Sara R. Farris is Full Professor of Sociology at the University of Bologna and Reader in Sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research is situated within political sociology and the sociology of work, with a particular focus on the relationships between gender, racism, nationalism, and migration in contemporary societies. Her work examines in particular the political use of women’s rights in nationalist discourses and European migration policies, as well as the transformations of care and domestic work in contemporary capitalism.
Her best-known monograph, In the Name of Women’s Rights: The Rise of Femonationalism (Duke University Press, 2017), has gained wide international circulation and has been translated into several languages, including Italian, French, Spanish, Slovenian, Farsi, and Japanese, making a significant contribution to international debates on racism, nationalism, and feminism.
Education
In 2007 she obtained a PhD in Social Science Methodology from Sapienza University of Rome. At the same university she completed her MPhil in Sociology in 2003, graduating with highest honours.
Academic Career
Over the course of her career she has conducted research and teaching at several European and international universities, including academic institutions in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. She currently holds a dual international affiliation between the University of Bologna and Goldsmiths, University of London.
She has also been awarded prestigious research fellowships at international institutions, including the Institute for Advanced Study In Princeton, the University of Cambridge (Marie Curie Fellowship), and the University of Konstanz.
Research Activity
Her research has been supported by numerous competitive international grants, including the European Horizon project YOU-DARE – Youth Debunking the Gendered Arguments of Far-Right Extremism (2025–2028), as well as grants from the Leverhulme Trust and the British Academy.
Her work has been published in leading international journals and academic presses and is widely cited in the fields of migration studies, gender studies, and social theory.
Academic and International Engagement
She regularly participates in international conferences as an invited Keynote speaker and collaborates with universities and research centres across Europe, North America, and Australia. Alongside her academic work, she frequently contributes to international public debates on issues related to feminism, racism, and migration policies.
