Faculty
Simone Maddanu
Visiting Assistant Professor of Instruction
Contact
Office:
Phone: 813.974.2893
Email
Bio
Dr. Maddanu earned his PhD in Sociology at the School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS, formerly Les Annales) of Paris (France), where he was member of the Center of Analysis and Sociological Intervention, founded by Alain Touraine in 1981. He has long experience in fieldwork research, ethnographic research in many countries (Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, and USA). From 2009 to 2015 he led and took part in European and national projects that focused on Islam in Europe, Social Movements, Migration Studies, Urban Studies, and Integration. Originally from Sardinia, Dr. Maddanu is a bilingual French/Italian international scholar. By living in different countries – and studying global topics – he acquired the ability to teach and write using three different languages interchangeably.
In his research, Dr Maddanu focused on alter-global movements, regional movements (including independentist movements), new generations of Muslims in Europe, which led to his first monograph in French (2013), anti-racist movements in France (The Indigenous of the Republic), and ethnic relations in Europe. Then he published in 2016 his second monograph (by Klwer/CEDAM). His third monograph Restless Cities on the Edge: Collective Actions, Immigration and Populism is part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship (MDC) by Palgrave Macmillan (2021-2). He also conducted ethnographic research on refugees, asylum seekers issues and the new forms of urban reterritorialization of migrants.
In 2022 he co-edited the book (with H. N. Akil) Global Modernity from Coloniality to Pandemic: A cross-disciplinary perspective, published by Amsterdam University Press. The book represents a unique cross-disciplinary work about modernity, its narratives, post-colonial criticism and new assertions of a global modernity.
According to Dr. Maddanu, local and global social inequalities – economic, ethnic, racial, and environmental – are not just a topic in sociology, but also a major challenge for a necessary “modernity-to-come”. As he addresses it in the introduction of the book Global Modernity from Coloniality to Pandemic, “[t]he triad of Reason, Science, and Justice does not affirm its ontological universality automatically per se but must struggle to be culturally understood and socially legitimate”.
Dr. Maddanu is currently working with other international scholars on several book projects on “Sociology of Pandemic”, “Military Bases and Resistance: anti-militari movements and islands” and “Communitas: Society in the Making”.