Dr Stefano Piemontese

• PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 2017
• MA in International Migration and Intercultural Relations, University of Osnabrück, 2011
• BCs in International Studies, University of Torino, 2007

Stefano graduated in International Studies at the University of Torino, obtained a Masters degree in International Migration and Intercultural Relations at the University of Osnabrück, and holds a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

During his studies in Germany and Spain, he has been volunteering in several organisations who are fighting the discrimination of asylum seekers and Roma. Previous to his PhD he has been involved in a number of EU-funded research projects carried out by the EMIGRA Research Group on Education, Migration and Childhood (Autonomous University of Barcelona) and the independent research agency Taller de Antropología y Ciencias Sociales Aplicadas (Taller ACSA).

Stefano fulfilled part of his doctoral research in the framework of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Initial Training Network INTEGRIM – Integration and International Migration: Pathways and Integration Policies (CEU Center for Policy Studies). Today he is working on the MSCA-IF funded project RETRY – Resilience and Resignation among Transnational Roma and non-Roma Youths, whose goal is to provide a theoretically informed, in-depth ethnographic, multi-sited and collaborative account of the movements into adulthood of underprivileged European youths “affected by mobility”.

PhD title

Lives on the Move. Experiences and expectations of young ‘Roma’ migrants between Spain and Romania. Co-directors: Prof. Dr. Silvia Carrasco and Dr. Bálint-Ábel Bereményi. Stefano’s doctoral thesis is a collection of publications that investigate the experiences and the expectations of a group of Romanian Roma young people living in poverty between Madrid and a rural village in southern Romania. It addresses the nexus between educational choices, housing problems and transnational mobility in the broader context of the EU policies for “Roma” and the Spanish economic crisis.

“Policies for Roma” have been central to Stefano’s research path and have served as an introduction into various areas of interest, such as social marginalisation, urban diversity, intra-EU mobility, educational policies, homelessness, social work, political participation, and social mobilization. During his doctoral research, the policy-oriented nature of his earliest works has left space to more actor-centred and biographic approaches to the study of the politically constructed “Roma issue”. This shift has been accompanied by methodological changes and more socially engaged forms of communicating research results. Today, Stefano’s research agenda revolves around three main strands:

• The practical and conceptual questions associated to the adoption of Roma-specific policies in a context of increasing concern about migration and diversity management in Europe.
• The interplay of welfare policies, community strategies, and personal ties that shapes the social, geographical and biographical mobilities of underprivileged European youth “on the move”.
• The methodological and ethical dilemmas related to socially engaged, collaborative and audiovisual research.

During recent years, Stefano participated in the following research projects:

• RETRY – Resilience and Resignation among Transnational Roma and non-Roma Youths. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. Research Fellow, University of Birmingham.
• INTEGRIM – Integration and International Migration: Pathways and Integration Policies. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Initial Training Network. Funded by the 2007-2013 European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme. Junior Research Fellow, Central European University.
• YMOBILITY – Youth Mobilities: Maximizing Opportunities for Individuals, Labour Markets and Regions In Europe. Funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation HORIZON 2020. External collaborator, University of Almeria.
• WE: WOR(L)DS WHICH EXCLUDE – The Housing Issue of Roma, Gypsies and Travellers in the Language of the Acts and the Administrative Documents in Europe. Funded by the European Commission, DG Justice. Researcher, Taller ACSA.
• REdHNET – Romani People, Educational and Housing Policies: Key Links To Share. Funded by the European Commission, Lifelong Learning Programme. Principal Investigator, Taller ACSA.
• NEUJOBS – Creating and Adapting Jobs in Europe in The Context of Socio-Ecological Transition. Funded by the 2007-2013 European Commission’s Seventh Framework Programme. Role: External collaborator, Autonomous University of Barcelona. 
• Lost in Action– Evaluating the 6 Years of the “Comprehensive Plan for Roma Population in Catalonia”. Funded by the Open Society Foundations. EU Framework Advocacy Grant 2011-12. Researcher, Autonomous University of Barcelona

• Editor in chief of WOTS magazine, an Italian journalistic project aimed at bridging the gap between research, activism and the wide public
• Research Associate, EMIGRA Research Group on Education, Migration and Childhood, Autonomous University of Barcelona
• Member of the inter-university and inter-disciplinary Center for Migration Research, CER-Migracions
• Member of the Spanish Network of Excellence for Migration Studies (REsMi)