Giulia Gozzini

Giulia Gozzini is a doctoral student and researcher at the Lund University, affiliated with the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies under the Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology. Her research focuses on the ideological and political evolution of contemporary Salafism and Sunni populism in Lebanon, particularly in Tripoli, using frameworks of religio-political populism and sectarianism.

• Education: Bachelor’s in International Relations from the University of Florence; Master’s in Middle East and North Africa Politics from the University of Turin.

Her project, Neo-Salafism in Northern Lebanon: when populism meets religion, explores how populist narratives intersect with religious dynamics. She actively participates in the Swedish Middle East and North Africa Network (SWEMENA) and presented at the Swemena Annual Conference in 2024. Her work includes analyzing the failure of modern nationalism in the Middle East and its impact on the rise of Political Islam.

Her research output includes the peer-reviewed article The Emergence of New Populisms in the Lebanese Sunni Landscape (2021), which contextualizes Salafism within Lebanese sectarian politics. Collaborations span institutions across Sweden and the MENA region.