Emanuela Lombardo

Emanuela Lombardo is Professor of Political Science. Her main research lines are gender equality policies, democracy and feminist politics, intersectionality, anti-gender politics and feminist response, in the context of the European Union and Southern Europe. After her PhD at the University of Reading (UK), she conducted research and teaching at the universities of Radboud (Netherlands), Zaragoza and Complutense de Madrid (Spain). In the latter, she enjoyed the positions of Ramón y Cajal researcher and associate and full professor, and was founder and director of the research group GEYPO on Gender and Politics, evaluated as “excellent” by Spain’s Ministry of Research. In the area of gender equality policies she has developed research in European projects such as the Horizon Europe CCINDLE on democracy and feminism, QUING (Quality in Gender Equality Policies), TARGET (Transnational Gender Equity Training) and MAGEEQ (Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Europe). The Spanish Ministry of Research has awarded her the recognition of an “outstanding research trajectory” in relation to the quality of publications and scientific activities. She was visiting professor at the universities of Madison-Wisconsin, Helsinki, Antwerp, Tampere and Aalborg, as well as at the Scuola Normale Superiore and the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. She was coordinator of the evaluation of research projects on gender in the panel of social science of Spain’s National Research Agency.

Recent publications

1. Abels, G., J. Kantola, E. Lombardo & H. Müller eds (2025) The European Commission under President Ursula von der Leyen. Gender, Leadership, Policies, and Crises. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Lombardo, E., P. Caravantes & S. Díaz Fernández (2025) ‘Stop torpedoing women's rights!’: Feminist institutional responses to anti-gender politics in Spain and Catalonia parliaments. European Journal of Political Research 64: 1693–1717.
3. Lombardo, E. (2024) Anti-gender regimes, feminist politics and the challenge of societal democratization. Mobilization: An International Quarterly 29(4): 469–486.
4. Caravantes, P. & E. Lombardo (2024) Feminist democratic innovations in policy and politics. Policy & Politics 52(2): 177–199.
5. Alonso, A., R. Ciccia & E. Lombardo (2023) A Southern European model? Gender regime change in Italy and Spain. Women's Studies International Forum 98(102737).

Relevant projects

1. CCindle Co-Creating Inclusive Intersectional Democratic Spaces across Europe. 2022–2026. Funding: European Commission. Horizon Europe Framework Programme HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01 G. A. 101061256. Co-leader of WP4 and PI of UCM team. Total: 3.325.433.00€ (UCM: 236.750€)
2. De-democratisation, Gender+ and the Politics of Exclusion in the European Union. 2019-2022. Funding: European Commission Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Grant. Ref: 611103-EPP-1-2019-1-ES-EPPJMO- PROJECT. Role: PI with Ruth Rubio. Total: 54,540.00€
3. TARGET Transnational Applied Research in Gender Equity Training. 2007-2009. Funding: European Commission. EU-US Atlantis Program. Ref: POM 2007-2068/003-001 Role: PI. Total: 49.925,45€
4. Gender Equality Policies in the European Union. 2006-2011. Funding: Spain’s Ministry of Education. Ref: RYC-2006-002278. Role: PI as Ramón y Cajal Postdoctoral Researcher. Total: 255.000€
5. QUING Quality in Gender+ Equality Policies. 2006-2011. Funding: European Commission. Sixth Framework Program. Ref: 028545-2 Role: Senior researcher. Total: 4.000.000€ (UCM 451.758,00 €)

Research and PhD supervision interests 

Gender equality policies; democracy and feminist politics; gender and politics; intersectionality; anti-gender politics and feminist response; critical frame analysis; feminist institutionalism; European Union and Southern Europe.