Kees Biekart is Associate Professor in Political Sociology at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam.

His research focuses on social movements, civil society, civic agency and civic-driven change. He also works on participatory action research methods. Before coming to ISS he was employed as a research co-ordinator with the Transnational Institute (TNI) in Amsterdam, and as a Lecturer at Leiden University. He obtained his MA in International Relations (1989) and his PhD in Political Science (1999), both with distinction (cum laude) at the University of Amsterdam. His research largely focuses on Latin America, but in recent years – triggered by MA and PhD supervisions - also on Africa and Asia. His current research focuses on civic agency in changing civic spaces. With Alan Fowler he recently edited the Open Access volume A Research Agenda for Civil Society (Elgar, 2022).