Biography
Guilherme holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Manchester and has previously held teaching and research positions at the universities of Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Manchester, São Paulo, BrasÃlia, and Massachusetts Amherst.
Research areas
Guilherme’s research has centred on the global impacts of print and digital media on political activism and content production. His current project focuses on Wikipedia editors and digital influencers, exploring how internet users increasingly frame user-generated content – ranging from Wikipedia articles to memes – as collective property. His most recent work analyses an edit war on Wikipedia to explore how terms like ‘freedom’ and ‘democracy’ are deployed as empty signifiers, supporting a technoliberal rhetoric in which authorship and accountability are reframed rather than erased.
In a previous project (2015-2021), Guilherme carried out online and face-to-face fieldwork among Esperanto speakers in France, investigating how Esperanto – once deemed ‘the language of the future’ – has recently gained new momentum among alterglobalisation activists, as well as among programmers advocating for Esperanto as an ‘open-source language’. This culminated in his latest monograph, Esperanto Revolutionaries and Geeks (2021).
Previously, Guilherme's interest in the intergenerational transmission of language and knowledge led him to a project on meaning-making among children and youth. In line with his commitment to multilingualism in academia, Guilherme has published and communicated his research outcomes in English, Portuguese, French, German, Spanish, and Esperanto.
Selected publications
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Open access
Ngo, T. N. & Moreira Fians, G., 1 May 2026, In: Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 81, 101680.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Moreira Fians, G. & Park, S. Y. S., 26 Sept 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: American Anthropologist. Early View, p. 1-12
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Fians, G., Mar 2025, In: Ethnography. 26, 1, p. 64-83 20 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Fians, G., Struck, B. & Taylor , C., 13 Nov 2025, London : University of London Press. 154 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Moreira Fians, G., 28 Nov 2025, Şimdi ve burada kurulan anarşi: prefigüratif politika, direniş ve tahayyül üzerine. Çeğin, G. & Tufan Yılmaz, I. (eds.). Ankara: Phoenix Yayınevi, p. 21-44 23 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
Moreira Fians, G., 1 Nov 2024, In: Language & Communication An Interdisciplinary Journal. 99, p. 39-51 13 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Moreira Fians, G., 15 Apr 2024, In: Horizontes Antropologicos. 30, 68, p. 1 31 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Moreira Fians, G., 14 Aug 2024, In: Journal of Linguistic Anthropology. 34, 2, p. 200-219 20 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Moreira Fians, G., 31 Mar 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Early View, p. 1-20 20 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Moreira Fians, G. & Schubert, K., 10 Jul 2023, In: Esperantologio / Esperanto Studies. 4, 12, p. 6-7 2 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
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