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Staff Profile

Dr Pilar Morena d'Alò

ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow

Background

I am a political sociologist with a PhD in Sociology from Newcastle University. My work sits at the intersection of feminist theory, colonial and postcolonial legacies, and processes of racialisation, with a particular interest in nation-making, political representation, and the transnational circulation of ideas, practices, and political projects. I approach these questions through the lens of knowledge politics, examining how categories such as ‘identity’, ‘the people’, and ‘rights’ are produced, contested, and mobilised across institutional and movement contexts.


I previously completed an MSc in Sociology (Gender, Sexuality, Society) at the University of Amsterdam and a BSc in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Eastern Piedmont (Italy), as recognition of my undergraduate studies at the National University of Rosario (Argentina).


I also have substantial experience in and with community organising alongside academic research. I regularly collaborate with civil society organisations and with public and private institutions to design and deliver public engagement, dissemination, and educational initiatives across Europe and Latin America.


ORCID: 0000-0002-8271-9582

Research

Currently, I am developing two lines of inquiry. The first, building on my MSc and PhD research, examines how the turn to esoteric spiritualities, particularly the figure of the Witch, as a mode of decolonising knowledge and imagining more ecologically and socially just futures can over-rely on tropes of Indigeneity. In doing so, it risks leaving unaddressed settler colonial formations and racialisation in Latin America, while also reproducing nativist tendencies in Europe.


My second project, which I lead as Principal Investigator within a transnational collaboration, investigates the emergence of left-wing backlash against feminist, queer, and race-based theories and movements across Argentina, Southern Europe, and the UK. In particular, it analyses how ‘reasonableness’ and ‘the economy’ are mobilised within progressive spaces to displace accountability and recode feminism as responsible for reactionary backlash.

Teaching

Newcastle University (current): Co-module leader, SOC8054 ‘Theorising Gender and its Intersections’ (core MA Gender & Sociology; elective MA Sociology). Regular lecturing contributions across MA/BA Sociology.

Advance HE: Associate Fellow (AFHEA).

Italy (invited, ongoing): Lecturing and workshop contributions to BA programmes in Communication and Social Innovation (University of Turin; Institute of Advanced Arts and Design)


Newcastle University (2020–2025): Teaching & Marking Assistant across Stage 1–3 modules (crime, health, sexuality; research design and epistemology). Occasional lectures; delivery of Doctoral Training sessions.

Awarded the Jenny Halcrow Prize for Teaching Excellence in Sociology (2022; 2023).


University of Amsterdam (2019–2020): Junior Lecturer (TA-equivalent), Sociology of Sexuality.

National University of Rosario (2013–2016): Teaching Assistant, core modules including Political Theory and Sociological Theory.


Publications

  • Articles

  • Book Chapter

    • Vásquez Ladron de Guevara M, d'Alò PM. Indigenous Peoples' Human Rights and Health. In: Cees J. Hamelink, Dirk R. Essink, Marlies J. Visser, ed. Global Health and Human Rights: Principles and Practices. London: Routledge, 2024.

  • Report