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Guardians of the empire : the trajectories of power of political aristocrats and mid-nineteenth-century state-building projects
No full textDefence date: 12 May 2022Examining Board : Prof. Alexander Etkind (European University Institute); Prof. Jan Hennings (Central European University); Prof. Pieter M. Judson (European University Institute); Prof. William D. Godsey (Austrian Academy of Sciences)The trajectories of power of political aristocrats demonstrate how their constitutive values were defined in relation to the empire, placing the guiding principle of ‘imperial unity’ as the utmost priority in the conduct of European politics. This dissertation looks at the public lives of four political aristocrats from three different empires – Britain, Austria and Russia – from c.1820-1870, in order to examine the evolution of the principle of ‘imperial unity’ amidst cultural re-evaluations with significant implications for the direction of the state-building project. Special attention is dedicated to the period after the Crimean War (1853-1856), inaugurating a transformative decade. The ‘post-war mentality’ embedded in the political aristocracy during the 1860s led to coordinated responses, more than reactions, to the external and internal challenges to the empire and its unity, creating an extraordinary moment of deliberate state-building (through reform, but also war and/or imperial compromise/mediation). The threats posed to imperial unity by the Crimean War and its outcomes produced a sense of imperial vulnerability among leading political aristocrats that ultimately changed the way they envisioned empire-maintenance. This ‘post-war mentality,’ I argue, laid the grounds for substantial political innovation, because the sense of vulnerability deriving fromthe experiences of war compelled political aristocrats to diversify the strategies of imperial unity. From military intervention and conflict to policymaking and institution strengthening, the diversification of these strategies raised novel (yet predominantly aristocratic) notions of ‘good governance’ aimed at legitimising the post-(Crimean-) war empire through progress. The 1860s presented a unique interpretational frame for internal and external politics vis-à-vis the principle of imperial unity, which would prove crucial for consolidating the role of political aristocrats both as guardians of the empire and as agents of change
The transatlantic relationship and the Russia-Ukraine war
No full textPublished online: 25 June 2024The Russia-Ukraine war triggered a new burst of solidarity across the Atlantic. The reactivation of the battered NATO alliance came easily under the pressure of an external shock. Yet, pulling together to react to Russia's belligerence is not sufficient to announce a new era of transatlantic partnership. The reason lies in the different interests that underpin American and European policies such as reliance on economic sanctions, the promotion of democracy, NATO strategy towards Russia, and economic coordination. Loosely sharing common values is not enough to reinforce the transatlantic relationship. Neither is a decision to stop the atrocities that Russia is committing against Ukrainians. Western leadership requires a coherent vision of Western interests. In the new world order, such coherence cannot be taken for granted.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 101079219
Europe at the Expo : the pavilions of the European Community in universal expositions
No full textDefence date: 15 July 2022Examining Board: Prof. Dr. Federico Romero (European University Institute); Prof. Dr. Corinna Unger (European University Institute); Prof. Dr. Alexander C.T. Geppert (New York University); Prof. Dr. Kiran Klaus Patel (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)In recent decades the cultural underpinnings of the European integration process have attracted more in-depth attention as scholars have unpacked the European Community’s efforts to stimulate the process of cultural Europeanisation. My research builds on the literature underlining the importance of political symbolism in the consolidation of the Community. I argue that international exhibitions, traditionally understood as diplomatic theatres for the display of symbolic nationhood, fulfilled a similar function for the European Community. This thesis is the first comprehensive study of an important platform for the discursive legitimation of the Community: namely, the European Community’s pavilions in Universal Expositions. More specifically, it examines Europe’s contributions to the Expos in Brussels in 1958, Montreal in 1967, Seville in 1992 and Shanghai in 2010. This thesis is based on research carried out in over a dozen archives in Europe and Canada, as well as oral history interviews with the European officials, architects and designers involved in developing the pavilions and curating the exhibitions. The chapters dealing with the four case studies analyse the preparations that preceded the Expos, and the products of these negotiations. I reveal that the exhibitions included narratives on the Community as both a modernising force in Europe and a protector and promoter of European culture. Furthermore, I illustrate how the Community pavilions argued for a stronger global position for Europe, whilst spreading an image of the Community’s positive influence throughout the world. I use a visual methodology which leans heavily on the analysis of sources such as photographs of the pavilions and exhibition displays, videos and brochures. By focusing on the discursive legitimation strategies in the Community’s Expo participation, this thesis sheds new light on the history of European cultural policy and public diplomacy.Chapter 1 ‘The ECSC Pavilion at Expo 58 in Brussels : Promoting coal, steel and a European soul' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as chapter 'Exhibiting European integration at Expo 58 : the European Coal and Steel Community Pavilion' (2021) in the book ‘World fairs and the global moulding of national identities : international exhibitions as cultural platforms, 1851–1958’Chapter 2 ‘The European Community at Expo 67 in Montreal : a multifaceted diamond' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as chapter ''A multifaceted diamond’ out of steel : exhibiting the European Communities at Expo 67' (2019) in the book ‘Image of a nation : country branding at World Expos
New perspectives on anti-Jewish violence and memory
No full textDefence date: 15 December 2022Examining Board: Professor Elias Dinas, (European University Institute, supervisor); Professor Jeffrey T. Checkel, (European University Institute); Professor Stathis N. Kalyvas, (University of Oxford); Professor Scott Straus, (University of California, Berkeley)This thesis explores the topic of anti-Jewish violence and memory empirically, using three dierent methods of inquiry. The first chapter employs a deductive approach to study how insurgent presence influences survival of genocide targets. I explore the case of the Holocaust in World War Two France using archival collections on Jews’ arrests and La Résistance members’ presence. I employ an instrumental variable method in which I instrument insurgent presence with soldier deaths from World War One. I probe my findings with qualitative analysis of chosen typical cases in order to investigate the mechanisms that govern the relationship. I find that insurgents helped Jews survive by providing them with information, help networks, and sharing the skills they developed to evade their common enemy, the Nazi occupier and collaborating Vichy state. The second chapter employs an exploratory approach and asks whether Wikipedia captures collective memory. Drawing on anthropological and historical literatures, it proposes a way to operationalise collective memory as actor-role associations and measure it with Wikipedia data. Comparing our findings with the qualitative research on Poles’ collective memory of World War Two, we conclude that Wikipedia serves as a unique data source to describe the content of national collective memories. In the third chapter I review literature on anti-Jewish “pogroms” to establish what the term means. I find considerable disagreement about the definition of the term in extant literature and propose to substitute it with other vocabulary from the wider literature on conflict – “mass categorical violence,” “state repression,” and “communal attacks.” I review two recent studies that used the word “pogroms” when seeking to explain their occurrence. I argue that the proposed typology would better capture the main characteristics of the violence typically called “pogroms” and enable better future sample specification and analyses
Cities of war and power : Cartagena and Marseille and the making of absolutism in the Hispanic and French monarchies during Early Modern Centuries
No full textDefence date: 18 November 2022Examining Board: Professor Regina Grafe, (European University Institute); Professor Giancarlo Casale, (European University Institute); Professor Guillaume Gaudin, (Université Toulouse Jean Jaurés); Professor Manuel Perez Garcia, (Shanghai Jiao Tong University).This thesis offers an innovative insight into the analysis of the state-building processes during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by analysing the making of Absolutism in the Hispanic and French monarchies. Comparing the cases of Cartagena during the central years of the sixteenth century and Marseille during the seventeenth century, I explore the disputed nature of Absolutism focusing my attention on the performativity of agents, practices, and discourses. First, I use the case of Sebastián Clavijo (C. 1580-1554) and his role on the transformation of Cartagena into a naval base in the service of the king of the Spains to analyse how the king’s power was constructed on a periphery of the monarchy through a complex system of political competition among a myriad of jurisdictional agents. Second, I focus my attention on the ideological conceptualisation of the relationship between the republic of Marseille and the jurisdiction of the king of France through the critical reading of a series of literary sources. By doing so, I underline the existence of diverging concepts of Absolutism mobilised by supporters and antagonists of the jurisdictional supremacy of the king. Consequently, the thesis seeks to provide an elaborated case study for the comprehension of the complex and diverging paths followed by western European societies during this period. It, consequently, aims to provide with a valuable contribution to our understanding of the political making of early modern monarchies
Introduction : the impact of 'populism' on European public policy
No full textPublished online: 26 February 2025The populism literature has so far been relatively quiet about the impact of ‘populism’ on public policies. It has mainly focussed on populist actors and the link to their electorate and only rarely used the approaches and instruments of public policy analysis. This introduction proposes to recast the debate. We ask how populist agency and discursive mechanisms can be studied more systematically across democracies, sectors and policy fields and how one can conceive of populist ‘paradigms’ for public policies. Finally, we devise four avenues which future research should explore. The main takeaway from the conversation is that populism in policy-making can be best operationalised as a specific form of more direct representation, circumventing representative institutions and positing specific homogenous groups in society or multi-level contexts as the norm for policy-making
IDP protection and state sovereignty : explaining norm institutionalisation in Colombia, Peru and Kenya
No full textDefence date: 4 July 2022Examining Board: Prof. Jennifer M. Welsh, (EUI/McGill University, Supervisor); Prof. Stephanie Hofmann, (EUI); Prof. David James Cantor, (University of London); Pro f. Walter Kälin, (University of Bern)Acknowledging the existence of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and responding to it represent a challenge to state sovereignty. However, an increasing number of state policies specifically address IDPs. Moreover, many differences and even contradictions arise from state responses to internal displacement. This thesis identifies and accounts for the various ways in which states engage with the IDP protection norm through national public policies. Using a constructivist approach, it conceptualises the institutionalisation of the IDP protection norm at the domestic level, analyses it, and explores what it implies for the exercise of state sovereignty. The thesis proposes and assesses three dimensions of institutionalisation – the scope, the level of formalisation, and the level of internalisation – to show variation across all relevant cases of state engagement with the IDP protection norm, based on an original data set. It accounts for such variation by exploring the influence of three main motives (human rights, economy, and security) on decisions taken by state officials —each motive being associated with a set of actors and conditioned by two elements, the state’s normative framework and the political system. To test this framework, this thesis compares three cases, using in-depth process tracing, mainly based on fieldwork data: Colombia (1995-2016), Peru (1993-2016), and Kenya (2007-2017). The case studies confirm the relevance of the three motives in accounting for variation, highlighting the importance of both the interaction between and the relative importance of each motive in shaping states’ engagement with the IDP protection norm. Finally, this thesis interprets state engagement with the IDP protection norm as a reaffirmation of state sovereignty, by unpacking the constitutive rule into four components: responsibility, control, recognition, and autonomy. The three case studies suggest that states simultaneously exercise different components of sovereignty, and that this interplay is central to understanding variation in states’ engagement with the IDP protection norm
The trials and tribulations of indigenous title : the territorial turn in international human rights law and the titling of lands as indigenous territory in Awas Tingni on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast
No full textDefence date: 03 Feburary 2026Examining Board: Prof. Nehal Bhuta (European University Institute, supervisor); Prof. Arnulf Becker Lorca (European University Institute); Prof. Kerstin Carlson (Roskilde University); Prof. Rachel Sieder (Center for Research and Graduate Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS))This thesis sheds light on how the territorial turn relating to indigenous peoples’ rights in international law has been created, enacted and interpreted in practice. The study revolves around a single case, namely the titling of 73,349 hectares of land in the name of the Mayangna community in Awas Tingni in Northeastern Nicaragua. The thesis is based on collaborative research with indigenous leaders, civil society actors, academics, and lawyers in Nicaragua’s Northern Caribbean region. This research has employed historical and qualitative ethnographic methods to investigate how collective indigenous property rights have been created on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast in a process involving international norms, transnational networks, a local community and a regional human rights court. To explore in detail what the indigenous land title means and how it works, the thesis traces how the indigenous communal property title became a legal figure on Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast, and how the Awas Tingni community came to play a pivotal role in this process. Against this historical backdrop, the thesis unpacks how the formulation of indigenous claims in human rights terms has played into the transformation of social practices, property relations and organisation in local communities. The analysis shows how indigenous property rights are continuously re-negotiated by different actors on the ground, and how the title has acquired changing meanings in a context of accelerated colonisation and expansion of the agricultural frontier. The thesis demonstrates that judicialization and land titling has not brought security, stability and self-determination for rights bearing indigenous communities. Rather, the titling process has been followed by a process of monetization of the land that has facilitated colonisation with a range of detrimental environmental and socio-cultural consequences, leaving fractioned indigenous communities in a vulnerable position to protect eco-systems and manage the relations with the many new settlers in their territories.Chapter 4 'Surrounded by settlers : accelerated colonization, land conflicts and loss of autonomy after titling' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'When the forest and the rivers is home : managing indigenous territory and settler relations in North Eastern Nicaragua' (2024) in the journal 'Iberoamericana Journal of Latin American Studies'
Shaping the future of European rail : regulation, digitalisation, and fair competition
No full textPublished online: January 2026The European rail sector is experiencing a rapid transformation thanks to digitalisation. At the same time, policymakers and industry stakeholders navigate the challenges of regulation, digitalisation, and fair competition. From redefining ticket distribution and embracing multimodal mobility to ensuring balanced oversight and fostering innovation. These are central themes for shaping the future of rail travel across Europe. This issue of Network Industries Quarterly focuses on the role of digital platforms in shaping transport in Europe. In his contribution, entitled “Regulating Railway Ticket Distribution: What is at Stake?”, Prof. Juan Montero provides a clear picture of the context of the progressive change that rail transport has undergone. Elodie Petrozziello’s contribution, entitled ‘The Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Initiative – From the Train to the Platform,’ provides an overview of the potential legal and policy frameworks. Federico Catania, in his piece entitled ‘Beyond the tracks: digital ticketing, fair competition and the future of European rail’, flags the benefits of competition and of using intermediary platforms, both for passengers and transport operators. Last, Sophie Lombard, in her piece entitled ‘Improving client experience through ticketing: current state of play and way forward’, navigates among the existing obligations for rail service providers and calls for a balanced regulatory approach, avoiding demanding obligations on operators.-- Regulating Ticket Distribution in Aviation. What is at Stake?, Juan Montero
-- The ‘Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Initiative’ – From the Train to the Platform, Elodie Petrozziello
-- Beyond The Tracks: Digital Ticketing, Fair Competition And The Future Of European Rail, Federico Catania
-- Improving Client Experience Through Ticketing: Current State of Play and Way Forward, Sophie Lombard
-- Announcement
Climate change disinformation
No full textPublished online: 10 January 2026Climate change and disinformation are key issues in the global political agenda. While patterns specific to the disinformation phenomenon apply to climate change disinformation as well, it is important to also be aware of and address its specificities. This chapter aims to do this by first looking at content, strategies, actors and public specific to this type of content in order to then focus on solutions. While many aspects are particularly related to climate change disinformation, it may be worth recalling the historic role and investments of the industry as well as the capacity of this content to enter the broader divisive content and audience of a polarised society