Paola was a Research Analyst for the UNRISD Gender and Development Research Programme from 2013 to 2016. She coordinated with Nitya Rao, UNRISD external coordinator, on the research project “
When and Why do States Respond to Women’s Claims? Understanding Gender-Egalitarian Policy Change in Asia”. She assisted Sarah Cook, former UNRISD Director, and Valeria Esquivel, UNRISD Gender and Development Research Coordinator, in other research projects and activities related to gender and development.
She completed her PhD at Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in 2014. Her thesis explores women’s labour participation in export-oriented textile industry in Tamil Nadu, India. During her PhD, she was visiting fellow at the University of Sussex, UK.
Paola has experiences in gender training among grassroots organizations and consultancy experiences in the field of Gender and Development. Between 2011 and 2014, she was member of the organising committee for an annual international conference (the Coffee Break Conference) with the aim to promote an interdisciplinary approach among the scholars working in Asia in different fields.
Her main research interest is gender and development with focus on issues of women and labour, social protection, social movements, and unpaid care work. During her time at UNRISD, Paola also developed a strong interest for knowledge transfer and research communication.
Peer-reviewed publications:
- “Feminist Mobilization to End Violence Against Women: Insights from Asia”, in Gender and Development, 2016 (forthcoming), with Nitya Rao
- “The Gender Analysis of Neoliberalism. An Introduction”, in Rivista di Studi Orientali [Journal of Oriental Studies], 2014, vol. LXXXVII: 224-28
- “Self-Help Groups and Women’s Empowerment Strategy. A Case Study from Tamil Nadu, India”, in Rivista di Studi Orientali [Journal of Oriental Studies], 2014, vol. LXXXVII: 247-63