doc. Alessandro Testa, Ph.D.

Alessandro Testa is Associate Professor at Charles University and Research Associate at CEFRES. His research lies at the intersection of social and historical anthropology, with a focus on rituality, cultural heritage, social identity, and religious transformations in European history. He has conducted historical and ethnographic research in several countries and has held positions in the U.S.A. and Europe, where he has been teaching and supervising students since 2012.

Testa’s publications include five monographs, six edited volumes, and over ninety articles, chapters, and other works published in nine languages. He has also given some 300 invited lectures and conference presentations worldwide.

He has been the recipient of several competitive research grants, including a Lise Meitner Fellowship and an ERC CZ, and currently serves on the editorial boards of many scholarly journals. He has acted as evaluator for major funding bodies, including the EU and the ERC.

Research Areas: Social and Cultural Anthropology, History, Religious Studies, Ethnology of Europe, History and Anthropology of Religion, Historical Anthropology and Cultural History, Cultural Heritage Studies

Regional Areas: Europe (comparatively); Mediterranean, central, and post-socialist Europe, notably Italy, Austria, France, Catalonia (Spain), Czech Republic

Monographs

• Testa A. (2021). Rituality and Social (Dis)Order: The Historical Anthropology of Popular Carnival in Europe. Routledge.
• Testa A. (2024). Ritualising Cultural Heritage and Re-Enchanting Rituals in Europe. Carolina Academic Press.

Chapters in monographs

• Testa A. (2020). Events that want to become heritage: Vernacularisation of ICH and the politics of culture and identity in European public rituals. Heritage and festivals in Europe : performing identities (pp. 79-94).
• Testa A., & Köllner T. (2021). Introduction: Religion, Politics, and their Entanglements. Politics of Religion : Authority, Creativity, Conflicts (pp. 1-25).
• Testa A. (2023). The Ritual Making of Central Catalonia 1: National Identity and the Hanging of the Donkey. Popular Culture, Identity, and Politics in Contemporary Catalonia (pp. 35-54).
• Testa A. (2023). The Ritual Making of Central Catalonia 2: Comparses and the Dynamics of Inclusive Nationalism. Popular Culture, Identity, and Politics in Contemporary Catalonia (pp. 55-76).
• Testa A., & Vaczi M. (2023). Introduction: Popular Culture, Identity, and Politics in Contemporary Catalonia. Popular Culture, Identity, and Politics in Contemporary Catalonia (pp. 1-18).
• Testa A. (2025). Derivative and Associative Popular Frazerism: A Cultural Complex at Work in Late Modern Europe. Century of James Frazer’s The Golden Bough: Shaking the Tree, Breaking the Bough (pp. 291-306).
• Testa A. (2024). Can a Person have Pagan Beliefs without being Pagan?. Pagan Religions in Five Minutes (pp. 103-105).
• Testa A. (2024). "Is Carnival a Pagan Festival?". Pagan Religions in Five Minutes (pp. 148-150).
• Testa A. (2024). Is Christmas a Pagan Festival?. Pagan Religions in Five Minutes (pp. 145-147).
• Testa A. (2025). L’impact de la création de patrimoines immatériels dans différentes sphères sociales: le cas des carnavals et des « fêtes de transition » en Europe. Le patrimoine: nouveaux usages, nouvelles pratiques (pp. 47-68).
• Testa A. (2025). Ritualitat, ordre i desordre: els carnavals. La memòria dels Catalans (pp. 839-841).

Articles

• Testa A. (2020). Where have the gatherings gone? Reweaving the social fabric in the time of pandemic and interpersonal distancing. Social Anthropology, 28(2), 366-367. UT-WOS link
• Testa A. (2019). Doing Research on Festivals: Cui Bono?. Journal of Festive Studies [online], 1(1), 5-10.
• Testa A. (2019). Mumming in Europe, Frazer(ism) in Italy, and ʻSurvivalsʼ in Historical Anthropology: a response to Julian Whybra. The Morris Dancer [online], 5(6), 134-142.
• Testa A. (2021). Introduction: Recent Studies in the Anthropology of Eastern Christianities. Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 30(2), 141-143. UT-WOS link
• Testa A. (2020). Problematising Boundaries and 'Hierarchies of Knowledge' within European Anthropologies. Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 29(2), 114-122. UT-WOS link
• Testa A. (2021). The Anthropology of Cultural Heritage in Europe: A Brief Genealogy from the Desk (1970-2020) and Empirical Observations from the Field (2010-2020). Traditiones, Slovenian Journal of Ethnography and Folklore, 50(1), 15-28.
• Testa A. (2021). Zvířecí rituály v Evropě : masky a převleky za zvířata v evropských rituálech napříč stoletími. Dingir, 24(2), 49-52.
• Testa A. (2023). Re-thinking the concept of re-enchantment in Central-Eastern Europe. Religio, 31(1), 103-131.
• Testa A. (2024). Report on The International Interdisciplinary Workshop “Prague and its Myths”. Religio, 32(2), 349-352.
• Testa A. (2024). A Review Essay on Four Recent Reference Books on Magic. Religio, 32(2), 383-387.
• Isnart C., & Testa A. (2020). Reconfiguring traditions(s) in Europe: An introduction to the special issue. Ethnologia Europaea, 50(1), 5-19.
• Isnart C., & Testa A. (2020). Ethnology's hot notion? A discussion forum on how to return to "Tradition" today. Ethnologia Europaea, 50(1), 89-108.
• Ladykowska A., Teisenhoffer V., & Testa A. (2024). 'Re-enchantment' and religious change in former socialist Europe. Religion, 54(1), 1-20. UT-WOS link
• Kiliánová G., Muktupavela R., McDermott P., Demossier M., Testa A., McIntosh A., & Wilson T. (2019). A note of appreciation for Ullrich Kockel. Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 28(1), 8-14. UT-WOS link

Contributions in the conference proceedings

• Testa A. (2024). Tra arte e mitopoiesi: fare ricerca storico-antropologica in/sull'Alta Valle del Volturno imbattendosi nella figura di Moulin. Il solitario di Monte Marrone: Atti del I Convegno di Studi su Charles Moulin – 9-10 settembre 2023 (pp. 86-89).