(Milja) M Fenger

Biography

Milja Fenger is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) and a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Early Stage Research Fellow within the WEGO network.

PhD research
Milja's research is concerned with the passion and bitterness in academic debates around human population growth and the lack of dialogue across disciplines on this topic.Taking a sociological approach to the lives of anglophone academics engaged in population disputes, she explores how personal and collective affective states co-determine scholars’ world views and knowledge formation with regards to population. She hopes to provide new insights into how emotions and communication affect intergroup dynamics and how this knowledge can be harnessed to move beyond stasis in population debates.

Areas of interest
Sociology of emotions, (feminist) political ecology

Background
After several years making theatre in London, Milja studied for her BA in Human Sciences at the University of Oxford and an MPhil in Conservation Science at the University of Cambridge.

After graduating she worked in research communication for the Food and Climate Research Network in Oxford, before moving to TRAFFIC, an international NGO focusing on curbing illegal trade in wild animals and plants. She has conducted field work in India, Malaysia and Cameroon and also is a part-time director and writer for film and theatre.