The Open Society Fellowship supports public intellectuals from seven global cities that are home to a dynamic circle of thinkers and cultural producers engaged in high-level critical debate.
The Open Society Fellowship supports public intellectuals from seven cities across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
The fellows are drawn from cities that are home to a dynamic circle of thinkers and cultural producers engaged in high-level critical debate. The cities are Beirut, Buenos Aires, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Jakarta, Lagos, and Taipei.
Selected by a distinguished panel of external reviewers, the fellows’ projects exemplify heterodox thinking and openness to new approaches and vigorous debate. The fellows are helping to shape global conversations on the most pressing issues of our time—from human rights and social justice to climate change and inequality.
The Fellowship reflects the Open Society Foundations’ dedication to a vision of restless critical thought and alternative viewpoints that advance open society.
Read about the 2025-2026 fellows here.
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Andrew Feinstein
2010Andrew Feinstein is the author of ‘The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade,’ a major history of the international weapons trade after the Cold War. -
Arun Kundnani
2010Arun Kundnani is a British writer and human rights activist who examined the shortcomings of the “hearts-and-minds” approach to militancy among Muslims in the United States and the United Kingdom. -
Hisham Aidi
2010Hisham Aidi, a political scientist, will look at how governments in Europe and North America use culture to “integrate” their Muslim communities. -
Howard French
2010Former ‘New York Times’ correspondent Howard French wrote an in-depth, journalistic account of Chinese migration to Africa in the past decade. -
Ike Okonta
2010Ike Okonta, a political analyst and writer, will study the failure of democratic and civic institutions in Nigeria almost four decades after the end of the bloody civil war in Biafra. -
James Stewart
2010Open Society Fellow James Stewart is writing a manual setting out the legal basis for prosecuting arms vendors for complicity in international crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. -
Jian Yi
2010As an Open Society Fellow, Chinese filmmaker Jian Yi founded the IFChina Original Studio, an innovative community art center in Ji’an, Jiangxi, China. -
Ken Silverstein
2010Journalist Ken Silverstein will look at bribery and graft in international energy markets. -
Kung Li
2010As an Open Society Fellow, litigator and human rights activist Kung Li traveled across the American South to record stories of resiliency from embattled communities. -
Marcy Westerling
2010Open Society Fellow Marcy Westerling was a community organizer who mapped progressive infrastucture in rural areas. -
Noy Thrupkaew
2010An an Open Society Fellow, Noy Thrupkaew investigated the largest human trafficking cases in the United States, which involve hundreds of Thai farmers and Indian metalworkers. -
Rabab el-Mahdi
2010As an Open Society Fellow, political scientist Rabab el-Mahdi studied the prospects for democratization and social change in the Arab world.