I am an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science of Leiden University. My research focusses on state foreign policy making with a particular focus on state collective narratives—the stories states tell about themselves, others, and (historical) events. This means I am interested in how states talk about themselves and others and, through a multitude of storied interventions, produce (narrate into being) the particular identities and relations that lay at the basis of their foreign policy making.
van Meegdenburg, Hilde. 2026. Interpretive Process Tracing? How PT Can Become Amenable to Interpretive Research. Policy & Politics, 1–20. doi.org/10.1332/03055736Y2026D0000000
Besides my substantive work, I am also a bit of a methodologist in the making. I actively work on further developing qualitative research methods, in particular process tracing (PT) and comparative case studies. On the one hand, I am keen on thinking through what PT could mean for interpretive research. Can, and if so how can, PT further the study of the dialectic and (inter)subjective meaning-making processes and practices that underlie national and world politics. On the other hand, I am currently co-authoring a book with Patrick A. Mello, Uncovering Causal Symptoms, on combining PT with QCA. In this manuscript we follow what we call a moderate positivist approach.
In relation to my methodical work, I taught, and will continue to teach, many courses on process tracing methods throughout Europe. When I am able to combine it with my regular teaching obligations at Leiden University, I am generally happy to offer workshops or short courses on PT at other institutes.
Hilde van Meegdenburg 