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About Donatella della Porta

Donatella Della Porta is professor of political science and dean of the Institute for Humanities at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, where she also leads the Center on Social Movement Studies (Cosmos). In 2011, she was the recipient of the Mattei Dogan Prize for distinguished achievements in the field of political sociology. She is Honorary Doctor of the universities of Lausanne, Bucharest and Goteborg.

Articles by Donatella della Porta

This week’s front page editor

Rosemary Bechler is a mainsite editor of openDemocracy

European integration

Six countries. Six different paths to EU integration.

No to TTIP

The secretive EU-US trade deal explained

Entrevista a Donatella della Porta: la creciente criminalización de la protesta

Donatella della Porta 5 December 2017

¿Cómo y dónde es la criminalización de la protesta una tendencia creciente? ¿Quiénes son los actores en juego? ¿Y cuáles son las señales que deberíamos estar buscando? English

Interview with Donatella della Porta: the growing criminalisation of protest

Donatella della Porta 4 December 2017

How and where is criminalisation of protest a growing trend? Who are the actors at play? And what are the dangers signs we should be looking out for?

"The streets will always be ours" - Catalonia, a referendum from below

Donatella della Porta, Francis O'Connor, Martin Portos, and Anna Subirats Ribas 5 October 2017

Although some still conceive of the referendum as launched by a pro-independence vanguard, the elite story falls short of explaining the resilient participation of a large part of Catalan civil society.

Neoliberalismo tardío y sus enemigos

Donatella della Porta 27 October 2015

Los movimientos sociales se enfrentan a 3 retos: el reto simbólico de construir algo nuevo; el reto material de movilizar recursos limitados; y el reto estratégico de influenciar un sistema político muy cerrado. English.

Late neoliberalism and its discontents

Donatella della Porta 26 October 2015

Social movements face 3 challenges: the symbolic challenge of constructing a new subject; the material challenge of mobilizing limited resources; and the strategic challenge of influencing a very closed political system. Español.

A 12 step guide to the EU’s crisis of political responsibility

Donatella della Porta 8 July 2015

Why are European institutions incapable of implementing values that honour fraternity, solidarity, and a dignified life?

Still a chance for another Europe?

Donatella della Porta 20 March 2015

On the output side of Europe’s political system, we have an abdication of responsibility by representative institutions in the face of citizens’ demands. But the Greek elections mark a turning point.

Same old stories? Trade unions and protest in Italy in 2011

Donatella della Porta, Lorenzo Mosca, and Louisa Parks 11 October 2012

The demand for politics over markets, a key message in the Occupy and Indignados movements, is also key here. A considerable drop in trust is clear: trust in all national institutions and political actors (parliament, parties, and trade unions).

The road to Europe: movements and democracy

Donatella della Porta 24 August 2011

Europe’s crisis is a crisis of democracy. The ‘democracy of the experts’ cannot deliver: representative democracy is incapable of channelling demands in the political system. More participatory and deliberative democracy is needed, as argued in Europe’s public spaces by the movements of ‘ indignados’.