Andrea APOLLONIO

Bio

Andrea Apollonio is a Research Fellow at the Institute for European Studies (IEE) and Cevipol, working on the project “RePoPe: Religion and Populism in the European Parliament” under the supervision of Prof. François Foret. Holding a PhD in Sociology, he specialises in European Studies and Memory Studies. His doctoral research examined memory politics in the European Parliament through an actor-centred sociological lens. With a Master’s specialisation in Anthropology, he conducted fieldwork in Okinawa, Japan, focusing on antimilitarism, identity, and memory. His broader research interests include collective memory and identity, symbolic politics, and political narratives.

CV

• Postdoctoral Research Fellow (05/2025–present) at Université Libre de Bruxelles, working on “Religion and Populism at the European Parliament”, supervised by Prof. François Foret.
   
• PhD in Social and Political Change (11/2021–04/2025) from the University of Turin (DCPS) and University of Florence (DSPS). Dissertation: “Politics of memory and narratives on history in the European Parliament. A sociological investigation.” Awarded with honours on 29/04/2025.
   
• Research Assistant (02/2025–04/2025) at Maastricht University, contributing to research and proposal design for a “Memory Studies Textbook” project supervised by Prof. Aline Sierp.
   
• Research Project Administrative Assistant (06/2024–06/2025) at the University of Florence, within the EU-funded ValEUs network focused on contestations to EU foreign policy.
   
• Academic Tutor and Teaching Assistant (10/2021–11/2024) at the University of Milan-Bicocca, assisting in teaching anthropology (theories and methods) and Japanese language and culture courses.

• Full CV

Areas of research

• Collective memory and identity
• Symbolic politics
• Political narratives
• EU and Japan

Research

My research focuses on the relationship between politics, symbols, and collective memory and identity. During my PhD, I explored the construction of a discourse on “European historical memory” within the IX Legislative Term of the European Parliament. This study highlighted the various forms of memory entrepreneurship, particularly examining the role of intra-institutional memory activism in shaping institutional narratives. Before this, my master’s research investigated the memory narratives and symbolic repertoire of the Okinawan antimilitarist movement. Through an analysis of the movement’s written outputs—especially its protest songs—I examined how memory and symbols are used to build shared frameworks and promote collective action and identity.

Publications

Apollonio, A. (2023). Memoria diabolica. Interpretare i conflitti sul passato, tra cancel culture e mutamento sociale. Cambio. Rivista Sulle Trasformazioni Sociali, 13(25), 101–118.

 

Apollonio, A. (2023). “Il mio cuore è nella terra di Yanbaru”. Antimilitarismo, simboli e memorie a Okinawa. Cambio. Rivista Sulle Trasformazioni Sociali, 13(26), 163–181.

 

Apollonio, A. (2022). The Struggle over Memory in Okinawa. Asia/AméricaLatina, vol. 7, nº 13, pp. 14-25

 

Apollonio, A. (2019). The Dilemma of European Identity. The Federalist, LXI, Single Issue, 45