Maria Dodaro

Maria Dodaro holds a MA in Economic and Social Sciences at the University of Calabria, with a dissertation dealing with social innovation and integrated development processes. Currently, she is a PhD Candidate in Urban Studies at the University of Milano-Bicocca and Sociology at the University of Barcelona (Joint Doctorate). Her doctoral research explores, in a comparative perspective, entrepreneurship support policies promoted by municipalities in the frame of urban activation policies for economic development and employment. The purposes are to investigate a) the ways local policy actors interpret, invalidate or reproduce the mainstream approaches to urban entrepreneurship policies and the role local politics plays in this respect; b) the implications these policies have in terms of the distribution of risks and opportunities for participants. To do so, it focuses on two European cities, Milan and Barcelona, and the experiences of one of the main target groups this kind of policy addresses, i.e. young people. During the visiting stay in Barcelona, she has conducted fieldwork research, based on qualitative research methods. Maria’s research interests include local welfare, public action, governance and social innovation.