Researcher

SHORT CV

Giorgos Katsambekis is a Researcher in Comparative Politics at Greece’s National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) and a Visiting Fellow at Loughborough University, UK. Before joining EKKE, he was Lecturer in European and International Politics at Loughborough University (2017-2022). Giorgos completed his PhD in political science at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2015, where he later worked as a postdoctoral researcher and an adjunct lecturer. He has also worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of the Aegean.  He has participated in major research projects, like POPULISMUS: Populist Discourse and Democracy (2014-2015) and founded and convened the Populism Research Group at Loughborough University (2018-2022). Between 2019 and 2022, he served as co-convener of the Populism Specialist Group of the British Political Studies Association (PSA). His research interests are located at the intersections of comparative politics and critical political theory, with an emphasis on political discourse analysis and populism. His published work has focused on political parties, social movements, Greek politics and the European radical left, but also on contemporary theories of democracy, nationalism and collective identity formation.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Political Discourse Analysis
• Political Ideologies
• Populism
• Political Parties
• Comparative Politics
• Greek Politics
• Radical Left
• Social Movements
• Theories of Democracy
• Collective Identities

SELECTED PROJECTS

• ‘POPULISMUS: Populist Discourse and Democracy’ (2014-2015), Action ‘ARISTEIA II’, Operational Program ‘Education and Lifelong Learning’ (NSRF 2007-2013). Role: Doctoral Researcher.
• ‘Transformations of national and popular sovereignty in times of crisis’ (2018-2019), Operational Programme ‘Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning’ (NSRF 2014-2020). Role: Post-Doctoral Researcher.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Giorgos Katsambekis, ‘Constructing “the people” of populism: a critique of the ideational approach from a discursive perspective’, Journal of Political Ideologies, 27(1): 53-74, 2022.
• Giorgos Katsambekis, Christos Iliadis, Ioannis Balampanidis, Evthymios Papataxiarchis, ‘Emotions of protest in times of crisis: representation, dislocation and remedy in the Greek “squares movement”,’ Political Research Exchange, 4(1), 2022, DOI: 10.1080/2474736X.2022.2035192.
• Giorgos Katsambekis & Yannis Stavrakakis (eds), ‘Populism and the Pandemic: A Collaborative Report’, POPULISMUS Interventions No. 7 (special edition), 2020.
• Giorgos Katsambekis & Alexandros Kioupkiolis (eds), The Populist Radical Left in Europe, London: Routledge, 2019.
• Giorgos Katsambekis, ‘The populist surge in post-democratic times. Theoretical and political challenges’, The Political Quarterly, 8(2): 202-210, 2017.
• Giorgos Katsambekis & Yannis Stavrakakis, ‘Revisiting the Nationalism/Populism Nexus: Lessons from the Greek Case’, Javnost - The Public, 24(4): 391-408, 2017.
• Giorgos Katsambekis, ‘Radical Left Populism in contemporary Greece: SYRIZA’s trajectory from minoritarian opposition to power’, Constellations, 23(3): 391-403, 2016.

EDUCATIONAL WORK

• 2017 – 2022: Lecturer, Department of International Relations, Politics and History, Loughborough University (modules taught: The Populist Challenge to Democracy – PIC680, Comparative European Politics – PIB604-620, Smart Scholarship – PIA001, Dissertation – PIC800)
• 2016 – 2017: Adjunct Lecturer, School of Political Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (module taught: Contemporary Issues of Democracy – ΚΕ0Ε42)