Manu Claeys is an essayist, op-ed writer and campaigner for citizen’s rights. He studied English and American literature at the universities of Louvain and Minnesota, was editor of the publishing house Kritak (‘critical action’) and is currently chairman of the citizens’ collective stRaten-generaal. In 2010 the collective received the Prize for Democracy. He lives in Antwerp, with his wife writer Anne Provoost and their three children.