Academic appointments and teaching
Since 2021 she is Full Professor of General Sociology at the Department of History and Cultures and Civilizations of the University of Bologna, where she teaches Consumer Culture; Sociology of Modernity and Body, Gender and Society at the MA level; Culture & Society at the BA level; and the module Sociology of Food Consumption for the Master’s program in History and Culture of Food.
From 2017 to 2020 she was Full Professor of General Sociology at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Milan, where she taught Consumer Culture and Sociology, as well as the PhD courses Visual Methods and Contemporary Sociological Theory.
In 2013 she obtained the national habilitation for Full Professor in the disciplinary fields of General Sociology; Sociology of Culture and Communication; and Economic Sociology.
From 2006 to 2016 she was Associate Professor in Sociology of Culture and Communication at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Milan, where she taught Sociology of Consumption; Sociology of Intercultural Relations; Sociology of Cultural Processes; Sociology of Communication; and Sociology and Psychology of Food. She also taught modules on Consumer Culture and on Gender Issues for the Phd Programme of the Department, and the module Inequality, Poverty and Consumption for the Walter Tobagi School of Journalism. She was co-responsible for the Department’s internationalisation of research.
From 2002 to 2005 she was “Rientro dei Cervelli” Associate Professor in Sociology of Culture and Communication at the University of Bologna, Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, where she taught Sociology of Communication; Sociology of Consumption and Fashion; and Sociology of Food.
From 1995 to 2005 she was Lecturer in Sociology at the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, University of East Anglia, Norwich (UK), where she taught Body and Society; Culture and Society; Qualitative Methods of Social Enquiry; Issues in Cultural Politics; Sociology and Philosophy; and Consumer Culture. She was co-director of the Master in Cultural Politics and Equal Opportunity and Women’s Officer of the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies.
Education and Qualifications
1996 – PhD in Social and Political Sciences, European University Institute, Florence.
1995 – Master Econ (with distinction) in Applied Social Research, University of Manchester, Manchester.
1991 – BA (cum laude) in Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna.
Editorial activity and academic service
Since 2024 she has been Series Co-Editor of the Consumption and Public Life series at Palgrave Macmillan.
Since 2022 she has been a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Consumption and Society.
Since 2020 she has been Co-Editor of the European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie.
Since 2004 she has been a founding member and sits on the Editorial Board of Studi Culturali, of which she was co-director from 2013 to 2015.
Since 2001 she has been part of Rassegna Italiana di Sociologia, initially as editorial staff and from 2007 as member of the Editorial Board, serving as Review Editor from 2007 to 2009 and as Editor-in-Chief from 2016 to 2018.
Since 2013 she has been a member of the Scientific Committee of Sociology at the publishing house Il Mulino and since 2016 a member of its Editorial Board.
Since 2012 she has been a member of the International Editorial Board of Revista de Extensão e Estudos Rurais (Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil) and of AboutGender. Since 2009 she has been a member of the Advisory Board of ZoneModa Journal, an interdisciplinary bilingual journal in Fashion Studies.
Previously, she served on the International Editorial Board of the International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food (2011–2018); on the International Editorial Board of the Journal of Sociology (Australian Sociological Association, 2009–2011); on the Editorial Board of Sociology (British Sociological Association, 2002–2004); and on the editorial team of Il Mulino (2004–2008).
Research projects and funding
From 2019 to 2023 she was a member of the Advisory Board of the ERC project “Digital Values. Construction of Values in the Digital Spheres”, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
From 2017 to 2020 she was Principal Investigator of the University of Milan unit within the PRIN project “Death, Dying and Disposal in Italy. Attitudes, Behaviours, Beliefs and Rituals in Italy”.
From 2015 to 2017 she led the PUR project “The Parallel Market of Commercial Home Hospitality”, Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan.
From 2013 to 2017 she was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the ERC project “Global Social Media Impact Study”, Department of Anthropology, UCL, London.
From 2012 to 2013 she directed the research project “Quality Circuits: the DegustiBo Case”, Istituto Cattaneo and Province of Bologna.
From 2009 to 2015 she was a member of the international research network “Global Denim”, organised by the Department of Anthropology, UCL London, and the Faculty of Humanities, University of Manchester.
From 2009 to 2012 she acted as consultant for SPREAD, European Social Platform Identifying Research and Policy Needs for Sustainable Lifestyles 2050, within the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union.
From 2008 to 2012 she directed the research project “Consumption and the Middle Classes”, funded by the Italian Council of Social Sciences (CSS).
From 2008 to 2010 she was a member of the International Research Board of the project “Ethical Consumption in the UK and Europe: New Developments and New Challenges for Policy, Practice and Research”, funded by the UK ESRC.
From 2007 to 2009 she was a member of the PRIN project “Borderline Economic Cultures: Family Networks and Second Generations between Consumption and Solidarity”, Local Unit, Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan.
From 2006 to 2007 she was Principal Investigator of the FIRST project “Gender, Bodies and Transsexuality”, Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan.
From 2005 to 2008 she was Principal Investigator of the Work Package “Consumers and Consumption” within the project “Post-Democracy and New Forms of Political Participation. Consumers and Citizens”, funded by the Austrian Ministry of Science within the Node Initiative.
From 2002 to 2005 she was Principal Investigator of the MIUR “Returning Scholars” project titled “Food Traditions, Trust Regimes and Risk Communication”.
From 2001 to 2004 she was Principal Investigator of the Italian unit of the European project “Trust in Food: a Comparative and Institutional Study”, funded under the Fifth EU Framework Programme (Quality of Life).
Research affiliations and academic memberships
Since 2025 she has been the Department Delegate of the Department of History, Cultures and Civilizations at the AlmaAI – Alma Mater Research Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, University of Bologna.
Since 2025 she has been a member of the Doctoral Program Board “Histories, Cultures and Politics of the Global” at the University of Bologna.
Since 2024 she has been a member of the Interuniversity Centre Dis-4Change: Studies on Climate and Environmental Discourse / Interuniversity Research Centre Dis-4Change.
Since 2023 she has been a member of the Centre for the History and Culture of Food (CeSCA), Department of History, Cultures and Civilizations, University of Bologna.
Since 2022 she has been a member of the Centre for Gender Studies and Education (CSGE), Department of Educational Sciences, University of Bologna.
From 2013 to 2021 she was a member of NETSHUFOOD, Network of Social and Human Sciences for Food, a LERU research and advisory network on Food Studies, University of Milan.
From 2011 to 2015 she was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Istituto Cattaneo.
From 2010 to 2014 she was a member of the Doctoral Program in Applied Sociology and Social Research Methodology, University of Milano-Bicocca, where she taught the module Gender Issues.
Since 2008 she has been a member of the Doctoral Program in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research (SoMeT), where she currently teaches Contemporary Sociological Theory.
From 2007 to 2021 she was a member of the Centre for Studies and Research on Women and Gender Differences (GENDERS), University of Milan.
From 2007 to 2015 she was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Council of Social Sciences.
Scientific evaluation activities
In 2024 she was a member of the Humanities Section Committee of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity.
In 2013 she was a member of the selection committee for the fourth edition of the DocuCity Film Festival: Documentary Film Review “Representing the City”, CTU, University of Milan.
From 2008 to 2013 she served as an expert evaluator of research proposals in sociology within the 6th EU Framework Programme and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Programme.
In 2008 she was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Cortona Colloquium “Gender and Citizenship: New and Old Dilemmas, Between Equality and Difference”, Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
Over the years she has served on numerous PhD examination committees at the University of Manchester, University College Cork, European University Institute (Florence), University of Geneva, University of Trento, Univesity of Turin, University of Milano-Bicocca, and University of Florence.
Academic and public engagement
In 2025 she co-organised the roundtable “Body and Consumption” for the mid-term conference of RN05 Consumption, European Sociological Association.
Since 2023 she has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Gramsci Foundation of Emilia-Romagna, Bologna.
From 2018 to 2019 she participated in several initiatives at the Casa della Cultura in Milan, including workshops on Capitalism, consumption and Sustainability and on Changing Gender Relations.
In 2016 she organised the session “Consumption and Leisure” for the conference marking the 90th anniversary of ISTAT, Rome.
In 2013 she co-organised two joint sessions (RN5 Sociology of Consumption and RN28 Society and Sport) on “The Commercialization of Sport and Fitness” for the European Sociological Association Conference, Turin.
From 1994 to 1997 she participated in the organisation of cultural activities at the Gramsci Institute of Tuscany, Florence.
She has also organised numerous academic and public seminars at the European University Institute, University of East Anglia, University of Bologna, Istituto Cattaneo, and University of Milan, on topics including Goffman, Interaction and Framing; Cultural Politics and Interdisciplinary Research; Trust, Food and Sustainability; Consumers and Citizens; Economic Lives and Moral Boundaries; and The Commercialization of Everyday Life.
Awards
In 2001 she received the second prize of the 35th Literary Competition of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), essay section, for the book Anatomy of the Gym.
In 1997 she received a special mention for the paper Territories of the Body, Territories of the Self, in the ISA Worldwide Young Sociologists Contest (1995–1997).
In 1996 she was awarded the Dehn Prize in Commerce and Industry at the University of Manchester for her Master’s thesis Power Balances in the Consumption Sphere.
Visiting fellowships / professorships
Since 2025 she has been Visiting Professor at the School of Sociology and Public Policy, ICSTE Lisbon, where she teaches a module on Theories of Modernity.
From 2008 to 2022 she was Visiting Professor at the University of Gastronomic Sciences, where she taught Sociology of Food and Wine Consumption.
In February 2016 she was Visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, where she taught Methods, Theories and Consumption.
In January 2014 she held a Visiting Professorship at the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
In 2006–2007 she held an International Research Fellowship within the ESRC/HARB programme “Cultures of Consumption” at Birkbeck College, University of London, where she organised the workshop “Sustainability, Critical Consumption and Responsible Pleasures”.
In April 2004 she was Visiting Fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA), Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Selected recent conferences
Aug. 2025 – Keynote: “Bodies, Billionaires and the Logic of the Commodity. Conspicuous Sustainability, Degrowth, and Decoloniality”, ESA RN05 Midterm Meeting “Uncharted Territories in the Sociology of Consumption”, Charles University, Prague.
June 2025 – Keynote: “Degrowth and Conspicuous Sustainability. The Moral Economy of Climate Change in Europe and Beyond”, DIS-4Change Biennial International Conference, University of Bari.
June 2025 – Keynote: “Food for the Sociological Imagination. Competitive Consumption and Authenticity, Trust and the Common Good”, 10th International Conference on Food and Drink Studies, University of Tours.
Nov. 2024 – Keynote: “Sociological perspectives on taste, food and identity”, University of International Studies of Rome.
Aug. 2024 – Presentation: “Embodiment and Consumption. Habitus, subjectivity, and commercialization”, European Sociological Association RN5 Consumption Network, Porto.
May 2024 – Contribution: “Dancing Masks. Identity and Alessandro Pizzorno’s latest book”, Conference: "Pensare la società. La lezione di Alessandro Pizzorno",Italian Institute for Philosophical Studies, Naples.
June 2023 – Keynote: “Beyond Gender”, SIPED Conference, Syracuse.
June 2022 – Contribution: "Teaching Consumption", Workshop “Teaching Cultural Sociology”, University of Trento, Trento.
May 2022 – Keynote: “The new territories of consumption. Sociology, critical theory and power”, University of Bari.
Feb. 2022 – Roundtable: “Consumption, Forms of Governance and Crisis”, University of Athens (online).
Jan. 2020 – Semi-plenary Keynote: “Commodities, Value and Subjectivity”, SISEC, University of Turin.
