University of Bologna | School of Political Science
He is an Italian sociologist who has produced numerous theoretical and empirical works. He has proposed a general theory for the analysis of society called relational sociology. An auto-biographical chapter by Donati was included in the volume dedicated to some of the most important sociologists of the past (see Building a Relational Theory of Society: A Sociological Journey in Sociologists in a Global Age. Biographical Perspectives, ed. Matthew Deflem, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2007, pp. 159-174). From 1981 to 2016 he was Full Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Bologna. He was Director of CEPOSS (Centre for the Study of Social Policy and Health Sociology), President of the Degree Course in Sociology, and Coordinator of the Ph.D. in Sociology at the Department of Sociology of the University of Bologna.
He has had intense personal scientific exchanges with various internationally renowned sociologists, including Jeffrey C. Alexander, Niklas Luhmann, Margaret Archer. He was President of the AIS Associazione Italiana di Sociologia in the years 1995-1998 and member of the Board of the International Institute of Sociology (IIS) in the years 2001-2005. Since 22 December 1997 he has been a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He is Director of the National Observatory on the Family. He was a member of the scientific committee of Biennale Democrazia. Founder and Director of the journal ‘Sociology and Social Policy’, published by FrancoAngeli. Editorial Adviser of the journal ‘International Sociology’ Archived 30 November 2009 in Internet Archive. (EN) , ISA Journal, 1985-1996; Member of the International Advisory Board of the journal ‘Innovation’, Vienna, 1988-1996; Member of the Scientific Committee of the journal ‘Sociologia’, Istituto Luigi Sturzo, Rome (since 1995); Member of the Scientific Committee of the Journal ‘International Review of Sociology-Revue Internationale de Sociologie’ (IIS), University of Rome La Sapienza (since 2003); Member of the Scientific Committee of the Journal ‘Familia’, Instituto Superior de Ciencias de la Familia, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain (since 2005).
Received recognition from the UN as a distinguished expert member during the International Year of the Family (1994). Capri San Michele Prize (September 1997) for the book Christian Social Thought and Post-Modern Society (Ave, Rome, 1997). St. Benedict Prize for the Promotion of Life and the Family in Europe, IX edition (Subiaco, 9 May 2009). Doctorate honoris causa of the Pontifical Institute John Paul II for studies on marriage and the family, Pontifical Lateran University (Rome, 13 May 2009). 2009 Mario Macchi Prize awarded by the National Association of Catholic School Parents (AGESC) for social and cultural activities of major innovative interest. On 15 November 2017 Donati received his second doctorate Honoris Causa from the International University of Catalonia (UIC Barcelona). With this recognition, Pierpaolo Donati joins the list of honorary doctors at UIC Barcelona.
Through his research, Donati shows with specific empirical investigations how society can be understood and interpreted as a social relation, and not as a mere cultural product, or a mere communication, or even a mere influence of the social structure on human action (Structure and agency).
