Giorgio PIRINA

Education

2021 – Ph.D. in Sociology and Social Research. University of Bologna.

2016 – I level post-graduate degree in Labour Law and Social security. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

2016 – Master’s degree in Sociology. University of Padua

2013 – Bachelor’s degree in Sociological Sciences. University of Padua

National Scientific qualification

28/11/2023. Qualification as associate professor in the Italian higher education system, in the call 2021/2023 (Ministerial Decree n. 553/2021 and 589/2021) for the disciplinary field of 14/D1 - Economic sociology, sociology of work, urban and environmental sociology. (Academic Recruitment Field 14/D - Applied sociology, according to the national classification).

Current Position

11/2022 – Post-doctoral research fellow. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice - Department of Philosophy Cultural Heritage. EU funded project EXIT - Exploring sustainable strategies to counteract territorial inequalities from an intersectional approach. Grant Agreement No. 101061122

Previous Positions

01/2022 – 10/2022. Post-doctoral research fellow. Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage – Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Project: “Tempi di vita, conciliazione e vita quotidiana dei lavoratori dei servizi digitalizzati nello spartiacque della pandemia”.

04/2021 – 12/2021. Junior Researcher. Centre of Social Studies – University of Coimbra. EU funded project Plus - Platform labour in urban spaces: fairness, welfare, development. Awarding body: European Union, H2020 Research Programme H2020-SC6-TRANSFORMATIONS-2018. Grant Agreement No. 822638

Fellowships and Scholarships

11/2022 – Post-doctoral research fellow. Ca’ Foscari University of Venice - Department of Philosophy Cultural Heritage

01/2022 – 10/2022. Post-doctoral research fellow. Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage – Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

Participation in National and International Research Groups

2024 – current: Member of the international research group “Keep the City Ticking: Architectures of Fulfilment and the Infrastructures of Migration and Labour”, funded by Danish Research Council.

2022 – current: member of the Laboratory of Social Research (Laboratorio di Ricerca sociale - Laris) – Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

2022 – current: member of CRIAR - Centro di Ricerca Interateneo sulle Americhe Romanze

2022: affiliated researcher at Centre for Social Studies – University of Coimbra

2020 – current: research group C.I.Do.S.Pe.L. (Centro Internazionale di Documentazione e Studi Sociologici sui Problemi del Lavoro – International Centre of Documentation and Sociological Studies on labour Issues), Department of Sociology and Business Law – University of Bologna.

Organization of Conferences, Workshops and Other Research Meetings

Seminars and workshops:

November 2024 – Seminar title “Capitalismo delle infrastrutture. Continuità e discontinuità nell'organizzazione sociale” [Infrastructure Capitalism: Continuity and Discontinuity in Social Organisation], held at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), University of Padua. Convener: Giorgio Pirina. Speakers: Maura Benegiamo, Vando Borghi, Devi Sacchetto and Giorgio Pirina. Seminar funded by the School of Economics and Political Science – University of Padua.

May 2022 – July 2022 – Series of seminars “Beyond digital myths: work and nature in transition”, organized by C.I.Do.S.Pe.L. (Centro Internazionale di Documentazione e Studi Sociologici sui Problemi del Lavoro), held at the Department of Sociology and Business Law of the University of Bologna. Scientific and organisational committee (University of Bologna): Ch.mo prof. Vando Borghi, Laura Tanzini, Giada Coleandro, Gianmarco Peterlongo, Giorgio Pirina.

December 2020 – June 2021 – Series of seminars “Mappe del sociale.  Temi, problemi e linee di ricerca per esplorare il capitalismo delle infrastrutture” [Maps of the social. Themes, issues and research lines to explore the Infrastructures Capitalism], organized by Ph.D students of C.I.Do.S.Pe.L. (Centro Internazionale di Documentazione e Studi Sociologici sui Problemi del Lavoro), held at the Department of Sociology and Business Law of the University of Bologna. Scientific and organisational committee (University of Bologna): Ch.mo prof. Vando Borghi, Laura Tanzini, Giada Coleandro, Gianmarco Peterlongo, Giorgio Pirina.

January – February 2020 – Series of seminars “Capitalismo delle infrastrutture, infrastrutture dell’esperienza: antropocene, lavoro e città” [Infrastructure Capitalism, infrastructures of experience: Anthropocene, labour and city], organized by C.I.Do.S.Pe.L. (Centro Internazionale di Documentazione e Studi Sociologici sui Problemi del Lavoro), held at the Department of Sociology and Business Law of the University of Bologna. Scientific and organisational committee (University of Bologna): Ch. Prof. Vando Borghi, Dr. Marco Marrone, Gianmarco Peterlongo, Dr. Davide Olori, Giorgio Pirina, Dr. Gianluca De Angelis.

Co-organisation of conference session:

10th Ethnography and Qualitative Research International Conference, University of Trento, July 10-12, 2025. Session title: “The everyday lives of platform workers: Migration, precarity and Resistance”. Convenors: Francesco Pontarelli, Giorgio Pirina.

IX Sisec conference “Visibili Coe invisibili nel capitalismo che cambia: imprese, lavoro, territori e politiche”, University of Pavia, January 29th – February 1st, 2025. Session title: “Digitalizzazione, infrastrutture e sfide eco-sociali. Lavoro, conoscenza e voice nella ‘transizione giusta’”. Convenors: Maura Benegiamo, Vando Borghi, Giorgio Pirina.

VI Sisec conference “IL LAVORO DELLA TRANSIZIONE. Tecnologia, politiche ed ecologia del lavoro nel XXI secolo”. University of Bologna, June 8-11 2022. Session title: “Trasformazioni del capitalismo e del lavoro nella transizione ecologica. Filiere produttive, lavoro, platform economy e dilemmi ambientali”. Convenors: Domenica Farinella, Università degli Studi di Messina; Giorgio Pirina, Università di Venezia; Marco Alberio, Università di Bologna; Alessandra Corrado, Universitá della Calabria; Dario Padovan, Università di Torino; Federica Viganò, Libera Università di Bolzano; Valter Zanin, Università di Padova.

University Lectures and Seminars as Invited Speaker

20 June 2024. Seminar title: “Hyper-connectivity and Digital Propagation. Critical Reflections on the Socio-ecological Noxiousness of Digitalisation”, as part of the permanent seminar series at The Southern Centre for Digital Transformation, Department of Social Sciences – University Federico II of Naples.

11 May 2023. Lecture title: “The Ecological Cost of the Platform Economy”, within the course Ecology and Work in the Anthropocene (Festival of Sustainable Development 2023). Teaching coordinator: Prof. Emanuele Leonardi. Master's Degree in Sociology and Social Work, Department of Sociology and Business Law, University of Bologna.

22 May 2022. Lecture title: “Nature, Technology, and Human Work: Platform Capitalism”, within the course Laboratory for Scenario Production: Methods and Strategies. Teaching coordinator: Prof. Dario Padovan. Master's Degree in Communication, ICT, and Media (Class LM-59), Department of Culture, Politics and Society, University of Turin.

21 April 2022. Lecture title: “Digital Ideology, Material Exploitation. Conducting Research in the Phygital World: Interviews, Conversations, Observation, Shadowing”, within the teaching Qualitative Social Research Techniques. Course coordinator: Prof. Francesco Della Puppa. Master's Degree in Labour, Social Citizenship, Interculturality, Ca' Foscari University of Venice.

12 May 2021. Lecture title: “Nature, Technology and Human Work: Post-Capitalist Perspectives”, within the teaching Laboratory for Scenario Production: Methods and Strategies. Course coordinator: Prof. Dario Padovan. Master's Degree in Communication, ICT, and Media (Class LM-59), Department of Culture, Politics and Society, University of Turin.

13 October 2020. Lecture title: “The Geography of Video Games”, within the course Videoggames, Gamification, and New Cultural Media. Teaching coordinator: Dr. Emanuele Leonardi. Master's Degree in Journalism, Publishing Culture, and Multimedia Communication, Department of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Cultural Enterprises, University of Parma.

Participation in Conferences and Workshops

January 31st – February 3rd, 2024 (with Fabio Perocco). Presentation: “Disuguaglianze territoriali e ‘left-behindness’ in Italia. Un’analisi critica a partire dal progetto “Exit”. Convegno: Lavoro, imprese e territori tra prossimità e distanza. VIII convegno SISEC. University of Cagliari.

February 8-11th, 2023 (with Francesco Della Puppa e Fabio Perocco). Presentation: “Algochronos” in the lagoon platform economy: the case of migrant food delivery “walkers” in Venice. Convegno: Scienze sociali che cambiano per una società che cambia. VII convegno SISEC. University of Brescia.

June 14th – 17th, 2022 (with Giada Coleandro e Luca Onesti). Presentation: "Voicing" Earth. Extractivism in Portugal and the ambivalence of ecological transition. Conference: Will Achilles catch up with the tortoise? 14th conference of the European Society for Ecological Economics. University of Pisa.

April 21st – 23rd, 2022. The materiality of digital plaforms: the case of Uber in Portugal.  40th International Labour Process Conference (ILPC) - Labour Mobility and Mobilization of Workers. University of Padua.

February 23-28th, 2021. Digital platforms and cities. The cases of Bologna city of food and Lisbon tvde service.  IV ISA Forum of Sociology Challenges of the 21°century: democracy, environment, inequalities, intersectionality. Porto Alegre.

September 17-19th, 2020 (With Emanuele Leonardi) “Uber in the Portuguese gig economy. A Laboratory for platform capitalism”. XIII Conferenza ESPAnet Italia: Il Welfare State di fronte alle sfide globali. Cà Foscari – Venezia.

January 30th – February 1st, 2020 (With Emanuele Leonardi) “Digital platforms and cities: the case of Uber service in Lisbon”.  IV Convegno Sisec: La riscoperta del valore. Politeismo e ibridazione dei mercati. University of Turin.

October 14 –16th, 2019. “O trabalho decente na epoca da uberização”.  XII Reunião Científica Trabalho Escravo Contemporâneo e Questões Correlatas, organizzata dal GPTEC (Grupo de Pesquisa sobre o Trabalho Escravo Contemporaneo) del nucleo de Estudos de Políticas Públicas em Direitos Humanos Suely Souza de Almeida      Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro – Rio de Janeiro

August 20 – 23rd, 2019. “Digital platforms and cities: the cases of Bologna city of food and Lisbon TVDE service”.  14th Conference of the European Sociological Association, Europe and beyond: Boundaries, Barriers and Belonging             University of Manchester e Manchester Metropolitan University – Manchester.

October 14 –16th, 2018. “Degradação do trabalho no capitalismo de plataformas: o caso de coltan”.  XI Reunião Científica Trabalho Escravo Contemporâneo e Questões Correlatas, organizzata dal GPTEC (Grupo de Pesquisa sobre o Trabalho Escravo Contemporaneo) del nucleo de Estudos de Políticas Públicas em Direitos Humanos Suely Souza de Almeida Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - Belo Horizonte

February 21 – 23rd, 2018 “Piattaforme digitali e uberizzazione: un’analisi della materialità sociale”. Conference: Territori, mobilità, lavori. University of Padua

Participation in the Editorial Board of National or International Scientific Journals

2023 – current: In-House Editorial Assistant of the Jounral Inequalities (Ca’ Foscari)

2023 – current: Member of the Scientific Committee of “Ecologia politica” Publishing series (Ortothes)

2022 – current: member of editorial board of “Ritratti” Publishing series (Rosenberg & Sellier)

Other relevant academic experiences

Research collaboration:

09/2024 – 12/2024 – Research collaborator in the PRIN project 2022 “Migrant Digital Work (MiDi Work)”, Prot. 2022Z2T23H, CUP: H53D23006030006, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage – Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Activities performed: Development of qualitative methodological tools and analysis of qualitative data on the topics of digital labour and food delivery among migrants.

Visiting researcher:

11/04/2023 – 03/05/2023 – Visiting scholar at the Faculty of Social Sciences – University of Helsinki. Supervisor: Prof. Lena Näre. Invited scholar within the project “Tackling precarious and informal work in the Nordic countries” (Precanord). Lecture title: Digital Ideology, Material Exploitation: “The Capital-Work-Nature Contradiction in the Platform Capitalism”.

03/2019 – 10/2019 – Visiting student at the Social Science Institute – University of Lisbon. Supervisor: Prof. Chiara Pussetti. Research Project: Horizon 2020 funded project Rock – Cultural heritage leading urban futures. Grant Agreement No. 730280.

Teaching activities as lecturer

Academic Year 2024/2025:

Methodology of Social Research (MOD. B), cfu 6, hours 45. Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies – SPGI, First-cycle Degree D.M. 270/2004 Political Science, University of Padua

Teaching: Sociological laboratory II - Working Group, Department oh Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy.

Academic Year 2023/24

Teaching: Methodology of Social Research (MOD. B), cfu 6, hours 45. Department of Political Science, Law and International Studies – SPGI, First-cycle Degree D.M. 270/2004 Political Science, University of Padua.

Academic Year 2022/2023

Teaching: Teorie sociologiche II – Gruppo di lavoro – Classe 4 [Sociological Theories II – working group – class 4], bachelor’s degree in social sciences and social work, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Italy). Holder of the course: Dr. Francesco Della Puppa.

Supervision of graduate students

Academic Year 2023/2024 – co-supervision master’s degree dissertation. Master’s Degree (DM270) WORK, SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP, INTERCULTURALITY. Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

Academic year 2022-23 – co-supervision master’s degree dissertation. Master’s Degree (DM270) WORK, SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP, INTERCULTURALITY. Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

Memberships of scientific societies

2022 – 2023 – Member of European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE)

2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 – Member of Società Italiana di Sociologia Economica (Sisec)

2020 – 2021 – Member of International Sociological Association (ISA)

2019, 2020, 2024, 2026 – Member of European Sociological Association (ESA)

Pubblications

Book:

2022 - Connessioni globali. Una ricerca sul lavoro nel capitalismo delle piattaforme. Milano: Franco Angeli.

Peer-reviewed book chapters:

2024 – Un’analisi del governo del digitale. Riflessioni a partire dal food delivery a Venezia, pp. 77-97, In Cordova, G. & Sanò, G. (Eds.), Produrre e riprodurre soggettività nello scenario post-pandemico. Milano: Ledizioni.

2024 – (with Marco Marrone) A Variegated Platform Capitalism? Algorithms, Labour Process and Institutions in Deliveroo in Bologna and Uber in Lisbon, In Mezzadra, Sandro, Niccolò Cuppini, Mattia Frapporti & Maurilio Pirone (Eds), Capitalism in the Platform Age. Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49147-4_12

2024 - (with Beatrice Ruggieri) Sociologia dei disastri e transizione ecologica. L’approccio della preparedness, pp. 295-313. In Borghi, V. & Leonardi, E. (Eds) Il sociale messo in forma. Le infrastrutture come cose, processi e logiche della vita collettiva, Napoli-Salerno: Ortothes,

2023 - (with Marcela Soares) Reflexões sobre a plataformização do trabalho no Brasil e em Portugal. Opressão-exploração na divisão internacional do trabalho. In Figueira, R. R., de Ávila, F., Carvalho, J. L. S., Andrade, S. S., & Sudano, S. (Eds) Trabalho Escravo Contemporâneo: Fenômeno Global, Perspectivas Acadêmicas. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad Editora Ltda, 2023.

2023 - (With Marco Marrone and Gianmarco Peterlongo) Beyond the Myths of Digitalization: Labor, Space and Ecology in the Digital Age. In Carbonara, Emanuela and Tagliaventi, Maria Rita (Eds.) SME in the Digital Era. Cheltenham: Edgar Publishing.

2022 - (With Franco Tomassoni) Portugal: um labouratório para a Uber. In Pavoni, Andrea and Tomassoni, Franco (Eds.) A Produção de Mundo. Problemas Logísticos e Sítios Críticos. Lisboa: Cooperativa Outro Modo [Le Monde Diplomatique] (pp. 249-261).

2022 - O trabalho decente na época da uberização, In Figueira, Ricardo Rezende; Prado, Adonia Antunes; Mota, Murilo Peixoto (Eds.) Escravidão Ilegal: Migração, Gênero e Novas Tecnologias em Debate‏ (pp. 647-667). Rio de Janeiro: Mauad Editora Ltda.

2021 - Degradação do trabalho no capitalismo de plataformas. O caso de coltan, In Haddad, Carlos Henrique Borlido; Miraglia, Lívia Mendes Moreira; Figueira, Ricardo Rezende; Fernandes, Samuel Almeida (Eds) Discussões interdisciplinares sobre a escravidão contemporânea, (pp. 145-167, Belo Horizonte (MG): Carlos Henrique Borlido Haddad.

2020 - (With Luca Onesti) The Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Serra de Estrela, Between UNESCO Geopark and Lithium Mining. In Queiros, Antonio dos Santos (Ed.) Examining a New Paradigm of Heritage with Philosophy, Economy, and Education (pp. 205-222). Hershey PA, Usa: IGI Global, 2020.

Peer-reviewed articles:

2024 (with Marta Gibin) Il processo di sviluppo dei sistemi di IA: dal participation washing al digital inclusiveness, I Quaderni di Agenda Digitale, 18 (pp. 15-26). I Quaderni Fascicolo XVIII, settembre-dicembre 2024 - Agenda Digitale

2024 (with Giada Coleandro & Luca Onesti) "Voicing" Earth. Extractivism in Portugal and the ambivalence of ecological transition, Culture della Sostenibilità, 34 (pp. 69-84). DOI 10.7402/CDS.34.4

2024 – (with Francesco Della Puppa and Fabio Perocco) The time-space-energy nexus in the gig economy: the work and everyday lives of migrant food delivery ‘walkers’ in Venice. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50(15), (pp. 3822–3838). https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2379648

2024 – (with Francesco Della Puppa & Fabio Perocco) Lavoratori immigrati e lavoro digitale di piattaforma. percorsi teorici, lavorativi e urbani, Economia e società regionale, 1/2024 (pp. 27-40). DOI: 10.3280/ES2024-001003

2023 – (with Valentin Niebler, Michelangelo Secchi & Franco Tomassoni) The contradictory outcomes of ride-hailing regulation in Berlin, Lisbon and Paris, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 16(2), 2023, (pp. 289-301). https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsad007

2022 – Lavoro di piattaforma e indebolimento della società salariale. Il caso del food delivery bolognese, Sociologia del lavoro, n. 163/2022, (pp. 171-190). DOI: 10.3280/SL2022-163009.

2021 – (With Marco Marrone & Gianmarco Peterlongo) La classe operaia va nel cyberspazio. Il capitalismo di piattaforma oltre i miti della digitalizzazione, Economia e società regionale, n. 1/2021, (pp. 127-151). DOI: 10.3280/es2021-001011.

2020 – (With Emanuele Leonardi) Uber in the Portuguese gig economy: a labouratory for platform capitalism, Work Organisation, Labour & Globalisation, (pp. 46–63). DOI: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.14.2.0046.

2020 – Capitalismo delle piattaforme e materialità sociale. Degradazione del lavoro e della natura lungo la filiera del coltan, Culture della Sostenibilità, (pp. 1-21). DOI: 10.7402/cds.25.07.

2019 – Sharing economy e uberizzazione: uno sguardo d’insieme, The Lab’s Quarterly, (pp. 7-25). DOI: 10.13131/1724-451X.LABSQUARTERLY.AXXI.N4.7.