With a doctorate in political studies from the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), François Ceccaldi's doctoral research focused on changes in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) following the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 (dir. H. Bozarslan, EHESS, and H. Laurens, Collège de France). In his thesis, entitled " Construction d'une opposition et création d'une troisième voie : les factions de gauche de l'OLP face à Oslo (1993-2006) ", he focused on the opposition movements within the PLO from 1993 onwards, the reform of the organization and the unification initiatives of the PLO's left-wing factions aimed at creating a third political path likely to compete with Fatah on the one hand, and Islamist movements on the other.
François Ceccaldi is currently pursuing his post-doctoral research at the Contemporary History of the Arab World Chair, and his current work focuses on a more global reflection on power in Palestine and the Arab world, as well as on developments in the Palestinian political system. He has had the opportunity to offer several analyses on these subjects, showing in particular the unprecedented situation in which the Palestinian national movement has found itself since the signing of the Oslo Accords, between the struggle for national liberation and state-building. In this specific context, he is interested in political practices in a colonial situation, inter-Palestinian partisan dynamics - including internal dynamics within Fatah - and the formulation of political ideologies. He is currently working on a book on the Palestinian political system since 1993, to bepublished in 2025 by Éditions du CNRS.
In addition to the activities of the Contemporary History of the Arab World Chair, François Ceccaldi has also been President of the Cercle des chercheurs sur le Moyen-Orient (CCMO ) since 2020, whose aim is to promote current research on the Middle East and to stimulate the field of research while ensuring visibility for the work of young researchers. He is also a qualified lecturer in political science and history (sections 04 and 22), and was a lecturer (ATER) in political science at Sorbonne-Paris-Nord University (2021-2023). Since 2018, he has been a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, where he currently teaches a lecture on the Question of Palestine.
François Ceccaldi is the winner of the Collège de France Foundation Award 2024.
