Giovanni Picker

Giovanni Picker is a Senior Lecturer in Sociological & Cultural Studies at the University of Glasgow. He holds a Ph.D. from Milan-Bicocca University (2009) and a B.A./M.A. from the State University of Milan (2004). His research focuses on urban sociology, race, colonialism, and social inequality, particularly examining how race and racism intersect with urban politics and everyday life in Europe. He has conducted fieldwork across cities in Kosovo, Romania, Italy, France, the UK, and Germany.

Key publications include the monograph *Racial Cities: Governance and the Segregation of Romani People in Urban Europe* (2017) and co-edited volumes such as *European Cities: Modernity, Race and Colonialism* (2022). He currently writes a global history of race through the lens of European urbanism. His work critiques Western-centric urban theory and explores postcolonial and decolonial frameworks.

Picker supervises PhD students researching race, schooling, Roma activism, and climate crisis. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and co-leads courses on global inequalities, racial justice, and urban ethnography. His edited journals include *Racial Urbanities* and *Durable Camps*, addressing informality, statecraft, and marginalized urban spaces.

Research interests extend to ethnographic theory, policy anthropology, and the histories of socialism/postsocialism. He actively participates in anti-racism initiatives, including the Black Europe Summer School. His work bridges empirical research with critical theoretical frameworks to address systemic racial and spatial inequalities.