her fellowship to complete her book manuscript arising from this project.