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Cosmos

The Centre on Social Movement Studies

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2021-07-09

SNS announces 7 fully-funded PhD positions

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

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Announcement

The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore is pleased to announce 7 fully-funded PhD positions.

Applications for our Doctoral Progamme in Political Science and sociology are now open.

Deadline for applications: 26 August 2021, h 23.59 (CET)

The PhD course in Political Science and Sociology of Scuola Normale Superiore is methodologically pluralist and multidisciplinary. Taught in English and truly international in student composition and faculty experience, it combines structured teaching with close, supportive supervision. The duration of the programme and its grant is four years. In the best European tradition, the programme brings together theoretical and empirical research, with attention to historical, institutional, and cultural specificities.

The main research areas are listed below. Prospective applicants are encouraged to consider the research interests specified by the Faculty in their personal web pages.

Democracy and social movements

This stream looks at social movements, civil society, participative democracy, political violence, new media from sociological and political science perspectives.

International political economy

This stream examines the transformations of capitalism, and in particular economic internationalization (globalization, Europeanisation, global industries, finance, migrations), changes in work and employment (digitalisation, industrial relations, new labour conflicts and inequalities) and the governance of these processes through policies, institutions and agency at multiple levels.

Comparative politics and society
This area focuses on the comparative understanding of political parties, interest groups, civil society and public opinion, with particular attention to new political actors and practices.

Despite its young age, the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences has already established an international reputation for academic excellence and world-class research. Besides the structured courses on methodological and substantive issues, the faculty offers a stimulating environment, with international conferences, specialist workshops, summer schools and guest lectures.

To apply for the Ph.D. courses at the Scuola Normale Superiore:

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Publications

Journal Article - 2026

Feminist strategies against the far right in Chile: the #EnContra campaign and the 2023 exit plebiscite
Rosario Freire Saray

Journal Article - 2026

Invisible Politics: Lessons from the Iraqi Tishreen on Unaffiliated Activist Trajectories and Long Revolutions in Divided Societies
Alice Franchini

Journal Article - 2026

Nationalism as sovereignty? Renegotiating state-citizen relations through counterhegemonic discourse in the Iraqi Tishreen revolution
Alice Franchini

Edited Volume - 2026

Conspiracism and Political Conflict
Manuela Caiani, Marco Solinas, Hans-Jorg Trenz

Journal Article - 2026

The Temporal Turn in Social Movement Studies: Political Readings of Temporality
Nerea Montejo-López

Journal Article - 2026

Beyond Euroscepticism: radical left and right ‘visions of Europe’ across party and protest arenas
Caiani, M., & Fenner, L. S.

Monograph - 2025

Free download for "Contentious Politics of Global Health Movements"
Donatella Della Porta, Stella Christou

Journal Article - 2025

Communication creates partial organization: A comparative analysis of the organizing practices of two climate action movements, Youth for Climate and Fridays for Future Italy
Marco Deseriis, Lorenzo Zamponi, Diego Ceccobelli
This article focuses on a neglected aspect of the climate action movement Fridays for Future, namely, the relationship between its mediated communication practices and its early organizational processes. Drawing from a strand of organizational communication that underscores the constitutive dimension of communication to organizing processes, we analyze the significance of mediatized leadership and networked communication for the foundation and early development of two national chapters of Fridays for Future: Youth for Climate (YFC) Belgium and Fridays for Future Italy (FFFI).

Journal Article - 2025

Power resources, territory and labour conflicts in the logistic sector
Donatella Della Porta, Marco Antonelli

Journal Article - 2025

Normalization through transnationalization? Far right international coordination and cooperation
Manuela Caiani
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Faculty of Political and Social Sciences Scuola Normale Superiore Palazzo Strozzi Piazza degli Strozzi 50123 Firenze Italy
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