Dr Pierre Monforte

Associate Professor

Room: 2.01. 107-111 Princess Road East
Tel: +44 (0)11-6252-2780 (direct line)
Email: pm260@le.ac.uk

Personal details

• MA (Université Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne)
• PhD (European University Institute, Florence)
• Post-doctoral fellowship (Université de Montréal)
• FHEA

Teaching

Undergraduate

• SY1015: Ethnicity and Society
• SY3092: Social Movements and Collective action
• SY3042: Undergraduate Research Project

Postgraduate

• SY7038: Digital Politics
• Supervision of Masters and PhD Theses

Administrative duties

• Programme Director: MSc in Social Research

Research

My research is broadly situated within the field of political sociology. I focus primarily on civil society and social movements, with a particular emphasis on movements of migrants. I have carried out empirical research on the mobilizations of asylum-seekers and refugees in France, Germany, and at the European Union level, from a comparative perspective. Recently, I have also analysed the mobilizations of undocumented migrants in Canada. I examine theoretical and empirical questions on immigration, citizenship, European politics, and the representation of interests at various levels of governance in a context of europeanization.

Current research projects

• The Frames of Altruistic Action
• Research team: Pierre Monforte (PI), Estelle D'Halluin (Université de Nantes, Co-I), Gaja Maestri (University of Leicester, PDRA), Elsa Rambaud (Université de Nantes, PDRA)
• Duration: January 2017 - December 2019
• Funder: Economic and Social Research Council (ES/N015274/1), £410K
• Website: https://altruism.hypotheses.org

This project aims to question current debates on the 'migration crisis' and how ideas of hospitality, altruism, solidarity, care, or compassion are constructed and enacted. Through the focus on volunteers involved in charities and networks active in the pro-asylum sector, we aim to analyse how individuals reflect upon their engagement processes and define the practices, values and ethos that relate to their collective action. The project is based on a comparative approach and on qualitative research methods: we will analyse volunteers’ reflections about their engagement in two contrasted settings (France and the United Kingdom).

• The UK Citizenship Process: Understanding Immigrants' Experiences
• Research team: Leah Bassel (PI), Pierre Monforte (CoI), David Bartram (CoI), Barbara Misztal (CoI)
• Duration: September 2013-August 2017
• Funder: Economic and Social Research Council (ES/K010174/1), £439K

This project analyses the ‘assimilationist turn’ in British immigration and integration policies, through a focus on immigrants’ lived experience of one of its principal instruments, the ‘citizenship process’. This project adopts a comprehensive approach to these issues, examining the lived experiences of the citizenship process as a whole via interviews with people about their experiences with preparation courses and their participation in the citizenship tests and ceremonies in Leicester and London. To analyse the effects of the process on the longer term, statistical analysis of survey data are also being undertaken. The overall goal is to learn about immigrants' perceptions and experiences of this process, to understand how it affects their sense of belonging, political participation and subjective well-being (happiness).

Publications

Books

• Monforte, Pierre (2014), Europeanizing Contention. The Protest against ‘Fortress Europe’ in France and Germany, Oxford: Berghahn Books. Reviews in: Social Movement Studies; Contemporary Sociology; H-France Review

• Bartram, David, Maritsa Poros and Pierre Monforte (2014), Key Concepts in Migration, London: Sage.

Journal articles

• Monforte, Pierre (2019), "From compassion to critical resilience: Volunteering in the context of austerity", The Sociological Review (online first).
• Monforte, Pierre, Leah Bassel and Kamran Khan (2019), “Deserving citizenship? Exploring migrants' experiences of the 'citizenship test' process in the United Kingdom”, British Journal of Sociology, 70(1): 24-44.

• Bassel, Leah, Pierre Monforte and Kamran Khan (2018), 'Making Political Citizens? Migrants' Narratives of Naturalization in the United Kingdom', Citizenship Studies, 22(3): 225-242.

• Monforte, Pierre (2016) 'Le Royaume Uni: La Tentation d'Une Ile', Plein Droit, 111(4): 11-15.

• Monforte, Pierre (2016) 'The Border as a Space of Contention. The Spatial Strategies of Protest Against Border Controls in Europe', Citizenship Studies, 20(3-4): 411-426.

• Monforte, Pierre (2014) 'The Cognitive Dimension of Social Movements’ Europeanization Processes', Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 15(1): 120-137.
• Monforte, Pierre and Pascale Dufour (2013) 'Understanding Collective Actions of Undocumented Migrants in a Comparative Perspective: Protest as an Act of Emancipation', European Political Science Review, 5(1): 83-104.
• Monforte, Pierre and Pascale Dufour (2011) 'Mobilizing in Borderline Citizenship Regimes: A Comparative Analysis of Undocumented Migrants’ Collective Actions', Politics and Society, 39(2): 202-232.
• Monforte, Pierre (2010) 'Le Secteur Associatif Face aux Politiques Européennes d’Immigration et d’Asile: Quels Acteurs pour Quels Modes d’Européanisation?', Politique Européenne, 31(2): 119-145.
• Monforte, Pierre (2009) 'Social Movements and Europeanization Processes: The Case of the French Associations Mobilizing Around the Asylum Issue', Social Movement Studies: Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest, 8(4): 409-425.
• Delouvin, Patrick, Pierre Monforte and Catherine Teule (2005) 'Lourdes Menaces sur le Droit d’asile en Europe', Hommes et Migrations, 1253(1): 98-104.

• Monforte, Pierre (2004) 'L'harmonisation Communautaire: Objectif ou Alibi?', Plein Droit, 59-60(1): 46-50.

Book chapters

• Monforte, Pierre (forthcoming), "From 'Fortress Europe' to 'Refugees Welcome': Social movements and the political imaginary on European borders", in Cristina Flesher Fominaya and Ramón Feenstra (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements, London: Routledge.
• Monforte, Pierre (2019), “La Crise de l’Accueil au Royaume Uni: Redéfinition des Frontières et Maintien à Distance des Exilés”, in Annalisa Lendaro, Claire Rodier and Youri Lou Vertongen (eds.), De la Crise des Réfugiés à la Crise de l’Accueil: Frontières, Droit, Résistances, Paris: La Découverte.

• Monforte, Pierre and Laura Morales (2018), “The Participation, Mobilisation and Political Representation of Migrants in Europe”, in Agniezka Weinar, Saskia Bonjour and Lyubov Zhyznomirska (eds.), The Routledge Handbook on the Politics of Migration in Europe (Abingdon: Routledge).
• Monforte, Pierre (2013) 'Amnesty International', in Snow, David, della Porta, Donatella, Klandermans, Bert and MacAdam, Doug (eds.) The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Social and Political Movements (Oxford: Blackwell).
• Monforte, Pierre (2013) 'Asylum Rights' Protest Campaigns', in Snow, David, della Porta, Donatella, Klandermans, Bert and MacAdam, Doug (eds.) The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Social and Political Movements (Oxford: Blackwell).
• Monforte, Pierre (2010) 'Transnational Protest Against Migrants' Exclusion: The Emergence of New Strategies of Mobilization at the European Level', in Chabanet, Didier and Royall, Frédéric (eds.) Mobilizing Against Marginalization in Europe(Cambridge Scholars Publishing).

Other publications

• Bassel, Leah, Pierre Monforte, David Bartram and Kamran Khan (2017), Final ESRC Project Report and Executive Summary 'The UK Citizenship Process: Exploring Migrants' Experiences', http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/sociology/research/uk-citizenship-process/final-report This report was published as evidence by the House of Lords Select Committee on Citizenship and Civic Engagement (refs. CCE0145; CCE0262).

• Monforte, Pierre (2012), 'Review of Immigration and Conflict in Europe by Rafaela M. Dancygier', Social Forces.
• Guiraudon, Virginie,  Ieva Kalnina, Megan Metters and Pierre Monforte (2006) 'Immigration, Access to the Labour Market and Integration of Migrant Workers in the EU: A Comparative Analysis', Research Report, European University Institute, Florence. [Translated into Italian as 'Immigrazione, Accesso al Lavoro ed Integrazione dei Lavoratori non Comunitari nell’Unione Europea: un’analisi Comparata].

Supervision

I am happy to supervise PhD students interested in political sociology, with particular interests in social movements, immigration or European studies.

I am particularly interested in supervising students using qualitative methods and comparative approaches.

• find out more about applying for a PhD