Daniela Pioppi

Daniela Pioppi serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean at the University of Naples 'L'Orientale', specializing in History of Islamic Countries (SSD L-OR/10) since November 1, 2014.

Her academic credentials include:

• Islamic Studies degree from Sapienza University of Rome (1997)
• MA in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS, University of London (1999)
• PhD in History, Institutions and International Relations of Non-European Countries from University of Pisa (2005)

Her research critically examines youth movements, social conflict, and political Islam across the Arab world, with extensive fieldwork in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and Jordan. She challenges dominant narratives on youth exclusion and extremism while exploring agency in social transformation, particularly through labor crises and revolutionary practices in Mediterranean contexts.

Her 71 publications (2018-2023) reveal consistent focus on Egyptian political history, Islamic movements, and youth transitions, blending historical analysis with contemporary political sociology. Key journals include Maghrebi Studies and Mediterranean Politics, where she contextualizes primary sources like al-Bannā's writings while analyzing women's voices in post-invasion Iraq and state fragmentation under Sisi.

Pioppi directs significant research initiatives including the EU-funded POWER2YOUTH project (2014-2017) on youth exclusion in Southeast Mediterranean, alongside three annual research grants from Sapienza University of Rome (2009-2014). Her teaching spans six graduate/undergraduate courses on Middle Eastern politics, contemporary Arab history, and modern Middle Eastern historiography.

She maintains active scholarly networks through editorial roles at The International Spectator and Studi Maghrebini, membership in the Italian Society for Middle Eastern Studies, and longstanding associations with CEDEJ in Cairo (2002-2004) and Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome (1997-2014).