Annelies van der Meij is a PhD candidate at the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies (ASH). Her project “Feminism and psychiatry in the Netherlands: tensions and alliances (1960-2000)” is funded by NWO (PhDs in the Humanities) and supervised by Prof. Dr. Manon Parry and Prof. Dr. Geertje Mak. 

The research looks at varying feminist perspectives on psychiatry. In the 1970s and 1980s, feminists were decidedly ‘anti-psy’ and, for example, famously criticized women’s use of Valium and sexist assumptions in psychoanalysis. But at other times, feminists have embraced and instrumentalized psychiatric diagnoses, for example when they advocated for the recognition of sexual violence as a cause of PTSS. The project traces those diverging strategies vis-à-vis psychiatry amongst feminists in the Netherlands and connects them to fundamental debates around what feminism is, who it is for, and what its goals should be.

Annelies has a background in Gender Studies and Philosophy, and has previously worked in publishing.

"Vrouwen trekken naar de psychiater voor een diagnose. Emancipatie of patriarchaal?". In De Groene Amsterdammer. 20 maart 2025. 

"Zo geboren?" In De Groene Amsterdammer. 3 augustus 2024.  

"Vroeger waren feministen nog anti-psy: wat kunnen we daarvan leren?" In Jacobin NL. 28 juli 2024.