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Cosmos

The Centre on Social Movement Studies

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COSMOS Share

Through the COSMOS Share, members of the COSMOS community can share their research and help each other through constructive feedback. The format is simple: one hour of informal, rigorous academic discussion, two times a month. About  ten days before the meeting COSMOS Share presenters should send to Andrea Pirro and Lorenzo Cini (the COSMOS Share organizers) a draft of the document they will discuss, so that he can share it with those interested in reading it and attending the session.

The making of a common woman figure: Convergence and struggle of visual practices around Gezi’s icon – M. Ragip Zik, Free University Berlin

Date: 03/04/2019

Place: 5pm - Aula Filippo Strozzi, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

5pm – Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

 

What Do Social Movements Do inside Parliament? – Federico Rossi, Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET)

Date: 07/02/2019

Place: 5pm - Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

5pm – Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

 

Anti-Neoliberal Populisms in Comparative Perspective: A Framework for Analysis – Enrico Padoan, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Date: 16/01/2019

Place: 5pm - Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

5pm – Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi, Firenze

 

Populism and Popular Music – Manuela Caiani, Scuola Normale Superiore

Date: 12/12/2018

Place: 5pm - Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Palazzo Strozzi, Scuola Normale Superiore

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

Manuela Caiani will illustrate a project that investigates populist messages in popular music in Europe. The COSMOS Share talk will take place from 5pm to 6pm on the 12th of December

 

The figure of social media in contemporary protest – Olu Jenzen, University of Brighton

Date: 07/11/2018

Place: 5pm - Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

A talk on the Gezi park protest of 2013 as a case study to elucidate how social media, and more specifically Twitter, has emerged as a signifier of contemporary protest.

 

Eduardo Georjão Fernandes – Controlling dissent: new surveillance technologies and the policing of social movements in Brazil

Date: 03/10/2018

Place: 5pm Aula Simone del Pollaiolo, Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

At 5pm, Eduardo Georjão Fernandes will speak about his research on how police forces employ new surveillance technologies to control grassroots dissent in Brazil

 

Ulises Vera – “Affections, emotions and protest communication post #YoSoy132 movement”

Date: 25/10/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On October 25th 2017 at 5 p.m. Ulises Vera (Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City) will discuss a paper entitled “Affections, emotions and protest communication post #YoSoy132 movement”

 

Paris Aslanidis – “Populism and Social Movements: Problematizing the Role of Populist Discourse in the Movements of the Squares”

Date: 08/06/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On June 8th 2017 at 5 p.m. Paris Aslanidis (Yale University) will discuss a paper entitled “Populism and Social Movements: Problematizing the Role of Populist Discourse in the Movements of the Squares”

 

Jan Matti Dollbaum – “Life after the end of a protest cycle: comparing local development paths of protest in electoral authoritarianism. The case of Russia 2011-2016”

Date: 18/05/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On May 18th 2017 at 6 p.m., Jan Matti Dollbaum (University of Bremen) will discuss a paper entitled “Life after the end of a protest cycle: comparing local development paths of protest in electoral authoritarianism. The case of Russia 2011-2016”

 

Kersti Wissenbach – “Theory construction around civic tech”

Date: 18/05/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On May 18th 2017, at 5 p.m., Kersti Wissenbach (University of Amsterdam) will present a paper entitled “Theory construction around civic tech”

 

Jochen Kleres – “Emotions and Climate Activism”

Date: 11/05/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On May 11th 2017, at 3 p.m., Jochen Kleres (Scuola Normale Superiore) will present a paper entitled “Emotions and Climate Activism”

 

Marco Deseriis – “Direct Parliamentarianism: An Analysis of the Political Values Embedded in Rousseau, the ‘Operating System’ of the Five Star Movement”

Date: 11/05/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On May 11th 2017, at 2 p.m., Marco Deseriis (Scuola Normale Superiore/Northeastern University) will present a paper entitled “Direct Parliamentarianism: An Analysis of the Political Values Embedded in Rousseau, the ‘Operating System’ of the Five Star Movement”

 

Julia Rone – “ ‘Don’t Worry: We are from the Internet’: Mobilizing against ACTA and TTIP in the Age of Austerity”

Date: 06/04/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On April 6th, from 5 to 6 p.m., Julia Rone (European University Institute), will discuss her work entitled: “Don’t Worry: We are from the Internet”: Mobilizing against ACTA and TTIP in the Age of Austerity

 

Andrea Felicetti – “ ‘Convergence des luttes’ and deliberation in the Nuit debout movement”

Date: 23/03/2017

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

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On March 23rd 2017, from 5 to 6 p.m., Andrea Felicetti (Scuola Normale Superiore) will present a paper entitled “ ‘Convergence des luttes’ and deliberation in the Nuit debout movement”

 

Contentious politics by other means. New Environmentalism and the Politics of Expertise in Florence and Venice

Date: 09/03/2017

Place: Scuola Normale Superiore, Palazzo Strozzi, Istituto di Scienze Umane e Sociali, Aula Simone del Pollaiolo

Category: COSMOS Share

Abstract:

On Thursday, 9 March, Riccardo Emilio Chesta (EUI) will present his work on new environmentalism and the politics of expertise in Italy at 5pm in Room Simone del Pollaiolo.

 

News

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.

28/09/2020

Four post-doctoral research positions on the pandemic

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The Scuola Normale Superiore announces four post-doctoral positions to be activated as part of the research project “After the coronavirus pandemic: The effects of the health emergency on society and knowledge.” 

Publications

Journal Article - 2023

Reflective Inclusion: Learning from Activists What Taking a Deliberative Stance Means.

Andrea Felicetti, Markus Holdo
We propose to adopt a principle we call “reflective inclusion,” which allows us to engage abductively with new actions that might expand and deepen our understanding of what deliberation may look like.

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 - 2022

Populists in power and conspiracy theories

Andrea Pirro & Paul Taggart
Looking at three cases of populists in government – Orbán in Hungary, Trump in the United States, and Chávez in Venezuela – we examine the definition of conspiring elites (who), the circumstances under which conspiracy theories are propagated (when), and the ultimate purpose of conspiratorial framing (why).

Journal Article - 2022

The mobilization for spatial justice in divided societies. Urban commons, trust reconstruction and socialist memory in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Chiara Milan
The article contributes to the urban studies literature and the study of social movements in divided societies by disclosing the distinctive features and mobilizing potential that the notion of urban commons retains in a war-torn society with a socialist legacy.

Journal Article - 2022

(Water) Bottles and (Street) Barricades: The Politicisation of Lifestyle-Centred Action in Youth Climate Strike Participation

Lorenzo Zamponi, Anja Corinne Baukloh, Niccolò Bertuzzi, Daniela Chironi, Donatella della Porta, Martín Portos
This article explores the forms of action adopted by participants in two Fridays For Future (FFF) strikes, focusing on the repertoires of action of (young) climate justice protesters. Drawing on protest survey data, it shows demonstrated that young protesters do not participate less in claim-based action than older cohorts. Furthermore, a process of politicisation can be seen to be unfolding that leads to increased commitment in both lifestyle and political forms of participation – at least among active milieus.

Journal Article - 2022

Performing (during) the Coronavirus crisis: The Italian populist radical right between national opposition and subnational government

Andrea Pirro
The first year of COVID-19 confirmed the standing of the populist radical right in Italy. While sitting in opposition at the national level, Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy and Matteo Salvini's League shared common criticism of the Conte II government but experienced diverging trajectories in terms of popularity. These changes can be partly attributed to the different agency of their leaderships. Overall and collectively considered, the Italian populist radical right broke even during the first year of COVID-19, but the crisis exposed the first cracks in Salvini's leadership.

Journal Article - 2021

Far-right protest mobilisation in Europe: Grievances, opportunities and resources

Pietro Castelli Gattinara, Caterina Froio & Andrea Pirro
In this article, we bridge previous research on the far right and social movements to advance hypotheses on the drivers of far-right protest mobilisation based on grievances, opportunities and resource mobilisation models. We use an original dataset combining novel data on 4,845 far-right protest events in 11 East and West European countries (2008–2018), with existing measures accounting for the (political, economic and cultural) context of mobilisation.

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.

Edited Volume - 2021

Contentious Migrant Solidarity. Shrinking Spaces and Civil Society Contestation

Donatella della Porta & Elias Steinhilper
Building upon social movement and migration studies, this book maps the two sides of ‘contentious solidarity’: a shrinking civic space and its contestation by civil society.

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.