SOCIOLOGIST · CONFERENCE CHAIR
Manuel García-Ruiz
CIES-Iscte · Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal
Manuel García-Ruiz is a sociologist and integrated researcher at CIES-Iscte. His work explores nightlife, festivals, tourism, culture-led urban transformations and research methodologies for studying the night. He is founder and coordinator of the International Night Studies Network (INSN) and coordinates ESA Research Network 40 – Sociology of Leisure and Tourism.
Full biography
He holds a PhD in Sociology and a postgraduate degree in Data Analysis from Iscte, a double MA in Communication Sciences and Cultural Studies from the University of Lisbon, and a BA in Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Alicante. His undergraduate studies included an academic stay at Paris Dauphine University – PSL, France.
His research spans four interconnected areas: nightlife, festivals, leisure and tourism; city branding, culture-led urban regeneration, artwashing and the commodification of arts and culture; art worlds, artistification and cultural production; and research methods, with particular emphasis on ethnography and mixed methods. His work addresses broader questions of touristification, cultural industries, queer cultures, public space and urban social change.
Alongside coordinating INSN and ESA RN40, García-Ruiz coordinates the Urban Ethnography Network (Etno.Urb) and LXNIGHTS fieldwork at NOVA University Lisbon. He is an alternate member of the Council for Professional Ethics of the Portuguese Sociological Association (2025–2027).
He serves on the editorial boards of Leisure Studies and the World Leisure Journal and is guest editor of the Tourism Geographies special issue “After Dark: Nighttime Tourism and the Transformation of Urban Destinations”. His edited volumes include Understanding Nighttime Tourism (2024), The Palgrave Handbook on Nocturnal Cities (2027), and The Routledge Handbook of Night Studies (2027).
URBAN GEOGRAPHER
Jordi Nofre
NOVA University Lisbon · FCSH, Portugal
Jordi Nofre is an urban geographer and FCT Associate Research Professor at NOVA University Lisbon. His research investigates nightlife, tourism and urban change, with particular attention to cities in Southern Europe. He coordinates LXNIGHTS – International Research on the Urban Night and is editor of Exploring Nightlife: Space, Society & Governance.
Full biography
He holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Barcelona and is an FCT Associate Research Professor in Urban Geography at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities of NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA FCSH).
His work examines the relationships between nightlife, tourism and urban transformation in Southern European cities. He coordinates LXNIGHTS – International Research on the Urban Night and edits Exploring Nightlife: Space, Society & Governance.
With Manuel García-Ruiz, he co-edited Understanding Nighttime Tourism (Edward Elgar, 2024) and The Palgrave Handbook on Nocturnal Cities (Palgrave Macmillan, 2027). He is also co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Night Studies (Routledge, 2027).
