Dr Alessandro Mazzola

Biography

Alessandro Mazzola was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Guildhall School from 2020 to 2022, working primarily on the AHRC-funded project entitled ‘Music for social impact: Practitioners’ contexts, work and beliefs’ (PI: John Sloboda). He remains connected to the project as an Honorary Research Associate.

He obtained his BA in Intercultural Communication and MA in Show Business and Media Sciences at the University of Naples Suor Orsola Benincasa, and his PhD in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Liège, Belgium. He is also affiliated to the Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM) at the University of Liège, and the Group for research on Ethnic Relations, Migration and Equality (GERME) at Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Alessandro’s own research focuses on the cultural expression and participation of immigrant minorities (Australia and Europe), the function of music in contexts of ethnocultural and political conflict (Italy and Belgium), and the public opinion and mobilisations concerning newcomers and asylum seekers (Europe). He is interested in the sociology of culture, and previous publications focus on music, the relationship between popular culture and power in contemporary societies, and the integration of minorities, with a particular focus on migration and the refugee question, and the political debate on populism, xenophobia and the extreme right.