Short Bio
Dr. Marilena Simiti is Professor of Political Sociology in the Department of International and European Studies at the University of Piraeus. She holds a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, an MA in Political Science from Columbia University, and a PhD in Political Sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has held visiting positions at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford (Academic Visitor, 2022), and the European Institute of the LSE (Visiting Fellow, 2013). She is the author of Civil Society in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes in English, German, and Greek. She has presented her research at major international conferences (IPSA, ECPR, BISA, ESA, MGSA, PSA) and at Universities and Research Centers abroad, including Johns Hopkins University–Universitat Pompeu Fabra Public Policy Center, Institut für Protest- und Bewegungsforschung (Berlin) and the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (Britain). Her work is featured in academic syllabi on political protest in Greece and internationally (Aarhus University, the University of California – Santa Barbara and NYUAD). The focus of her research lies in examining competing conceptualizations of civil society and alternative forms of political engagement within the field of civil society, such as non-governmental organizations, social movements, and urban riots.
Research Interests
Editorial board membership (peer-reviewed academic journals)
Peer Review and Refereeing Activity
Selected Keynote Addresses, Invited Talks, and Refereed International Conference Papers
Research Projects, Evaluation, and Advisory Roles
Academic Service, Governance, and Scholarly Networks
Publications
Simiti, M. (forthcoming). Greek civil society: Strong or weak? The multiple facets of civil society in the Third Hellenic Republic (1974–1992). In D. A. Sotiropoulos (Ed.), Civil society in the Third Republic, 1974–1992. Athens, Greece: The Hellenic Parliament Foundation. (In Greek)
Simiti, M. (2024). Disengaging from political activism: A critical review of the literature. The Greek Review of Social Research, 162, 3–28. https://doi.org/10.12681/grsr.36638
Simiti, M. (2020). Social movements. In K. Featherstone & D. A. Sotiropoulos (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of modern Greek politics (pp. 366–383). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Simiti, M. (2017). Civil society and the economy: Greek civil society during the economic crisis. Journal of Civil Society, 13(4), 357–373.
Simiti, M. (2016). Rage and protest: The case of the Greek Indignant movement. Contention: The Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Protest, 3(2), 33–50.
Simiti, M. (2016). Urbane riots in der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung: Die riots in England 2011 und die griechischen Dezemberproteste 2008 im Vergleich. Sub\urban: Zeitschrift für kritische Stadtforschung, 4(1), 31–52.
Simiti, M. (2016). Political crisis and new modalities of passive and flexible political participation. In A.-I. D. Metaxas (Ed.), Political science: An interdisciplinary and critical approach to political action (Vol. IV: Political sociology, pp. 289–306). Athens, Greece: Sideris. (In Greek)
Simiti, M. (2014). Voluntary organizations and the state in times of economic crisis. Greek Political Science Review, 42, 36–61. (In Greek)
Simiti, M. (2012). The volatility of urban riots. In H. Johnston & S. Seferiades (Eds.), Violent protest, contentious politics, and the neoliberal state (pp. 133–145). Burlington, VT & Surrey, England: Ashgate.
Simiti, M. (2010). Two facets of civil society: Struggles for Hegemony. In G. Voulgaris & L. Kotsonopoulos (Eds.), In the footsteps of Antonio Gramsci: Politics and culture from the nation-state to globalization (pp. 65–85). Athens, Greece: Themelio. (In Greek)
Simiti, M. (2009). Book review of The global role of Non-governmental Organizations: Potential and weaknesses in Global Governance, by C. Fragkonikolopoulos. Historein, 9, 239–243.
Simiti, M. (2008). Civil society in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. Athens–Komotini, Greece: Ant. N. Sakkoulas Publications. (In Greek)
Simiti, M. (2006). The role of Non-governmental organizations in Europe’s International development cooperation policy: Limits and prospects. In D. Xenakis & M. Tsinisizelis (Eds.), Global Europe: The international dimensions of the European Union (pp. 215–249). Athens, Greece: Sideris. (In Greek)
Simiti, M. (2003). The Contemporary Feminist Movement: Ideological divisions and political challenges. Civil Society, 9, 50–53. (In Greek)
Simiti, M. (2002). Civil society: New forms of collective action. Spoudaí, 52(4), 166–182.
Simiti, M. (2002). New social movements in Greece: Aspects of the ecological and feminist projects (Doctoral dissertation). The London School of Economics and Political Science, London, England.
Working Papers
Simiti, M. (2015). “Social need” or “choice”? Greek civil society during the economic crisis. Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe, GreeSE Paper No. 95, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Simiti, M. (2014). Rage and protest: The case of the Greek Indignant movement. Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe, GreeSE Paper No. 82, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Selected Scholarly Citations
Gonçalves, G., & Oliveira, E. (Eds.). (2023). The Routledge handbook of nonprofit communication. Routledge.
Maeckelbergh, M. (2022). Process-time and event-time: The multiple temporalities of prefiguration. In L. Monticelli (Ed.), The future is now: An introduction to prefigurative politics (pp. 204–216). Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529215687-020.
Kriesi, H., Hutter, S., Gessler, T., & Bojar, A. (2021). Contentious episodes in the age of austerity: Studying the dynamics of government–challenger interactions. Cambridge University Press.
Castells, M., Bouin, O., Caraça, J., Cardoso, G., Thompson, J., & Wieviorka, M. (Eds.). (2020). Europe’s crises. Polity Press.
Garth den Heyer. (2020). Police response to riots: Case studies from France, London, Ferguson, and Baltimore. Springer.
Jinia, N. J., Asaduzzaman, M., & Vartola, J. (2020). Empowerment of civil society. In W. Leal Filho et al. (Eds.), Reduced inequalities: Encyclopedia of the UN sustainable development goals. Springer.
Moran, M., & Waddington, D. (2020). Understanding urban riots. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Oxford University Press.
Padoan, E. (2020). Anti-neoliberal populisms in comparative perspective: A Latinamericanization of Southern Europe? Routledge.
Saunders, C., & Klandermans, B. (Eds.). (2020). When citizens talk about politics. Routledge.
Della Porta, D. (Ed.). (2017). Global diffusion of protest: Riding the protest wave in the neoliberal crisis. Amsterdam University Press.
