Meredith Loken is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam where she is a member of the Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance research group. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and she holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. She researches contemporary political violence, and is specifically interested the relationships between violent actors' gender dynamics and legitimacy, public engagement, and accountability for human rights violations.

Her book project, Gendering Rebel Legitimacy in Civil War, leverages original data on women's participation non-combat, combat, and leadership roles in over 300 rebel organizations; a novel database of militant-produced images; and analyses of conflict-related prosecutions and truth and reconciliation commission reports to explore how women's involvement in rebellion shapes perceptions of violence and conflict outcomes.

Her research is published in International Studies Quarterly, European Journal of International Security, Security Dialogue, Journal of Human Rights, and Security Studies, as well as in Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and other outlets.