Biography

I am a political theorist interested both in theoretical and applied issues within the discipline. As to the former, I have a special interest in the justification of normative principles, the methodology of constructivism, the role of moral intuitions in constructivism, and the scope of principles of justice.
My doctoral research, in particular, focused on the concept of "basic structure of society" - the set of major socio-economic and political institutions of a society - in Rawls' work, and on how such a notion could be interpreted in a way that would make it worth defending.
My research develops an argument that defends the exlusive focus on institutions in discourses of social justice as a compelling implication of the endorsement of a constructivist methodology.
As to my interest in applied political theory, I have worked on the relationship between institutions and social norms and on the role of institutions in maintaining social justice.
I am currently mainly interested in issues of transnational socio-economic justice, with a particular focus on the interdependence between domestic and international justice.
In my current research I analyze to what extent the current global order can be described as raising problems of global background justice between states and between other global actors interacting with one another.
Being interested in the connection between empirical and normative research on issues of international justice, I am developing a new, interdisciplinary project, where my theoretical account of global background justice is applied to four international public policy issues: tax competition, escalating tariffs, company relocations, and labour standards in countries with weak regulatory capacities.
I hold a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Milan and a D.Phil. in Politics from Oxford, and held temporary lecturerships at Oxford and University College London. In 2008-2009 I was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, and liked it so much that I decided to stay another year!
I am a founding member of the Global Justice Network and an editor of Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric.