Past Research

Alfio Cerami

My past research interests concentrated on five main areas:

1. Economic, Political and Social Transformations in Sub-Saharan Africa;
2. Economic, Political and Social Transformations in the Middle and North Africa (MENA);
3. Democratization and Consolidation of Democratic Institutions;
4. European Union Politics and Sociology of European Integration; and
5. Human and Socio-Economic Security.

 

1. Economic, Political and Social Transformations in Sub-Saharan Africa

Economic, political and social transformations in Sub-Saharan Africa was the first strand of my research activities. The countries under investigation included: West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, South Africa. Here, I was interested in the interaction between development economics, social protection policies and democratization. In 2013, have completed to write a single-author volume for Palgrave Macmillan entitled: ‘Permanent Emergency Welfare Regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Exclusive Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy’. Order available here.

2. Economic, Political and Social Transformations in the Middle and North Africa (MENA)

Economic, political and social transformations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) was the second strand of my research activities. The countries under scrutiny involved: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. Here, my primary attention was given to the reforms of the systems of social protection and the repercussions for the process of modernization, democratization and consolidation of democratic institutions.

3. Democratization and Consolidation of Democratic Institutions
Recognizing the profound significance of social and economic policies for the transition towards democracy, a significant part of my research activities was also devoted to democratization and consolidation of democratic institutions. Here, my primary attention was given to post-communist economies. More recenty, I focused on other transition and developing countries.

4. European Union Politics and Sociology of European Integration
My research activities also focused on European Union politics and sociology of European Integration. Here, I applied and expanded my early work on mechanisms of institutional change to the establishment of the European Union, of the European Economic and Monetary Union, as well as of the European Banking Union.

5. Human and Socio-Economic Security
Human and socio-economic security represented the final strand of my research activities. In this area, my investigations aimed at analyzing various challenges to human security in Western, as well as  in transition and developing countries.