Dr. Niina Vuolajärvi

Biography

Niina Vuolajärvi is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, specializing in International Migration within the European Institute. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Rutgers University in 2021, and has a Master's degree in Sociology with a focus on Gender Studies. Before joining LSE, Niina was a postdoctoral fellow at the New School’s Zolberg Institute of Migration and Mobility, and a Global Scholar at the Institute for Research on Women at Rutgers University. She has collaborated as a Visiting Student Researcher on Gender and Sexuality Studies at Princeton University. Niina's research projects explore themes such as migrant sex work, migration policies, and the intersection of race and colonial legacies in Europe. Currently, she is working on a book titled 'Sex Work, Migration and the ‘Nordic Model’,' which investigates the impact of feminist-inspired anti-trafficking policies from the perspective of sex workers. Her findings are relevant for policy discussions and have been disseminated through various translations. In addition to her research, Niina has been recognized with several prestigious awards for her contributions to understanding migration and border studies, and her work has been published in leading academic journals.

Research Interests