Elias Steinhilper is a political sociologist and migration scholar currently based in Florence. He studied Political Science and Sociology in Berlin (FU Berlin), Colchester (University of Essex) and Freiburg. In May 2018 he obtained a PhD in Political Science and Sociology at Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence for a thesis on political protest by marginalized migrants, supervised by Prof. Donatella della Porta. He has hold visiting researcher positions at HU Berlin, UC Berkeley and SciencePo Paris. His academic interest is located at the intersection of political sociology, migration & border studies, contentious politics, and urban studies. His research has been published or is forthcoming in Sociology, Social Inclusion, Social Movement Studies and in various book chapters. Beyond academia, Elias has interned as a Human Rights observer in Chiapas, with the United Nations (OHCHR), worked as a (radio) journalist, and has been involved in various migrant solidarity and urban garden initiatives.

Research interests: Contentious politics, migration studies, and political sociology