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The Centre on Social Movement Studies

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Others

Tackling Eurosceptic/Illiberal Narratives from Below

Date: 01/04/2022

Place: Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo della Carovana, Pisa

Category: Other

Abstract:

 

Discourse Theory in Populism Research: Method, Theory, Concepts, Yannis Stavrakakis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Date: 16/10/2019

Place: 13-15, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Palazzo Strozzi (5th floor), Piazza Strozzi, Florence.

Category: Other

Abstract:

 

Europe’s vote. A discussion on the results and consequences of the European elections

Date: 06/06/2019

Place: 1pm - Aula Filippo Strozzi, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: Other

Abstract:

 

Perspectives and Practices on Participatory Action Research in Social Movements

Date: 12/04/2019

Place: 2:30pm - Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: Other

Abstract:

An open session based on the World Cafè discussion methodology to share different experiences and understandings of Participatory Action Research in social movements settings.

 

Workshop on Participatory Action Research and Social Movements

Date: 11/04/2019 - 12/04/2019

Place: Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: Other

Abstract:

A two day workshop on participatory action research to investigate social movements and grassroots political participation.

 

Digital media (and beyond) in the daily life of politics – Final workshop of the PiCME research project

Date: 21/03/2019 - 22/03/2019

Place: Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: Other

Abstract:

A discussion on the cross-country comparative analysis of how activists engage with media at large during their daily political work in Greece, Italy and Spain.

 

The Cultural Side of Populism. Politics, Emotions, Subcultures and Music in populist times

Date: 04/03/2019

Place: 10am - Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze

Category: Other

Abstract:

This workshop contributes to the debate about cultural aspects and emotions in the study of politics and populism in particular, by addressing the topic from an interdisciplinary perspective (political science and political sociology, together with cultural and media studies and musicology) and from a standpoint of methodological pluralism.

 

The Persistence of Global Masculinism – Lucy Nicholas, Swinburne University, Australia

Date: 14/11/2018

Place: Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: Other

Abstract:

A seminar co-hosted by the Florence Intersectionality and Gender (FIG) Working Group at the Scuola Normale Superiore and the LGBTQI+ Caucus at the European University Institute – 14th of November from 2pm to 4pm in Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

 

The Direct Parliament: The Impact of Digital Democracy on Political Representation

Date: 08/06/2018

Place: Department of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, , Room Altana, h. 9.30am-7pm

Category: Other

Abstract:

The Direct Parliament is the closing conference of the research project “Scalable Democracy”, which is coordinated by Dr. Marco Deseriis as part of a Marie Curie research grant funded by the European Commission. It will bring together scholars, software developers, and party activists from Spain, Germany, New Zealand, United States, and Italy to discuss a range of critical questions

 

Colin Crouch – “Can we solve the problem of precarious work?”

Date: 28/05/2018

Place: Department of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore – Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Room Simone del Pollaiolo, h. 1pm-3pm

Category: Other

Abstract:

​Colin Crouch ​ will give a Lunch seminar on Monday 28 May h.13-15, Sala del Pollaiolo, on ​”Can we solve the problem of precarious work?”

 

Workshop on Aesthetics of Protest. The intersections between art, protest, politics and social media

Date: 06/12/2017

Place: Palazzo Strozzi, Scuola Normale Superiore, Room Filippo Strozzi - 9:30am/4:30pm

Category: Other

Abstract:

The workshop Aesthetics of Protest will take place from 9:30am to 4:30pm on December the 6th. Participants will discuss how visual culture, aesthetics and communication interplay with protest today.

 

Andrea Pirro – “The populist politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis”

Date: 07/06/2017

Place: Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore - Palazzo Strozzi, Florence - Room Filippo Strozzi

Category: Other

Abstract:

On June 7 – h. 13:00 – 14:30, Andrea Pirro (Scuola Normale Superiore), will discuss his research by presenting a paper entitled: “The populist politics of Euroscepticism in times of crisis”

 

Conference – Un’America “all’italiana”? La democrazia populista nell’età di Trump

Date: 04/05/2017

Place: Aula Kessler, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento (via Verdi, 26)

Category: Other

Abstract:

The public conference “Un’America ‘all’italiana’? La democrazia populista nell’età di Trump” will host Prof. Sidney Tarrow (Cornell University), one of the most prominent scholars in the field of colective action, social movements, and contentious politics studies.

 

The 2017 “Mauro Rostagno Lectures in Contentious Politics”, Prof. Sidney Tarrow

Date: 26/04/2017 - 03/05/2017

Place: Department of Sociology and Social Research, Univertsity of Trento, Via Verdi 26

Category: Other

Abstract:

From April 26th to May 5th, 2017, Prof. Sidney Tarrow will hold a series of seminars at the Deaprtment of Sociology and Social Research fo the University of Trento

 

Protest Media Ecologies: Communicative Affordances for Social Change in the Digital Era

Date: 20/04/2017 - 21/02/2017

Place: Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore - Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze - Room Filippo Strozzi

Category: Other

Abstract:

From the 20th to the 21st of April, at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences in the Room Filippo Strozzi: a two day workshop on activists media practices in protest media ecologies from anti-austerity movements in Southern Europe to global perspectives on movements and digital technologies.

 

News

16/05/2023

CFP: Analyzing protest in the digital age. Challenges and opportunities in combining text and video sources

Organizers Donatella della Porta, Scuola Normale Superiore Swen Hutter, Freie Universität Berlin & WZB Berlin Social Science Center Place and date WZB Berlin Social Science Center, December 7-8, 2023

22/02/2023

15 fully funded PhD positions

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The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, Italy is pleased to announce 15 PhD fellowships beginning on November 1, 2023. The deadline for applications is April 13, 2023.

16/02/2023

Applications now open! Fourth Edition of the ECPR-COSMOS Summer School on Methods for the Study of Political Participation and Mobilisation

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Applicants must send their application materials no later than March the 17th 2023.

10/01/2022

SNS announces 14 fully-funded PhD positions

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The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, Italy is pleased to announce 14 PhD fellowships beginning on November 1, 2022.

16/07/2021

Prof. della Porta to lead VolkswagenStiftung-funded ECSEuro project

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Reflecting the European challenge of transnational cooperation and multiple crises, this project asks how local political initiatives across Europe enact citizenship and solidarity and contribute to the vision of a more democratic Europe from below.

09/07/2021

SNS announces 7 fully-funded PhD positions

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The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore announces 7 fully-funded PhD positions. Deadline for applications: 21 August 2021.

Publications

Journal Article - 2023

Resisting right-wing populism in power: a comparative analysis of the Facebook activities of social movements in Italy and the UK

Niccolò Pennucci
This paper aims to present a comparative study of the civil society reaction to right-wing populism in power through social media, by looking at cases in Italy and the United Kingdom.

Journal Article - 2023

Emotions in Action: the Role of Emotions in Refugee Solidarity Activism

Chiara Milan
This article investigates the different types of emotions that result from participation in refugee solidarity activism, investigating how they change over time and to what extent they explain why individuals remain involved in action in spite of unfavorable circumstances.

Journal Article - 2023

‘Love is over, this is going to be Turkey!’: cathartic resonance between the June 2013 protests in Turkey and Brazil

Batuhan Eren
This study addresses the question of why and how a protest can inspire individuals in distant countries. Taking the June 2013 protests in Turkey and Brazil as cases, it investigates the reasons why the Turkish protests were framed as one of the inspirational benchmarks by some Brazilian protesters.

Journal Article - 2023

Mutual aid and solidarity politics in times of emergency: direct social action and temporality in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lorenzo Zamponi
From the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures introduced created a series of social problems and needs that were partially addressed in Italy as well as in other countries by grassroots mutual aid initiatives. While many of these initiatives were strongly rooted in the Italian social movement and civil society landscape and the choice to engage in mutual aid activities was the result of long years of reflection and planning, the article shows how strongly the temporality of emergency affected the nature of these initiatives, their development and their outcomes, in particular with regard to the extraordinary number of people who volunteered and their relationship with politicisation processes.

Monograph - 2023

Populism and (Pop) Music

Manuela Caiani, Enrico Padoan
The book provides a detailed account of the links between production of popular culture to the rise of populism and contributes to studies on populism and popular culture in Italy, using a comparative approach and a cultural sociology perspective

Monograph - 2022

Labour conflicts in the digital age

Donatella della Porta, Riccardo Emilio Chesta, Lorenzo Cini
From Deliveroo to Amazon, digital platforms have drastically transformed the way we work. But how are these transformations being received and challenged by workers? This book provides a radical interpretation of the changing nature of worker movements in the digital age, developing an invaluable approach that combines social movement studies and industrial relations. Using case studies taken from Europe and North America, it offers a comparative perspective on the mobilizing trajectories of different platform workers and their distinct organizational forms and action repertoires.

Monograph - 2022

Resisting the Backlash: Street Protest in Italy

Donatella della Porta, Niccolò Bertuzzi, Daniela Chironi, Chiara Milan, Martín Portos & Lorenzo Zamponi
Drawing interview material, together with extensive data from the authors’ original social movement database, this book examines the development of social movements in resistance to perceived political "regression" and a growing right-wing backlash.

Journal Article - 2021

Learning from Democratic Practices: New Perspectives in Institutional Design

Andrea Felicetti
Drawing from literature on democratic practices in social movements and democratic innovations, the article illustrates three ways to advance institutional design in the wake of the systemic turn.

Monograph - 2021

Migrant Protest. Interactive Dynamics in Precarious Mobilizations

Elias Steinhilper
This book explores the interactions and spaces shaping the emergence, trajectory, and fragmentation of migrant protest in unfavorable contexts of marginalization.

Journal Article - 2021

Populism between voting and non-electoral participation

Andrea Pirro & Martín Portos
The article focuses on a neglected aspect of populist mobilisation, i.e. non-electoral participation (NEP), and elaborates on the extent to which populist party voters engage politically outside the polling station. While challenging common understandings of populism as inherently distrustful and apathetic, and protest as an exclusive practice of the left, the study critically places NEP at the heart of populism in general, and populist right politics in particular.