(IME) Identities and modernities in Europe: European and national identity construction programmes, politics, culture, history and religion
Project funded by the European Commission Research DG, Seventh Framework Programme, Thematic Priority 8, 2009-2012
(Topic: SSH-2007-5.2.1 Histories and Identities – articulating national and European identities)
Coordinator: Dr. Atsuko Ichijo, Kingston University, London, UK.
Head of Greek research team: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, ELIAMEP.
IME investigates European identities. European identities in this project refer to a wide range of definitions of ‘us, the Europeans’ proposed and acted upon by various actors in and around the current European Union (EU), in particular in nine cases: Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The project addresses three major issues regarding European identities: what they are, in what ways they have been formed and what trajectories they may take from now on. IME first investigates the diversity of European identities as it manifests in the nine cases. It then examines the various ways in which these diverse self-definitions have been formulated and maintained in different societal, cultural and systemic settings and in which they have been interacting with various processes and forces. It then aims to identify commonalities among diverse European identities in the nine cases as the basis of grounded projection of possible trajectories European identities may take as the processes of European integration continue.
European Commission, Seventh Framework Programme, Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities
Topic: SSH-2009 – 3.3.1 Tolerance and Cultural Diversity
Coordinator: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, E-mail:
anna.triandafyllidou@eui.eu
In recent times, Europe has experienced increasing tensions between national majorities and ethnic or religious minorities, more particularly with marginalised Muslim communities. In some countries challenges relate more to immigrant groups while in other countries they refer to native minority claims. It is in this geopolitical context that the ACCEPT PLURALISM project responds to the quest for investigating whether European societies have become more or less tolerant and in the necessity to clarify:
(a) how is tolerance defined conceptually,
(b) how it is codified in norms, institutional arrangements, public policies but also social practices,
(c) how tolerance can be measured and how the degree of tolerance of a society across time or of several countries at the same time can be compared (whose tolerance, who is tolerated, and what if degrees of tolerance vary with reference to different minority groups).
The project starts from a distinction between thin/liberal tolerance (not interfering with practices or forms of life of a person even if one disapproves of them) and thick/egalitarian tolerance referring to institutional arrangements and public policies that fight negative stereotyping, promote positive inclusive identities and re-organise the public space in ways that accommodate diversity. It reviews critically past empirical research and the scholarly theoretical literature on the topic. It conducts original empirical research on key events of national and European relevance that thematise different understandings and practices of tolerance.
Bringing together empirical and theoretical findings, the ACCEPT PLURALISM project generates a set of Tolerance Indicators. These indicators will inform the evaluation and development of public policies in this area. The project includes direct communication and feedback mechanisms with civil society, political and media actors for the dissemination and exploitation of its findings.
European Commission, Europen Integration Fund for Third Country Nationals, Community Actions 2008, duration: 2009-2011.
Coordinator: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou, European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies,E-mail:
anna.triandafyllidou@eui.eu
This project will study the links between different types of circular migration and processes of integration (in the country of destination) and reintegration (in the source country). It will identify the main challenges and opportunities involved in circular migration for source countries, destination countries and migrants (and their families) and will develop new conceptual instruments for the analysis of circular migration and integration. The project will develop policy recommendations (a Guide for Policy Makers) for local, regional and national policy makers as to how to frame circular migration with appropriate (re-)integration policies. We will engage into intensive fieldwork to study circular migration processes bottom up, will consult policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders and circular migrants themselves. We will organise 3 Regional Workshops and will produce a Guide for Policy Makers on Circular Migration and (re-)Integration. We will thus address directly a target group of 300-500 users that will act as multipliers for our study and policy output. The Guide for Policy Makers will be made available in 11 European languages and will be diseminated to at least 10,000 people and organisations across Europe via email and via our project web site. We will also organise targeted online discussion on circular migration with a view to raising awareness on the challenges and advantages of circular mobility in the wider area of the EU Neighbhourhood and the Euro-Mediterranean region.
(MEDIVA) Media for Diversity and Migrant Integration: Consolidating Knowledge and Assessing Media Practices across the EU
Funded by the European Commission, DG Freedom, Security and Justice, European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals, Action 2010.
Duration: 1 January 2011-30 June 2012
The MEDIVA project seeks to strengthen the capacity of the media to reflect the increasing diversity of European societies and thus foster a better understanding of immigrant integration processes at a time when social cohesion and integration policies are put to the test by an acute economic crisis. To achieve this aim, the project will
(1) survey existing studies/projects assessing the media capacity to reflect diversity and promote migrant integration (looking at 5 aspects: content of news, news making and programme production, recruitment,employment, training) across Europe;
(2) create a searchable database of these studies;
(3) create a set of Indicators assessing the capacity of the media to reflect diversity and promote integration;
(4) assess 30 selected media outlets (TV channels, newspapers, news web sites) across Europe on the basis of these indicators;
(5) organize 5 Internat.Workshops to present the database, the indicators and discuss how they can be used;
(6) create and use a targeted e-mail list of relevant stakeholders to disseminate the project results (database, indicators, their use for policy assessment/policy design and journalist training).
"All Citizens Now": Intra-EU Mobility and Political Participation of English, Germans, Poles and Romanians in Western and Southern Europe (MOVEACT)
Funded by the European Commission, DG Justice and Home Affairs, Programme on European Citizenship and Fundamental Rights.
Coordinator: Prof. Ettore Recchi, Universita di Chieti Pescara
Head of the ELIAMEP team: Prof. Anna Triandafyllidou
Starting date: 1 April 2011
Post the 2004 and 2007 enlargements, EU citizenship has mainly been interpreted as free-movement rights allowing for migration between member states of the Union. The population of mobile Europeans has expanded and diversified since then (Brucker et al. 2009). Intra-EU movers form a heterogeneous category: manual workers (mostly but not only from accession countries), high-skilled globally-oriented professionals, North-to-South retirees, students, life-style movers, bi-national family members (Braun and Recchi 2009). While they are likely to have different personal trajectories, expectations and plans, these people are key "pioneers" of European integration "from below" – living testimonials of a novel, democratic and dynamic social fabric on a transnational scale (Recchi and Favell 2009). The participation of intra-EU movers in the social and political life of the communities where they have chosen to live – away from their country of origin – is extremely important, as they embody the rich cultural diversity on which European integration is ultimately predicated. Moreover, it is also important that EU citizens from different member states (in particular, from 'older' and 'newer' member states) are equally involved and active, as they all share the same rights and entitlements, overcoming stigmas and asserting their commonality as citizens. Therefore, initiatives need to be taken so as to raise awareness among intra-EU movers of their rights and natural interests in being actively involved in the public life of their new countries of residence with special reference to the European and local level, where – on the basis of their European citizenship – they can vote and be voted for as candidates for office. As for political participation, past research has found that EU movers were overall more interested in public affairs than the general population but that they did not engage in political activities as might have been expected given these interests. Further research is needed to dig into the reasons for this apathy, and further actions are required to elicit the unexpressed political participation potential of this small but symbolically strategic segment of the European population. The MOVEACT project intends to fill these knowledge and action gaps, by inquiring into the personal and contextual determinants of the (usually poor) participation of intra-EU movers, consequently allowing an intervention to promote stronger and more direct involvement among mobile Europen citizens in their countries of residence, seeking to mobilize a population that represents a relevant but unexploited asset for the strengthening of democracy in Europe.