Biography

Andrés Spognardi is a researcher at the Center for Social Studies (CES) at the University of Coimbra, where he is part of the «(Semi)peripheral Capitalism: Crises and Alternatives» research line. He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Mar del Plata in Argentina, a Master's in Cooperative Economics from the University of Bologna in Italy, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, also in Italy. His professional experience includes roles as a researcher at the National Research Council (CNR) in Italy and as a visiting researcher at Columbia University in the United States and the University of Valencia in Spain. Currently, he co-coordinates the Ph.D. Program in «Democracy in the 21st Century», offered through a partnership between CES and the Faculty of Economics (FEUC) at the University of Coimbra. Within this program, he serves as a professor for the course unit «Thesis Project», where he introduces students to the fundamentals of social and political research and mentors them in developing their thesis proposals. He also oversees the course unit «Thesis». His research interests focus on the politics of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), an alternative economic model that prioritizes social and environmental well-being over individual profits. In this field, he has been part of research teams and conducted projects in Argentina, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. His current research, funded by the Portuguese Foundation of Science and Technology, examines the role of SSE in transitioning to a more equitable and sustainable food system.