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Professor Maria Grasso, BA (Hons) (Oxon), MSc (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon)

Maria

Professor of Political Science and Political Sociology

Email: m.grasso@qmul.ac.uk
Office Hours: on research leave

Profile

Maria Grasso joined the School of Politics and International Relations and Queen Mary University of London as Professor of Political Science and Political Sociology in 2020. Previously, she was Professor of Politics and Quantitative Methods at the Department of Politics of the University of Sheffield which she had joined as a Lecturer in 2011 before being promoted to Senior Lecturer and then to Chair in 2017. Maria holds a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) and an MSc in Sociology with Distinction from the University of Oxford (Lady Margaret Hall). She received her doctorate from the University of Oxford in June 2011 (Nuffield College). Her doctoral research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); she was a Stipendiary Lecturer in Politics at St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford (2008-2011) and Research Fellow at the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton (2009-2011).

Maria is European Editor of Mobilization and sits on the Advisory Board of Acta Politica. She recently completed her four-year term (2018-2023) on the Editorial Board of European Journal of Political Research and previously was an Associate Editor of European Societies (2018-2021). She is the author of Generations, Political Participation and Social Change in Western Europe (Routledge, 2016) and Street Citizens: Protest Politics and Social Movement Activism in the Age of Globalization (Cambridge University Press, 2019, with Marco Giugni) and Living with Hard Times: Europeans in the Great Recession (ECPR Press, 2021, with Marco Giugni). She has further edited a number of volumes and journal special issues and her work has been published in a variety of specialist journals including British Journal of Political Science, European Journal of Political Research, European Political Science Review, International Political Science Review, Electoral Studies, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, Political Studies, Acta Politica, American Behavioral Scientist, Work, Employment, and Society, Mobilization, Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change and others.

Maria has been awarded over c. €2.4 million (total grant income PI/Co-I) in research funding to date and is "Scientific Coordinator" on the Horizon Europe/UKRI/SERI-funded project DEMETRA “Democratic Governance, Environmental and Climate Challenges, and Societal Transformation: Deliberation, Inclusiveness, and Citizen Empowerment for Sustainable Food Systems” (c. €750,000 Prof Grasso; c. €2.4 mil. EU-funded consortium; c. €4 mil. with UKRI/SERI funding) running from May 2024-October 2027. In April 2024 she completed an ESRC project on the impact of political humour on political attitudes and behaviours as Principal Investigator (1, 2).

Previously, she directed research and collaborated with other researchers on a number of other major European and UK grants including as Principal Investigator for the cross-national panel survey work-package on the collaborative EU project in the Horizon 2020 scheme: EURYKA, 2017-2020, on young people's participation and inequalities (Twitter), Principal Investigator for the cross-national survey work-package on the collaborative EU project in the Horizon 2020 scheme, TransSOL, 2015-2018, on transnational solidarity in times of crisis (Twitter), the collaborative EU project in the 7th Framework Programme, LIVEWHAT, 2013-2016, on social resilience in times of crisis (Twitter), and as Co-I on the Max Batley-funded project "Protest as democratic practice: peace movements in southern Europe, 1975-1990”. She was Research Fellow, 2009-2011, on the European Science Foundation collaborative European protest survey project Caught in the Act of Protest: Contextualizing Contestation.

Maria’s research has appeared in The Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, The Independent, The Guardian, The Telegraph among others and she has advised the British Correspondent for The Economist on debates surrounding protest politics. She has authored commissioned reports for The Government Office for Science and the Committee on Standards in Public Life and has been invited to write comment pieces for the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog and the Democratic Audit.

Teaching

on research leave

At Sheffield Maria designed, led and taught a variety of modules that covered topics in political analysis, political concepts, political sociology, political participation, social movements, social change, research methods, and data analysis at both Undergraduate and MA level. She also supervised many Undergraduate and MA dissertations and was module leader for the Undergraduate final year quantitative methods dissertation. 

At Oxford Maria taught Undergraduate tutorials to students reading Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE), Modern History and Politics (MHP), and also visiting students from various colleges on topics from Political Sociology, Sociology of Industrial Societies, Modern Social and Political Thought, Political Theory, Marx and Marxism, Applied Statistics and she was also teaching assistant for the MSc in Sociology. 

 

Research

Research Interests:

Maria’s research focuses on political sociology, social change, social and political inequalities, political generations, social movements, youth politics, gender gaps and the shift from traditional means of political participation relating to parties, electoral politics and left-right conflict, to more diffuse and irregular forms of involvement such as demonstrations, consumer boycotts and issue campaigns. Her key research interests revolve around understanding the link between economic, social and political inequalities by looking at the political participation and political attitudes of different groups in terms of generation/age, gender, class, relative deprivation, etc. and their intersections as well as the ways in which crises impact on different groups of citizens with respect to their economic conditions and perceptions, social capital, and their political (re)actions. Her academic work deals primarily with quantitative research and statistical analysis of cross-national surveys on political attitudes and behaviour.

Examples of research funding:

Maria has been awarded over c .€2.4 million (total grant income PI/Co-I) in research funding to date and is "Scientific Coordinator" on the Horizon Europe/UKRI/SERI-funded project DEMETRA “Democratic Governance, Environmental and Climate Challenges, and Societal Transformation: Deliberation, Inclusiveness, and Citizen Empowerment for Sustainable Food Systems” (c.€750,000 Prof Grasso; c.€2.4 mil. EU-funded consortium; c. €4 mil. with UKRI/SERI funding) running from May 2024-October 2027. 

Awarding Body: European Commission Horizon Europe Call HORIZON-CL2-2023-DEMOCRACY-01-05/UKRI Horizon Europe funding guarantee/SERI

People Involved: Maria Grasso (Scientific Coordinator), Otto Carlo Hofer (PDRA), Lorenzo Bosi (Scuola Normale Superiore, Coordinator) in a consortium of 11 partner organisations

Title of Research: DEMETRA “Democratic Governance, Environmental and Climate Challenges, and Societal Transformation: Deliberation, Inclusiveness, and Citizen Empowerment for Sustainable Food Systems” 

Amount: c.€750,000 Prof Grasso; c.€2.4 mil. EU-funded consortium; c. €4 mil. with UKRI/SERI funding

Duration: May 2024-October 2027

Web: www.qmul.ac.uk/demetra 

 

In April 2024 she completed an ESRC project on the impact of political humour on political attitudes and behaviours as Principal Investigator. 

Awarding Body: UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) ES/R010242/2 ES/R010242/1

People Involved: Maria Grasso (Principal Investigator), Charles Pattie (Co-Investigator, University of Sheffield, Department of Politics and International Relations),  Laura Serra (now LSE), Otto Carlo Hofer (QMUL),Yara Sleiman (QMUL) and previously: Aarti Iyer, Karolina Urbanska, Hazel Gordon (University of Sheffield, Department of Psychology)

Title of Research: Understanding the power of political humour: Implications for emotions, attitudes, and behaviour

Amount: £509,583 for the whole project

Duration: April 2019-April 2024

Web: (1), (2) 

 

Previously, Maria directed research and collaborated with other researchers on a number of other major European and UK grants:

Maria was Principal Investigator for the cross-national panel survey work-package on a new Horizon 2020 collaborative project on youth political participation and inequalities:

Awarding Body: European Commission Horizon 2020 Call H2020-SC6-REV-INEQUAL-2016-2017

People Involved: Maria Grasso, Katherine Smith (PhD Researcher) and partners from other European institutions in a consortium led by Marco Giugni (University of Geneva)

Title of Research: Reinventing Democracy in Europe: Youth Doing Politics in Times of Increasing Inequalities (EURYKA)

Amount: €621,870 Professor Grasso (€2,595,720 for the whole consortium)

Duration: February 2017-January 2020

Web: https://www.unige.ch/sciences-societe/euryka/home/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Euryka_youth

 

Maria was Principal Investigator for the cross- national survey work-package on a major European Horizon 2020 collaborative project on transnational solidarity in time of crisis:

Awarding Body: European Commission Horizon 2020 Call H2020-EURO-SOCIETY-2014

People Involved: Maria Grasso, Sotirios Karampampas and partners from other European institutions in a consortium led by Christian Lahusen (University of Siegen)

Title of Research: European paths to transnational solidarity at times of crisis: Conditions, forms, role-models and policy responses (TransSOL)

Amount: €134,980 Professor Grasso (€2,483, 805 for the whole consortium)

Duration: June 2015-May 2018

Web: https://transsol.eu/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TransSOLproject

  

Maria was Co-Investigator with Dr Eirini Karamouzi (Principal Investigator) and Professor Benjamin Ziemann (Co-Investigator) on the Max Batley Fellowship Award 'Protest as democratic practice: peace movements in southern Europe, 1975-1990’

Awarding Body: Max Batley Fellowship Award

People Involved: Maria Grasso (Co-Investigator) with Eirini Karamouzi (PI), Benjamin Ziemann (Co-Investigator) and Giulia Quaggio (Research Associate)

Title of Research: Protest as democratic practice: peace movements in southern Europe, 1975-1990

Amount: c. £90,000 for the whole project

Duration: Jan 2017-Dec 2018

Web: http://www.coldwarcultures.group.shef.ac.uk/projects/protest-as-democratic-practice/

 

Maria was the scientific responsible for the UK and work-package leader of a EU FP7 collaborative project:

Awarding Body: European Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) on Citizens’ Resilience in Times of Crisis

People Involved: Maria Grasso, Luke Temple (Research Associate), Barbara Buraczynska, Sotirios Karampampas, Patrick English and partners from other European institutions in a consortium led by Marco Giugni (University of Geneva)

Title of Research: Living with Hard Times: How European Citizens Deal with Economic Crises and Their Social and Political Consequences (LIVEWHAT)

Amount: €220,700 Professor Grasso (€2,499,366 for the whole consortium)

Duration: 1 December 2013-November 2016

Web: https://www.unige.ch/livewhat/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LIVEWHATproject

 

Maria worked with colleagues on publications emerging from data collected in the context of a major UK project examining the effects of Thatcherism:

Awarding Body: UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) ES/K006398/1

People Involved: Maria Grasso (Invited Researcher) with Stephen Farrall (Principal Investigator, University of Derby), Emily Gray (Co-Investigator, University of Derby), Colin Hay (Co-Investigator, SciencesPo, Paris/University of Sheffield), Will Jennings (Co-Investigator, University of Southampton)

Title of Research: The Long-term Impacts of Thatcherism / Long-term Trajectories of Crime in the UK

Amount: £262,405 for the whole project

Duration: Oct 2013 - Dec 2015

Web: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FK006398%2F1

 

Maria was Research Fellow (2009-2011) and is currently an Associate Investigator on the Caught in the Act of Protest: Contextualising Contestation research project:

Awarding Body: European Science Foundation (ESF) and for the UK the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

People Involved: Maria Grasso (Associate Investigator, prev. Research Fellow 2009-2011 of UK team), Clare Saunders (University of Exeter, prev. University of Southampton), Christopher Rootes (University of Kent) and partners from other European institutions in a consortium led by Bert Klandermans (VU-Amsterdam) with Jacquelien van Stekelenburg (VU-Amsterdam) and Stefaan Walgrave (University of Antwerp)

Title of Research: Caught in the Act of Protest: Contextualising Contestation

Amount: €620,893 (UK team)

Duration: original project 2009-2012; ongoing - the surveys of demonstrations are still in progress

Web: www.protestsurvey.eu

 

Publications

Monographs

Edited Volumes

Journal Special Issues

Journal Articles 

  • Grasso, M. and M. Giugni (2024) "Gendered opportunities across modes of political participation: A macro-micro analysis of the gender gap" European Journal of Politics and Gender (Forthcoming) 
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (2024)  "Taming Through Support? Youth Organisations and the Impact of Public Funding on Their Political Activities". Political Studies https://doi.org/10.1177/00323217241247674
  • Vlase, I. and M. Grasso (2023) "Support for prostitution legalization in Romania: individual, household, and socio-cultural determinants". The Journal of Sex Research.https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/86FZSGTSVEKSJBJVWWJR/full?target=10.1080/00224499.2021.1968334
  • Grasso, M. and K. Smith (2022) "Gender inequalities in political participation and political engagement amongst young people in Europe: Are young women less politically engaged than young men?" Politics  https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211028813 
  • Grasso, M. and M. Giugni (2022) "Intra-generational inequalities in young people’s political participation in Europe: The impact of social class on youth political engagement" Politics https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211031742
  • Grasso, M. and M. Giugni (2022) " Youth doing politics in times of increasing inequalities" (Special Issue Introduction) Politics https://doi.org/10.1177/02633957211042738
  • Grasso, M., Klicperová-Baker, M., Koos, S., Kosyakova, Y.  Petrillo, A. and I. Vlase (2021) “The impact of the coronavirus crisis on European societies. What have we learnt and where do we go from here? – Introduction to the COVID volume” European Societies https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1869283
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2020) “Talking about youth: The depoliticization of young people in the public domain” American Behavioral Scientist https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764219885429
  • Shorrocks, R. and Grasso, M. T. (2020) “The attitudinal gender gap across generations: support for redistribution and government spending in contexts of high and low welfare provision” European Political Science Review https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755773920000120
  • Bessant, J. and Grasso, M. T. (2019) “Security and the liberal-democratic state: criminalizing young people’s politics” Revista Internacional de Sociología 77 (4) https://doi.org/10.3989/ris.2019.77.4.19.003
  • Mohd Hed, N. and Grasso, M.T. (2019)"Age Group Differences in Political Activism in Malaysia" Journal of Youth Studies https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.1636948 
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2019)"Trust, Identity, Skills, or Recruitment? Assessing Four Explanations of the Relationship Between Associational Involvement and the Political Participation of Migrants," International Migration Review https://doi.org/10.1177/0197918319856362 
  • Karampampas, S., Temple, L. and Grasso, M. T. (2019), “Violent political action during the European economic crisis: An empirical investigation of four theoretical paradigms from social movement research.” Comparative European Politics https://doi.org/10.1057/s41295-019-00191-4
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2019) "Citizen Politics in Times of Crisis" (Special Issue Editorial) Acta Politica https://doi.org/10.1057/s41269-019-00136-5
  • Grasso, M.T. and Giugni, M. (2019) "European Citizens in Times of Crisis" (Special Issue Introduction) European Societies https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2019.1584325
  • Grasso, M.T., Karampampas, S., Temple, L., Yoxon, B. (2019) "Deprivation, Class and Crisis in Europe: A Comparative Analysis" European Societies https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2019.1584324
  • Yoxon, B., Grasso, M.T., Karampampas, S., Temple, L., (2019) "Prejudice and Relative Deprivation: The Effects of Self-Referenced Relative Deprivation on Generalized Prejudice in European Democracies" European Societies https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2019.1583356
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2019) "Party membership and social movement activism: A macro–micro analysis" Party Politics https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068818823446
  • Grasso, M.T. and Lahusen, C. (2019) "European Solidarity at a Crossroads? Citizens’ Attitudes and Political Behaviors in Europe" (Special Issue Introduction) American Behavioral Scientist https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218823846
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2019) " Do Unto Others? Individual-Level Mechanisms of Political Altruism" American Behavioral Scientist https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218823851
  • Grasso, M.T., and Giugni, M. (2018) "Political values and extra-institutional political participation: The impact of economic redistributive and social libertarian preferences on protest behaviour" International Political Science Review https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512118780425
  • Gray, E., Grasso, M.T., Farrall, S., Hay, C., and W. Jennings (2018) “Political socialisation, worry about crime and antisocial behaviour: An analysis of age, period and cohort effects” British Journal of Criminology (Open Access) https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azy024
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. T. (2018) "Mechanisms of responsiveness: What MPs think of interest organizations and how they deal with them" Political Studies (Open Access) https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321718784156
  • Grasso, M.T., Farrall, S., Gray, E., Hay, C., and W. Jennings (2018) "Socialisation and generational political trajectories: An age, period and cohort analysis of political participation in Britain" Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties (Open Access) https://doi.org/10.1080/17457289.2018.1476359 
  • Saunders, C., Grasso, M. T. and C. Hedges (2018) "Attention to Climate Change in British Newspapers in Three Attention Cycles (1997-2017)" Geoforum https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.05.024
  • Giugni, M. and M. T. Grasso (2018) "Alternative Action Organizations: Social Solidarity or Political Advocacy?" American Behavioral Scientist (Open Access) https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218768855
  • Grasso, M.T., Yoxon (née Buraczynska), B., Karampampas, S. and L. Temple, (2017) "Relative deprivation and inequalities in social and political activism" Acta Politica (Open Access) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fs41269-017-0072-y
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2017) "Blame and contention: How perceptions of the government’s role in the economic crisis shape patterns of political action" Acta Politica (Open Access) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fs41269-017-0073-x
  • Grasso, M.T., Farrall, S., Gray, E., Hay, C., and W. Jennings (2017) "Thatcher's Children, Blair's Babies, political socialisation and trickle-down value-change: An age, period and cohort analysis" British Journal of Political Science (Open Access). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123416000375
  • Inan, M. & M.T. Grasso (2017) A participatory generation? The generational and social class bases of political activism in Turkey Turkish Studies 18(1):10-31 http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/aCWJSKgUdqF8rXqfXEHu/full
  • Grasso, M.T. and M. Giugni (2016) "Protest participation and economic crisis: The conditioning role of political opportunities" European Journal of Political Research. (Open Access). https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1475-6765.12153
  • Grasso, M.T. and M. Giugni (2016) "Do Issues Matter? Anti-Austerity Protests’ Composition, Values, and Action Repertoires Compared" Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change 39: 31-58. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/S0163-786X20160000039002
  • Giugni, M. and M.T. Grasso (2016) "How Civil Society Actors Responded to the Economic Crisis: The Interaction of Material Deprivation and Perceptions of Political Opportunity Structures" Politics & Policy 44(3): 447–472. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12157/abstract
  • Temple, L., Grasso, M.T., Buraczynska, B., Karampampas, S., and P. English (2016) "Neoliberal Narrative in Times of Economic Crisis: A Political Claims Analysis of the UK Press, 2007-2014" Politics & Policy 44(3): 553–576. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12161/abstract
  • English, P., Grasso, M.T., Buraczynska, B., Karampampas, S. and L. Temple (2016) "Convergence on Crisis? Comparing Labour and Conservative Party Framing of the Economic Crisis in Britain, 2008-2014" Politics & Policy 44(3): 577–603. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12160/abstract
  • Giugni, M. and M.T. Grasso (2015) "Environmental Movements: Heterogeneity, Transformation, and Institutionalization." Annual Review of Environment and Resources 40. dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-102014-021327  
  • Dunn, A., Grasso, M.T., and Saunders, C. (2014) “Unemployment and Attitudes to Work: asking the ‘right’ question.” Work, Employment, and Society 28(6): 904-925. http://wes.sagepub.com/content/28/6/904
  • Grasso, M.T. (2014) “Age, Period and Cohort Analysis in a Comparative Context: Political Generations and Political Participation Repertoires in Western Europe." Electoral Studies 33: 63-76. 10.1016/j.electstud.2013.06.003 
  • Grasso, M.T. (2013) "The Differential Impact of Education on Young People’s Political Activism: Comparing Italy and the United Kingdom." Comparative Sociology 12: 1-30. 10.1163/15691330-12341252 
  • Saunders, C., Grasso, M.T., et al. (2012) "Explaining Differential Protest Participation: Novices, Returners, Repeaters and Stalwarts." Mobilization 17(3): 263-280. mobilizationjournal.org/doi/pdf/10.17813/maiq.17.3.bqm553573058t478 

Book Chapters

  • Grasso M. and  Gubernat R. (2024) "Socio-Economic Development, Class, and Protest" In Protest and Power in Central and Eastern Europe. Craciun, C. and Rammelt, H. (Eds.) Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology: London.   (Forthcoming)
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso M. (2024) "Social Movements" In Handbook of Comparative Political Institutions. Vatter, A. and Freiburghaus, R. (eds) Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. (Forthcoming) 
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (2022). "The Study of Political Participation Across Research Traditions", In The Oxford Handbook of Political Participation, Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (eds) Oxford : Oxford University Press.
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (2022). "Protest Participation", In The Oxford Handbook of Political Participation, Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (eds) Oxford : Oxford University Press.
  • Grasso, M. and Giugni, M. (2022) "Environmental Movements Worldwide". In Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements, Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (eds) London: Routledge.
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (2021) “Protest Participation.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Political Science. Maisel, S. (ed) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (2021). "Citizenship and Migration: Mapping the Terrain" In Handbook of Citizenship and Migration, Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (eds) Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (2021). "Youth and Politics in Times of Increasing Inequalities” In Youth and Politics in Times of Increasing Inequalities, Giugni, M. and Grasso, M. (eds) Houndmills: Palgrave.
  • Giugni M., Grasso M. (2020) "Social Movements" In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Interest Groups, Lobbying and Public Affairs. Harris P., Bitonti A., Fleisher C., Skorkjær Binderkrantz A. (eds)  London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13895-0_98-1 
  • Gray, E., Grasso, M.T. and Farrall, S. (2020) "The Political Socialisation of Thatcher's Children: Identifying the Long Reach of Thatcherite Social and Economic Values and Perceptions of Crime" In Thatcherism in the 21st Century: The Social and Cultural Legacy, eds. A. Mullen, S. Farrall and D. Jeffery. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Montgomery, T. and M.T. Grasso (2020) "Political activism and agency under austerity and Brexit" In Contested Britain: Brexit, Austerity, and Agency, eds. M. Guderjan, H. Mackay, and G. Stedman. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
  • Giugni, M., and M. T. Grasso (2020) "Nothing Is Lost, Nothing Is Created, Everything Is Transformed: From Labor Movements to Anti-Austerity Protests" In The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Social Movements, ed. C. Flesher Fominaya and R. Feenstra. London: Routledge.
  • Giugni, M., and M. T. Grasso (2018) "Economic Outcomes of Social Movements" in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, ed. D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule, H. Kriesi and H. McCammon. Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Grasso, M. T. (2018) "Young people’s political participation in times of crisis" in S. Pickard and J. Bessant (eds) Young people regenerating politics in times of crisis, (eds) London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Bessant, J. and M. T. Grasso (2018) "Governing Youth Politics in the Age of Surveillance" in Grasso, M.T. and Bessant, J. (eds) Governing Youth Politics in the Age of Surveillance. London: Routledge
  • Lahusen, C. and Grasso, M.T. (2018) "Solidarity in Europe – European solidarity" in Lahusen, C. and Grasso, M.T. (eds) Solidarity in Europe. Citizens' Responses in Times of Crisis. London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Trenz, H. and Grasso, M.T. (2018) "Towards a new conditionality of welfare? Reconsidering solidarity in the Danish welfare state" in Lahusen, C. and Grasso, M.T. (eds) Solidarity in Europe. Citizens' Responses in Times of Crisis. London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Montgomery, T., Baglioni, S., Biosca, O. and Grasso, M. T. (2018) "Pulling together or pulling apart? Solidarity in the post-crisis United Kingdom" in Lahusen, C. and Grasso, M.T. (eds) Solidarity in Europe. Citizens' Responses in Times of Crisis. London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Lahusen, C. and Grasso, M.T. (2018) "European Solidarity: a comparative assessment and discussion" in Lahusen, C. and Grasso, M.T. (eds) Solidarity in Europe. Citizens' Responses in Times of Crisis. London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2018) "Citizens and the Crisis: Perceptions, Experiences, and Responses to the Great Recession in Nine Democracies" in Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (eds) Citizens and the Crisis: Perceptions, Experiences, and Responses to the Great Recession in Europe.London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Temple, L. and Grasso, M.T. (2018) "Austerity, Politics and Partisanship in the UK " in Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (eds) Citizens and the Crisis: Perceptions, Experiences, and Responses to the Great Recession in Europe.London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2018) "Citizens and the Crisis: The Great Recession as Constraint and Opportunity" in Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (eds) Citizens and the Crisis: Perceptions, Experiences, and Responses to the Great Recession in Europe.London: Palgrave Macmillan
  • Grasso, M. T. (2016) "Political Participation." In Heffernan, R., Cowley, P. & Hay, C. (eds) Developments in British Politics 10. Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan.
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2016) "The Biographical Impact of Participation in Social Movement Activities: Beyond Highly Committed New Left Activism?" in Bosi, L., Giugni, M. and K. Uba (eds) The Consequences of Social Movements. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2015) “Austerity and Protest: Debates and Challenges ” in M. Giugni, and M.T. Grasso (eds) Austerity and Protest: Popular Contention in Times of Economic Crisis. London: Routledge.
  • Grasso, M.T. and Giugni, M. (2015) "Are Anti-Austerity Movements ‘Old’ or ‘New’?" in M. Giugni, and M.T. Grasso (eds) Austerity and Protest: Popular Contention in Times of Economic Crisis. London: Routledge.
  • Giugni, M. and Grasso, M.T. (2015) “Austerity and Protest: Lessons and Future Research” in M. Giugni, and M.T. Grasso (eds) (forthcoming) Austerity and Protest: Popular Contention in Times of Economic Crisis. London: Routledge.
  • Dunn, A., Grasso, M. T. and Saunders, C. (2014) "Who agrees that "having almost any job is better than being unemployed"?" in A. Dunn, Rethinking Unemployment and the Work Ethic, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Book Reviews

  • Grasso, M. T. (2018) Book Review: Bessant, J., Farthing, R. and Watts, R. The Precarious Generation: A Political Economy of Young People (Routledge, 2017), British Journal of Sociology https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12379
  • Grasso, M. T. (2018) Book Review: Jon Gunnar Bernburg, Economic Crisis and Mass Protest: The Pots and Pans Revolution in Iceland (Routledge, 2016) & Donatella Della Porta, Joseba Fernandez, Hara Kouki, Lorenzo Mosca, Movement Parties Against Austerity (Polity, 2017), Acta Sociologica https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699318769178 

Research Reports

  • Grasso, M. T. (2013) What are the distinguishing generational, life course, and historical drivers of changing identities? Future Identities: Changing identities in the UK – the next 10 years. Foresight: The Future of Identity in the UK. London, The Government Office for Science. Download (PDF, 0.3 MB) 
  • Grasso, M. T. (2011) [with the assistance of J. Rose and the Committee’s Research Advisory Board] Survey of Public Attitudes Towards Conduct in Public Life 2010. Surveys of Public Attitudes Towards Conduct in Public Life. London, Committee on Standards in Public Life. Download (PDF, 1.3 MB)

Supervision

Current PhD students:

At QMUL:

  • The influence of competing identities on political information processing: An empirical analysis, Yara Sleiman (First Supervisor with Sofia Collignon), HSS Scholarship
  • Whose Democracy? A study of views from Norwich and the surrounding ‘back-water’ areas, Sarah Tustin (Second Supervisor with Javier Sajuria)
  • Understanding European far right party-movement relations in the anti-Islamic turn, Ziyi Huang (Second Supervisor with Stijn van Kessel) 

At Sheffield:

  • Drawing Lines: Symbolic Politics and the Construction of Political Permissibility, Ahmed Bastaki (Second Supervisor)

Previous PhD students:

At Sheffield:

  • Conceptualising Party Political Ideology: An Exploration of Party Modernisation in Britain, Dr Katharine Dommett, Awarded 2012 (Second Supervisor since Sept 2011, with Colin Hay).  
  • The generational and social class bases of pro-democratic culture in Turkey: a quantitative analysis with WVS data, Dr Murat Inan, Awarded 2016 (First Supervisor).
  • Disaggregating authoritarianism: The effects of territorial dispute involvement on regime survival and democratisation in four types of autocracies, Dr Barbara Yoxon (née Buraczynska), Awarded 2017 (First Supervisor). *** Winner of the BISA Prize for Best PhD Thesis 2018 and Andrew Gamble Prize for an Outstanding Thesis 2017 ***
  • The Dynamics of Youth Political Participation in Southeast Asia: The Case of Malaysia,Dr Norhafiza Mohd Hed, Awarded 2017 (First Supervisor).
  • Understanding the Emergence, Development and Trajectories of New Social Movements (NSMs) in Non-Post-Materialist Societies: The Case of the Animal Protection Movement (APM) in Malaysia, Dr Suzianah Ismail, Awarded 2017 (Second Supervisor with Alasdair Cochrane).  
  • How Has the Phenomenon of Revolutionary Groups Been Resilient in Greece? A Relational Study of Two Contentious Episodes (1965 – 2002), Dr Sotirios Karampampas, Awarded 2018 (First Supervisor).
  • Youth on the Margins and Girls on the Edge: A study of youth-derived and gender-derived inequalities in political organisational participation in the UK, Dr Katherine Smith, Awarded 2020 (First Supervisor). 
  • Variations in European populist anti-establishment parties, Dr Andrew Arnott, Awarded 2021 (Second Supervisor with Nasos Roussias)
  • The far-right movement in Great Britain, 2009-2019, Dr Andreas Dafnos, Awarded 2021 (First Supervisor) 
  • Social Capital in the South Caucasus: A comparative analysis of Azerbaijani and Georgian societies, Dr Adila Aliyeva, Awarded 2022 (First Supervisor) 

Maria would be interested in supervising ambitious and motivated research students in the following areas:

  • Political sociology and political behaviour
  • Political participation/inequalities and political disengagement
  • Political generations and political socialisation
  • Social/political attitudes and value change
  • Social cleavages and democracy
  • Young people's political participation
  • Radicalism, social movements and protest
  • Solidarity/social resilience in times of crisis 
  • Cross-national comparative research
  • Advanced quantitative methods and survey research

To discuss potential supervision, e-mail me a short research proposal (max 2,000 words) and your CV. See http://www.politics.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/index.html#3 for formal guidelines on the application process please.

Public Engagement

Maria’s research has appeared in The Times, The Financial Times, The Economist, The Independent, The Guardian, The Telegraph among others and she has advised the British Correspondent for The Economist on debates surrounding protest politics. She has authored commissioned reports for The Government Office for Science  and the Committee on Standards in Public Life and has been invited to write comment pieces for the LSE British Politics and Policy Blog and the Democratic Audit.

Professional Activities 

  • European Editor, Mobilization (since 2018, Deputy since 2013)
  • Advisory Board, Acta Politica  (2023-present)
  • Editorial Board, European Journal of Political Research (2018-2023)
  • Associate Editor, European Societies (2018-2021)
  • Associate Fellow, Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute ‐  SPERI (2016-2020)
  • Juror of the Demography Prize for Young Researchers 2016/17 “Measuring Intergenerational Justice” of the Intergenerational Justice Foundation
  • Advisory Board, INTERSECTION (Intergenerational Justice, Consumption and Sustainability)
  • Steering Committee, ESRC Project on The Long-term Impacts of 'Thatcherism': Crime, Politics and Inequality
  • Co-ordinator of Governance and Participation Research Group, Department of Politics University of Sheffield (2011-2014)
  • Visiting Research Fellow, Media, Movements & Politics (M2P) Research Group, University of Antwerp (2011)
  • Research Proposal Reviewer: British Academy, UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Fund for Scientific Research of Belgium (FNRS), Irish Research Council, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Polish National Science Center (Narodowe Centrum Nauki), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and others
  • Book Proposal Evaluator: Bristol University Press, Cambridge University Press, ECPR Press, Edinburgh University Press, Palgrave MacMillan, Policy Press, Routledge, Sage
  • Reviewer for American Journal of Political Science, American Journal of Sociology, American Political Science Review, American Sociological Review, British Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Sociology, Comparative European Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Electoral Studies, European Journal of Political Research, European Political Science Review, European Sociological Review, Information, Communication, & Society, Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties, Journal of Politics, Political Behavior, Political Research Quarterly, Political Studies, Public Opinion Quarterly, Social Forces, Social Movement Studies, Sociological Forum, South European Society & Politics, West European Politics and others. 
  • Selected Invited Talks and Conference Participation:
    • Invited speaker, London School of Economics & Political Science, Dept. of Government, London, UK, 9 May 2024
    • Invited speaker, University of Oxford, Dept. of Sociology 25 th Anniversary Conference, Oxford, UK, 15 March 2024
    • Invited speaker, Les Rencontres de la Citoyenneté, Institute of Citizenship Studies (InCite)/Staff Seminar, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Geneva, Switzerland, 8 November 2023
    • Invited keynote speaker, ESA Youth & Generation RN30 Mid-Term Conference, Sardinia, Italy, 20-23 Sept. 2023
    • Invited speaker, University of Padova, Seminari di politica, Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche, Giuridiche e Studi Internazionali (SPGI), 31 May 2023
    • Invited keynote speaker, Political Culture in the UK, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany, 19-20 May 2023
    • Invited speaker, ESRC Connecting Generations Thought Leader, Resolution Foundation, London, UK 30 March 2023
    • Invited speaker (online), Workshop “The Politics of Solidarities: Analysing the Social and Political Glue that Tie Modern Democracies Together” ERC-project group POLITSOLID University of Duisburg-Essen, 28-30 April 2022
    • Invited speaker, Thatcherism Conference, British Academy, London UK, 27 February 2020
    • Project results presentation, EURYKA Project Meeting, Brussels, Belgium, 23-24 January, 2020
    • Project results presentation, EURYKA Project Meeting, Rhetymno, Greece, 17-18 October, 2019
    • Invited participant, Rustat Conference on Intergenerationality: how can we bridge generational divides?, University of Cambridge (Jesus College), UK, 21 June 2018
    • Inaugural Professorial Lecture, University of Sheffield, UK, 6 June 2018
    • One co-authored paper, 1968 Conference, Scuola Normale Superiore, Firenze, Italy, 23-25 May, 2018
    • One single-authored paper, EPSA 2017, Milan, 22-24 June, 2017
    • Invited seminar speaker, CMIST Seminars, University of Manchester Research Seminar, 20 June, 2017
    • Invited workshop participant/presenter, "Austerity and Civil Society” Workshop, Centre for the Study of Social & Political Movements, University of Kent, 10 March 2017
    • Invited seminar speaker, Politics and International Relations Seminar Series, Monash University, Melbourne, 15 December 2016
    • Invited Visiting Scholar Seminar, Deakin University, Melbourne, 14 December 2016
    • Invited panellist, REDI discussion Panel on quantitative research, Deakin University, Melbourne, 14 December 2016
    • Presentation of final project results, LIVEWHAT Final Conference, Brussels, 23 November, 2016
    • One co-authored paper, EPOP 2016 Conference, University of Kent, 9-11 September, 2016
    • Invited presenter, launch event of the Political Methodology Specialist Group of the PSA, British Academy, London, 25 November, 2015
    • Invited seminar speaker, Nuffield Politics Seminars, University of Oxford, 29 October, 2015
    • Two co-authored papers, Annual Conference of the Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (EPOP) Specialist Group of the PSA, Cardiff University 11-13 September, 2015
    • One co-authored paper, 5th Annual General Conference of the European Political Science Association (EPSA), Schloss Schonbrunn Vienna, 25-27 June, 2015
    • One single-authored paper, American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting and Exhibition, Washington D.C., 28-21 August, 2014 (accepted)
    • One single-authored paper, 4TH ANNUAL EPSA CONFERENCE, Edinburgh, June 19-21, 2014 Panel chair and presenter, XXVII Meeting of the Italian Political Science Association (SISP), University of Florence, 12-14 September, 2013
    • Invited workshop participant/presenter, New Forms of Citizenship for Democracy, CEVIPOF, SciencesPo, Paris, 27 June, 2013
    • Invited seminar speaker, School of Politics and International Relations Research Seminar (SPIRRS), University of Kent, 29 May 2013
    • Invited workshop participant/presenter, Comparative Protest Politics Workshop, University of Oxford, 27-28 May, 2013
    • Invited seminar speaker, Nuffield Politics Seminars, University of Oxford, January 29, 2013
    • Invited workshop participant/presenter, MOVEOUT- Network for the Study of Social Movement Outcomes Workshop, University of Uppsala, 6-8 September, 2012
    • Invited workshop participant/presenter. Beyond Political Socialization: New Approaches in Age, Period, Cohort Analysis, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, 16-17 March, 2012
    • Invited presenter, European Science Foundation (ESF) HumVIB Final Conference: Understanding European Diversity: Cross-National Analysis of Human Values, Attitudes and Behaviour, Berlin, 8-10 September, 2011
    • Invited workshop participant/presenter, International Sociological Association (ISA) PhD Lab, The Possibility of Sociology in the Era of Globalization, Shonan Kokusai Village, Hayama, Japan, October 2009
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