From an international political sociologist lens, Koen's award-winning research is broadly focused on the ways in which boundaries, inclusion and exclusion are maintained in society and within international relations.
He has done extensive research on the promotion of and resistance to LGBT equality in international politics.
More specifically, Koen has studied the EU accession of Serbia and how this process affects LGBT politics and activism.
His current research focuses on the place of Pride events within the LGBTI movement, as well as theorise a new politics to rebuild connections in society.
Koen's book, Coming in: Sexual politics and EU accession in Serbia, won the 2025 EUSA Best Book Prize
He has published articles in, among others, International Political Sociology, East European Politics, Politics, Contemporary Southeastern Europe, Journal of Homosexuality, and Europe-Asia Studies.
Coming In: Sexual Politics and EU Accession in Serbia, Manchester University Press, 2023
EU Enlargement and Gay Politics, co-edited by Koen Slootmaeckers, Heleen Touquet and Peter Vermeersch, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016
