Zenia Hellgren
Associate Professor (AQU)
Doctor of Sociology (Stockholm University)
Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Department of Political and Social Sciences (UPF) and Barcelona School of Management (BSM), and Senior Associate Researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU Social Research).
Member of the research groups GRITIM-UPF and GRETA
Member of the Barcelona City Council's Anti-Racist Advisory Council
Presentation
I am a sociologist and migration scholar with an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach, combining perspectives from sociology and political theory. My research largely addresses the intersections between inequalities and diversity in European societies. In this framework, I empirically investigate key issues such as the policies and practices of diversity management; discrimination, racism and anti-racism; migrant labour and agency; and undocumented migration. Over the past ten years, I have developed an Action Research approach in several international research projects. My work aims to be transformative both at the academic and societal levels, and I collaborate regularly with policymakers and organized civil society to extend the impact of my work beyond academia.
New publications
Hellgren, Z. (2026). Research as Resistance: Antiracist Counternarratives and Transformative Action. Metapolis, 6 (2).
Hellgren, Z. (2026). Towards a common research agenda? Addressing political and epistemological tensions around scholarship on racial/ethnic discrimination. In A Research Agenda for Immigration Settlement and Adjustment, eds. K. Bruce Newbold and Mary Crea-Arsenio. Edward Elgar Publishing
Hellgren, Z, Rodríguez-Reche, C, Gabrielli, L, Habimana Jordana, T. (2026) Detect and Deactivate Systemic Discrimination: Handbook for institutions (ENG, CAT, SPA). Project UNDETERRED.
Zenia Hellgren
Department of Political and Social Sciences
Edifici Jaume I (campus de la Ciutadella)
Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27
08005 Barcelona
