Manuela Caiani

Manuela Caiani is Associate Professor in Political Science at the Scuola Normale Superiore, affiliated scholar at the Cosmos Center for Social Movement Studies (SNS) and associated faculty at the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) in Vienna. She received her national Italian Abilitazione for full professorship in Political Science; and in Political Sociology, in 2017. Her research focuses on Social Movements and Europeanization; Far Right Politics; Extremism online; Right Wing and Left Wing Populism; Movement-parties; Qualitative methods of social research. Since 2019 she is Convenor of the Standing Group ‘Political Participation and Social Movements’ of the Italian Association for Political Science (SISP) and since 2021 Co-director of the International Observatory on Social Cohesion and Inclusion-OCIS, https://osservatoriocoesionesociale.eu/. She has directed and collaborated in various international projects (Horizon 2021; Volskwagen Stiftung; Europe for Citizens Program; FP4, FP5, FP7; PRIN; Marie Curie; Research Grant Jubilaumsfonds, ONB; Doctoral TRA Fellowship, START Center, 2009, University of Maryland). She published in, among others, the following journals: Social Movement Studies, EJPR, Mobilization, Acta Politica, West European Politics, Government and Opposition; European Union Politics, South European Society and Politics, RISP and for the following publishers: Oxford University press, Ashgate, Palgrave, Routledge.

Among the most recent publications:

• Caiani, M. (2023). Framing and social movements. Discourse Studies, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14614456231154734
• Manuela Caiani and Enrico Padoan (2023), Populism and (Pop) Music, Palgrave
• Manuela Caiani and Manès Weisskircher (2022), ‘Anti-Nationalist Europeans and Pro-European Nativists on the Streets: Visions of Europe from the Left to the Far Right’, Social Movement Studies
• Manuela Caiani, Benedetta Carlotti & Enrico Padoan (2021) ‘Online Hate Speech and the Radical Right in Times of Pandemic’, Javnost - The Public, 28:2, 202-218.
• Manuela Caiani & Paolo Graziano (2019) ‘Understanding varieties of populism in times of crises’, West European Politics, 42:6, 1141-1158, (Published also as edited book  for Routledge 2021)
• Manuela Caiani and O. Cisar (2018), Radical Right Movement-parties in Europe, Routledge.
• Manuela Caiani and L. Parenti, (2013) European and American Extreme Right Groups and the Internet, Ashgate.
• Manuela Caiani, D. della Porta and C. Wagemann (2012), Mobilizing on the Extreme Right, Oxford University Press.

Funded Projects:

• 2022-2025 AUTHLIB ‘Neo –Authoritarianisms in Europe and the liberal democratic response’,   Horizon 2021 (HORIZON-CL2-2021-DEMOCRACY-01-01), Principal investigator.
• 2022-2024 ‘Democratic Challenges, Social sustainability and Gender inequalities’, Programma congiunto PRO3 (DM n. 289/2021), Principal investigator/project coordinator.
• 2021-2022 ‘Tackling illiberal narratives and Euroscepticism from below’, Europe for Citizens Program (number: 625696-CITIZ-1-2020-1-MK-CITIZ-CIV), Principal investigator.
• 2019-2021 ‘Populism and Popular Music in Europe’, Volkswagen Stiftung (n. No A126160), PI.
• 2018-2020 ‘The consequences of Populism in Power’, SNS Research Grant, Project Coordinator
• 2016-2019, PRIN (Italian Research Ministry Funds) Project on “Politics e Policy in Europa in tempo di crisi: Cause e Conseguenze”, PI.
• 2016 - 2018 SNS Research Grant, SNS, “Right-Wing Political Radicalization Using the Internet in Eastern and Central Europe”, PI.
• 8. 2010 - 2012 Research Grant Jubilaumsfonds, Oesterreichische National Bank,  “The Dark Side of the Web European and American Extreme Right Groups and online Politics” (n. 14035), Project Coordinator, IHS, Wien.

Research interest and Phd Supervision:

Prof. Caiani is open to supervising students in areas related to:

• Social Movements and European mobilizations, identities, networks
• Right Wing and Left Wing Populism
• Far Right Politics (movements and parties)
• Extremism online
• Movement-parties
• Social Movements in the East/Balkans
• Qualitative Methods of social research (focus groups, visual and frame analysis, qualitative interviews, social network analysis, protest event analysis, etc.).

Current (phd) Supervisees:

• Saridakis Nikolaos (Radical right protest and Corona)
• Alexsandr Shishov (European Identities of the radical right)
• Nathasha Aidoo (Urban Feminism)
• Beatrice Carella (Left wing populism in power)
• Nicolò Pennucci (Anti populist social movements)
• Ivan Tranfic (Anti-gender social movements)
• Aida Kapetanovic (Collective identity in divided societies)
• Bathuan Erren (Diffusion of mobilization)
• Damla.Keskekci (The transnationalization of radical right social movements)
• Bucci Gianmarco (Movement-parties)
• Deniz Aktan (Sport and political participation)