Pere Ysas Solanes

Pere Ysas Solanes is Professor in the Department of Modern and Contemporary History at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona's Faculty of Humanities, specializing in 20th-century Spanish political history. With 235 research outputs and an h-index of 5, he directs the Grup de Recerca sobre Dictadures i Democràcies (GReDD) and serves as Principal Investigator for international projects including ARENAS (Analysis of and Responses to Extremist Narratives, 2023-2027).

His academic background includes:

• PhD in History from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1984)
• Doctorat in Filosofia i Lletres from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (1979)
• Degree in Filosofia i Lletres from Universitat de Barcelona (1977)

Ysas Solanes' research centers on political culture, particularly examining communist movements (66% fingerprint relevance), Spanish democratic transition dynamics, and Francoist regime social conflicts. His work bridges broad historical analysis with specific investigations into Catalan autonomy restoration and right-wing evolution in post-dictatorship Spain. Recent publications demonstrate evolving focus toward democratic memory studies and extremist narrative analysis.

His 15 most recent publications reveal consistent thematic development across decades, with increasing emphasis on comparative democratic transitions (Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Chile) and contemporary applications of historical frameworks to modern political challenges. Key subfields include Spanish right-wing politics (1977-1996), labor movement resistance during Francoism, and Catalan institutional history.

As active supervisor of 30 research projects, he mentors emerging scholars in modern Spanish history while leading major collaborations like the European Commission-funded ARENAS project analyzing extremist narratives through historical frameworks. His current grants include 'LA DERECHA EN LA ESPAÑA DEMOCRATICA' (2021-2025) and 'Sabadell: ciudadanía y libertades públicas' (2020-2022) focused on urban democratic memory models.

Within the Grup de Recerca sobre Dictadures i Democràcies, Ysas Solanes coordinates interdisciplinary teams examining dictatorship legacies and democratic consolidation processes. His leadership connects historical scholarship with contemporary policy challenges through projects analyzing social media's role in extremist narratives and urban spaces as democratic memory sites.