Donatella della Porta

Donatella della Porta (born 1956, in Catania) is an Italian sociologist and political scientist, who is Professor of political science and political sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore.

She is known for her research in the areas of social movements, corruption, political violence, police and policies of public order.

In 2022, she was named a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

della Porta is Full Professor of Sociology and Dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore.

In 1990, she received a Career Development Award of the H.F. Guggenheim Foundation, and in 1997, a Stipendium of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung.

Her main research interests concern social movements, political violence, terrorism, corruption, police and policies of public order.

On these issues she has conducted investigations in Italy, France, Germany and Spain.

Between 2003 and 2014, she had been Full Professor in political sociology at the European University Institute.

Previously, she had been Full Professor of Political Science, president of the corso di laurea in Administrative Sciences, and Director of the Department of Political Science and Sociology at the University of Florence.

She has received a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales of Paris, and a Ph.D in political and social sciences at the European University Institute in Florence.

della Porta directs COSMOS - Center on Social Movement Studies actually at the Scuola Normale Superiore, the DEMOS project (Democracy in Europe and the Mobilisation of the Society) founded by the European Commission.

She also coordinated the Gruppo di Ricerca sull'azione collettiva in Europa (GRACE).

della Porta has conducted research also at Cornell University, Ithaca College, and at the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung.