Welcome to Francesco Cerchiaro, visiting researcher at Gemass until mid February

Francesco Cerchiaro is an FWO senior fellow at the Centre for Sociological Research (CeSO) with a project on the role of mixed couples’ associations in the public sphere (in Italy, France and Belgium). He teaches the bachelor course “Culture, Identity and Alterity” at KU Leuven (Belgium) and the MA course “Imaginaries of Alterity” at the University of Padua (Italy).

Scientific interests and background

Francesco is a cultural sociologist with a specific interest in the intersection of family, migration and religion.

His research is characterized by the use of qualitative methods, in particular of ‘life stories’ and ethnographic observation. Since 2010 his main focus on mixed families and, in particular, on Christian-Muslim families, represents a way to examining cultural diversity and the wider social changes related to family, Muslim migration and religious pluralism in Europe. In Italy he was also involved in research on second-generations of immigrants and the role of schools in the debate on citizenship.

Next to his research on mixed families he has also conducted ethnographic fieldwork on religious pilgrimage in Italy and on the phenomenon of the so-called “off-gridders”. This last research exemplifies his long-term vision aimed to study the romantic turn and its cultural consequences in the West by means of the ways people re-signify religious symbols and cultural practices.

Previously, from February 2018 until February 2020, he was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellow at Ku Leuven. With the project entitled “ReMix – Christian-Muslim families dealing with religious pluralism in everyday family life: Religious reconstruction in religiously mixed marriages”, he investigated the daily life of Christian-Muslim couples in Belgium and France.

Francesco has a PhD in Social Sciences (2013) and Bachelor’s (2005) and Master’s (2008) degrees in Political Science, International Relations and Human Rights from the University of Padua. In Padua, at the Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology (FISPPA), he worked as a post-doctoral researcher from 2016 until 2018.

Key publications

Journal article:

Cerchiaro, F. and Odasso, L., (2021). ‘Why do we have to circumcise our son?’ Meanings behind male circumcision in the life stories of mixed couples with a Muslim partner, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, (online first). https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2021.1926941

Cerchiaro, F. and Houtman, D., (2021). “Stage Fright and Romanticism in Il Giro del Mondo”, Annals of Tourism Research, 89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2021.103201

Cerchiaro, F. (2021). Dissonant masculinities? Migration, emotions and masculinities in marriages between Italian women and Moroccan men living in Italy. Journal of Gender Studies, 30(3), 256-269. (online first, 24 February 2020). https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2020.1730162

Cerchiaro, F. (2020). Identity loss or identity re-shape? Religious identification among the offspring of ‘Christian–Muslim’couples. Journal of Contemporary Religion, 35(3), 503-521. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2020.1839250

Cerchiaro F., Houtman D., Aupers S., (2015). Christian-Muslim couples in the Veneto region, northeastern Italy. Dealing with religious pluralism in everyday family life. Social Compass, 62(1), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0037768614561151

Book:

Cerchiaro F., (2016). Amori e confini. Le coppie miste tra islam, educazione dei figli e vita quotidiana. [Love and borders. Mixed couples amongst Islam, children’s education and everyday life]. Guida Ed., Napoli. https://www.guidaeditori.it/prodotto/amori-e-confini/