Liliana Riga

Liliana Riga is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, specializing in art-historical sociology, comparative historical sociology, and social theory. Her work examines civil society dynamics, moral self-formation, and the intersections of ethnicity, class, and state power. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from McGill University, an M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley.

Her research explores complex themes such as the political subjectivity of refugees in Beirut, the theoretical foundations of civil society, and the historical sociology of nationalism. Recent work focuses on the aesthetic dimensions of refugeedom and the role of art in migrant identity formation. She teaches courses like 'The Modern Self and Art (Honours)', blending sociological theory with cultural analysis.

Key publications include The Bolsheviks and the Russian Empire (2012) and Young Refugees and Forced Displacement (2021). Her writing often bridges historical analysis with contemporary issues, such as U.S. exceptionalism, postcolonial state formations, and migration crises. Awards include the 2009 Honorable Mention from the American Sociological Association for her groundbreaking analysis of the Russian revolutionary elite.

Riga actively supervises PhD candidates in Sociology, focusing on comparative historical methods and critical theory. Her research has been supported by grants exploring topics like refugee agency in transnational contexts and the sociological implications of art practices in crisis zones.