Donatella Della Porta is Professor of Political Science, Founding Dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences and Director of the PhD program in Political Science and Sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, where she also leads the Center on Social Movement Studies (Cosmos).

Michael Keating is Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of Aberdeen `and General Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Academy of Social Sciences.

Mario Pianta is Professor of Economic Policy at Scuola Normale Superiore, Classe di Scienze Politico-Sociali in Florence, head of the 'Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Institute of Advanced Studies', President of the Società Italiana di Economia and Co-chief Editor of the journal Structural Change and Economic Dynamics.