Dr Hakan Sandal-Wilson

Dr Hakan Sandal‑Wilson is Assistant Professor of Gender, Peace and Security at the Department of Gender Studies.

He is a cultural and political sociologist whose research examines how gender and sexuality intersect with democracy, conflict, and ethnic and religious difference. At its core, his work explores how people and communities negotiate belonging and difference in contemporary societies. Focusing on the Middle East and Western Europe, his research is organised around three themes: social and political movements in contexts marked by conflict and political violence; the interplay of gender, sexuality, and religion; and creative‑critical approaches to knowledge production.

The first theme examines how histories of conflict and political violence shape social and political movements, and how these movements in turn reshape understandings of democracy, difference, and belonging. Much of this work focuses on Turkey, where he examines the relationship between conflict, minority politics, and LGBTI+ mobilisation. In 2023, he edited a special issue on Kurdish Queer Studies in Kurdish Studies Journal, the first collection to bring Kurdish Studies into dialogue with queer studies. He is now preparing his first monograph for publication on LGBTI+ politics in Turkey, focusing on how Kurdish LGBTI+ claims for equality transform debates about democracy and social change.

The second theme examines the relationship between religion, gender, and sexuality. Focusing on the UK and France, he is particularly interested in how queer/LGBTI+ individuals and communities engage with religion, public life, and democratic institutions. Alongside his academic research, his role as a Licensed Lay Minister in the Church of England and a trustee of Inclusive Church also informs this strand of his work. He is currently convening an interdisciplinary seminar series at LSE, Critical Convocations: Gender, Religion, and Politics, which brings together academic talks, field visits, and book discussions.

A third strand of his work explores creative-critical approaches to knowledge production. He co-edited Creative Critical Interventions for Social Justice, with Natasha Tanna and Abeyamí Ortega, published by UCL Press in 2026, which brings together creative-critical forms of research and writing. Building on this work, he is currently developing a microhistory of his family, which explores questions of memory, identity, and politics across Turkey, Belgium, France, and the UK.

Dr Hakan Sandal-Wilson’s work has been published in journals such as Social Research: An International Quarterly and South Atlantic Quarterly. His commentaries on democracy, social justice, and conflict have appeared in various outlets, such as Jadaliyya and openDemocracy, and his work has been translated into French, Spanish, Turkish, and Portuguese. He served as Campaigns Officer for Amnesty UK’s LGBTI Network from 2018 to 2022 and remains committed to connecting his research expertise with contemporary social and political issues.

Dr Hakan Sandal-Wilson joined LSE in 2022 as a Fellow at the Department of Sociology before coming to the Department of Gender Studies in 2024. Prior to this, he taught at Downing College, University of Cambridge, and at the University of Cambridge Centre for Gender Studies.

Expertise: Gender and Sexuality; Democracy; Conflict; Religion; Ethnicity; Memory; Political Violence; Minorities; Creative Writing

Articles

Sandal-Wilson, H. and Altekin, O. (2023). ‘Research for Peace: An interview with bakad on Kurdish LGBTI+ Experiences, Conflict, Society, and Politics’, Kurdish Studies Journal, Volume 1: Issue 1-2.

Sandal-Wilson, H. (2021). ‘Social Justice, Conflict, and Protest in Turkey: The Kurdish Issue and LGBTI+ Activism’, Social Research: An International Quarterly, Vol. 88 no. 2.

Sandal, H. (2020). ‘Radical Queer Epistemic Network: Kurdish Diaspora, Futurity, and Sexual Politics’, Migration Letters, Vol. 17 no. 1.

Popa, B. and Sandal, H. (2019). ‘Decolonial Queer Politics and LGBT+ Activism in Romania and Turkey’, Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.

Book Chapters

Sandal-Wilson, H. (2025). ‘Justiça Social, Conflito e Protesto na Turquia: A Questão Curda e o Ativismo LGBTI+’, in A. Badaoui, G.F. Chagas and G. Barbosa (eds) Revisitando Gênero no Oriente Médio: subjetividades de mulheres, homens e queers. Rio de Janeiro: Telha. [Translation of: Sandal-Wilson, H. (2021). ‘Social Justice, Conflict, and Protest in Turkey: The Kurdish Issue and LGBTI+ Activism’, Social Research: An International Quarterly, Vol. 88 no. 2.]

Online Publications and Commentary

Ferguson, R. and Sandal-Wilson, H. (2021). ‘LGBTQ+ Politics and Social Justice: An Interview with Professor Roderick Ferguson about One-Dimensional Queer’, Methods in Question, 24 August 2021.

Sandal-Wilson, H. and Smietana, M. (2021) “‘Queering Authoritarianisms’: A Queer Rethinking of Social Justice and Global Politics”, Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, 16 March 2021.

Green, J.N. and Sandal, H. (2020). ‘Biography, (Homo)Sexuality, and Revolutionary Politics: An Interview with Professor James N. Green’, Methods in Question, 5 August 2020.

Tanna, N. and Sandal, H. (2020). ‘The Politics of Writing in and with Crises: A Conversation with Dr Natasha Tanna’, Methods in Question, 8 June 2020.

Palmer, P. and Sandal, H. (2020). ‘Queer Fiction as Method: An Interview with Dr Paulina Palmer’, Methods in Question, 20 May 2020.

Sandal, H. (2017). ‘Redirecting the Colonial Gaze: ‘Decolonising Queer Liberation’ or Disciplining the Kurds?’, openDemocracy, 23 September 2017.

Sandal, H. (2017). ‘Queering Turkey’s Referendum’, Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative, 10 April 2017.

Sandal, H. (2016). ‘The Turkish State of Emergency and LGBT+ Kurds’, Jadaliyya, 26 December 2016.