COSMOS Talks

The COSMOS Talks are public discussions on cutting edge contentious politics research from across various theoretical, methodological and disciplinary traditions. They aim to provide feedback on preliminary results of current research projects, future research projects proposals and drafts of forthcoming papers, articles and book chapters. The COSMOS Talks also aim at improving synergies and networking among researchers from the COSMOS community as well as from other universities.

We ask presenters to send a paper (of no more than 30 pages) to the organizers, no later than a week before the scheduled talk. Each session lasts for two hours. Paper givers are given maximum 20 minutes to introduce their works. Preselected discussants are given about 10 minutes each to give constructive feedback. The floor will then be open to the public. All participants are asked to read the paper in advance.

Civil Society and Activism in the Middle East

Date: 29/09/2026

Place: Palazzo Vegni

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

This winter Cosmos Talks program

Date: 10/01/2026 - 30/05/2026

Place: Palazzo Vegni

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

Morality of Mobilization: the Case of White American Anti-Racism

Date: 05/11/2025

Place: Palazzo Vegni

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

The Weaponisation of Antisemitism: The Jewish Chronicle and the Production of a Moral Panic

Date: 09/10/2025 - 09/09/2025

Place: Palazzo Vegni

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

The Cosmos Talks program for the fall

Date: 18/09/2025 - 04/12/2025

Place: Palazzo Vegni

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

Movement Parties of the Far Right: Understanding Nativist Mobilization

Date: 10/04/2025

Place: Palazzo Vegni

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

In an era of traditional political party decline, Andrea Pirro and Pietro Castelli Gattinara will present their work on what they describe as a new phase of nativist mobilization, in which street politics plays an increasingly important role

This Fall’s “Cosmos Talks”

Date: 01/11/2024 - 31/12/2024

Place: Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

November and December program

Russian Military Culture, Civil-Military Relations, and Defense Reform in Putin’s Period: Searching for an Equilibrium, Kirill Shamiev, Central European University

Date: 16/12/2022

Place: 15:00-16:30, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

Reframing Immigrant Resistance in Italy and Morocco: Studying social movements through an intersectional and decolonial perspective, Teresa Cappiali, Lund University

Date: 07/12/2022

Place: 11:30-13:00, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

The long fight for Iranian women’s self-determination: a generational and sociological perspective, Rassa Ghaffari, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca

Date: 23/11/2022

Place: 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

Gramsci, Leaderfulness, and Black Lives Matter, Eugene Nulman, Birmingham City University

Date: 09/11/2022

Place: 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

Turning Centripetal Politics on its Head: How Italian Polarization in the 1950s and 1960s Helps to Understand America’s Crisis Today, Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University

Date: 25/10/2022

Place: 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

Conspiracist and far-right mobilization in Saxony: Insights from Telegram groups and channels, Johannes Kiess, Universität Siegen e Universität Leipzig

Date: 12/10/2022

Place: 11:30-13:00, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

The Legacy of Lynching as State-Sanctioned Racial Terror, Gianluca De Fazio, James Madison University

Date: 05/10/2022

Place: 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract:

Contested Legitimacies: Repression and Revolt in Post-Revolutionary Egypt, Janis Grimm, Freie Universität Berlin

Date: 21/06/2022

Place: 14:00-15:30, Faculty of Political and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi (5th Floor), Piazza degli Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Talk

Abstract: