Kadri Aavik

Kadri Aavik (born 10 April 1980) is an Estonian sociologist and gender studies scholar. She is an Associate Professor of Gender Studies and Head of the Sociology MA programme at Tallinn University. Her research spans sociology of gender, critical studies of men and masculinities, and critical animal and vegan studies.

Education Aavik holds an MA in Gender Studies from the Central European University and a PhD in Sociology from Tallinn University (2015).

Academic career and research Aavik works in the School of Governance, Law and Society at Tallinn University and is affiliated with the university’s Gender Studies Research Group.

From 2018 to 2022, she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Helsinki as part of the project Climate Sustainability in the Kitchen, hosted by the Gender Studies unit.

Her scholarship includes research on labour-market inequality and the gender pay gap, gender equality mechanisms in academia, and men, masculinities, and veganism, including work that has been discussed in Estonian media and international-facing outlets.

Editorial work Aavik is a co-editor of the Estonian gender studies journal Ariadne Lõng. She also serves on the editorial board of the journal Men and Masculinities.

Veganism and activism Aavik has participated in Estonia’s animal-rights and vegan movement, including speaking roles connected to animal-rights events and work with civil society organisations. She has also been described as a member of Estonian NGOs including the Estonian Vegan Society and Loomus, and as the author of the vegan blog Veganmaailm.

Selected publications Vegan. Hooliv ja maitsev elu (with Anniina Ljokkoi and Minna Toots). Tammerraamat, 2015. Men, Masculinities and the Modern Career: Contemporary and Historical Perspectives (co-editor). De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2020. Contesting Anthropocentric Masculinities Through Veganism: Lived Experiences of Vegan Men. Palgrave Macmillan, 2023. Routledge Handbook on Men, Masculinities and Organizations: Theories, Practices and Futures of Organizing (co-editor). Routledge, 2023. Feminist Animal and Multispecies Studies: Critical Perspectives on Food and Eating (co-editor). Brill, 2023.