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- Convenors:
-
Michal Buchowski
(Adam Mickiewicz University)
Hana Cervinkova (Maynooth University)
Send message to Convenors
- Chairs:
-
Michal Buchowski
(Adam Mickiewicz University)
Hana Cervinkova (Maynooth University)
- Formats:
- Panel
- Mode:
- Face-to-face
- Sessions:
- Wednesday 24 July, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Madrid
Short Abstract:
Hostile attitudes towards minorities, especially those of immigrant background, are growing across Europe. This panel considers how racial ideologies underlying state discourses and migration regimes are manifested in everyday practices of interacting with 'Others' in different European contexts.
Long Abstract:
The aim of the panel is to explore contemporary discourses and practices of racialization as a prevalent form of othering of immigrants and minorities in European nation states. The panel focuses on the rise of racially motivated hostility, discrimination, and violence toward those who are perceived or created by the dominant majority as Others or distant aliens seen as a threat to existing social and cultural systems. Racial prejudice imbues many European state narratives, which rely on homogenous imaginaries of belonging to the national community, and it impacts how states respond to transnational processes. This is especially visible, but not limited to those states dominated by populists who in their political strategy employ racial Othering and xenophobia as pillars of national cohesion and social security.
Anthropologists have documented how this official rhetoric fuels civic attitudes and actions, observing growing Islamophobia, Romaphobia, Anti-Semitism and Migrantphobia across Europe. The panel welcomes both theoretical and ethnographic contributions that focus on processes of racialization and ethnic and religious othering in different geopolitical contexts. Examples of questions which we wish to explore include: How do national discourses influence and intertwine with people's ideas about Others? How are these imaginaries translated into everyday practices? What role does racialization play in nationalistic discourses and politics in contemporary Europe? What are the lived experiences of the racially marginalized who live temporarily or permanently in Europe? We are interested in discussing these and related examples of research and interpretive frameworks.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 24 July, 2024, -Fanny Christou (Swedish Institute of International Affairs)
Paper short abstract:
Based on an ethnographic study among Palestinians and Kurds in Sweden, by questioning the exercise of "biopolitics" in the recent Swedish migratory political agenda, this paper aims to analyze how the borders’ securitization draws upon the development of racial ideologies ending the Swedish model.
Paper long abstract:
WWhile 2014 is remembered for the former Sweden Prime Minister Reinfeldt’s “open your hearts to asylum seekers” speech, 2018 is the first Swedish election where migration became a central question in the debate, following the adoption of restrictive measures by the Swedish Parliament in 2016. The rapid evolution of the Swedish migration political agenda further questions the future of this Scandinavian so called welfare state where everyone was welcomed. The latest Swedish governmental decisions clearly seem to sign the end of a welcome refugee politics in Sweden, in unfortunate accordance with the securitisation process of migration that occurs in Europe.
In this respect, based on an ethnographic study conducted among Palestinian communities in Sweden between 2015-2017 and among Palestinians as well as Kurds in Sweden since 2023, this paper aims to provide with the key elements of understanding the 2016 major turning point in the Swedish political agenda in regard to its migration policies. By questioning the exercise of Foucault's biopolitics in the Swedish migratory context since the so-called 2015 migratory crisis, we seek to analyze how the process of borders’ securitization at different scales in Sweden draws upon the development of racial ideologies underlying state discourses and migration regimes in a country that used to be considered as a welfare state model. In other words, this paper seeks to theoretically contribute on scholarship related to processes of racialization and ethnic othering in the Swedish geopolitical context where migrants have to face a new form of “human insecurity trap”.
Eline de Jong (University of Antwerp)
Paper short abstract:
Debates around social housing are increasingly conflated with claims of who deserves what and why. This paper analyzes how the new Flemish social housing policy legitimizes migrant exclusion and shows the incommensurability of an emancipation discourse with the lived realities of migrant households.
Paper long abstract:
Debates around public and social housing have increasingly become conflated with claims around who deserves what and why. In 2023, the government of Flanders, Belgium, introduced a fundamental restructuring of its social housing policy. A key feature of the reforms is a renewed set of allocation criteria. The Dutch language requirement has been increased, and ‘local ties’ to a neighborhood afford people priority on wait-lists. New rules also apply to current tenants: all adult family members are required to register as job seekers. According to the minister of housing, the policy reforms will “contribute to the emancipation of the social tenant."
This paper interrogates two aspects of the new Flemish social housing policy: the ideological underpinnings of its renewed allocation criteria, as well as its impact on migrant households. I first discuss how the new criteria reframe ‘migrant undeservingness’ – the perception that people with a migration background are less deserving of access to social services – through the construction of a category of ‘the deserving local’. Tracing the romanticized idea of ‘the local’ as distinct from yet intimately connected to notions of citizenship and belonging, I argue that the legitimization of migrant exclusion is solidified by a moral appeal to a ‘more deserving’ class. Next, I discuss the impact of the reforms. Based on ethnographic research with two women’s groups in a social housing cooperative for migrants, I discuss the incommensurability of a discourse of emancipation with the women’s lived realities in the face of racialized and gendered discrimination.
Reza Bayat (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
Paper short abstract:
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with Iranian refugees in Germany, as well as following the changes in the discourse of deportation law in Germany, this paper aims to show how these legal practices are inscribed on the (undesired) bodies of migrants, both literally and figuratively.
Paper long abstract:
“Deportation” with its extensive legal and technical basis not only fills lives of refugees and asylum seekers with fear and precariousness but also (re)produces the “body of the refugee” as an unwanted and frightening body that is simultaneously excluded from the “nation” and presented as a threat to the “nation” and its borders. This is primarily used and disseminated as an argument to justify a “politics of removal.” In this context, psychological trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are of particular significance in the formulations of regulations defining the “legitimate suffering body” that is to be protected under the rubric of human rights. Although these regulations offer a small number of “rejected” asylum seekers the possibility of stopping deportation and obtaining the right to stay, they have become increasingly stringent over time, focusing more and more on “marks on the body,” even as a sign of psychological disorders. This paper addresses precisely this “obsession with the body” in the current deportation regime when it comes to human rights, illness and protection, and how lives of people are being shaped by it. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with Iranian refugees in Germany, as well as following the changes in regulations regarding deportation and PTSD in Germany, this paper aims to show how these legal practices inscribe themselves on the (undesired) bodies of refugees and asylum seekers, both literally and figuratively, to make these bodies speak.
Hande Guzel (Istanbul Policy Center, Sabanci University)
Paper short abstract:
This paper will trace the flow of physician migration from Middle Eastern and post-Soviet countries to Turkey, and from Turkey to Germany, through the lens of racialisation, based on policy analyses, in-depth interviews, and the analysis of online discussions on physician migration.
Paper long abstract:
This paper will explore the racialisation of highly skilled immigrants in the healthcare setting in two contexts: Turkey and Germany.
Healthcare worker immigration has been increasing rapidly in the last several decades. This increase can be understood by tracing the flow of migration, mostly from the East to the West. While doctors from the Middle East and post-Soviet countries are immigrating to Turkey, Turkish doctors are migrating to European countries such as Germany, and German doctors seek job opportunities in Nordic countries.
When compared to low skilled immigrants, highly skilled immigrants are often assumed to have fewer problems in the receiving country, with the expectation that they are racialised less due to their higher socioeconomic status in the sending country. However, this is often not the case, and these immigrants face multiple axes of oppression, which they did not encounter in their sending countries.
Bringing together the two cases, this paper will trace the flow of physician migration from Middle Eastern and post-Soviet countries to Turkey, and from Turkey to Germany, through the lens of racialisation, based on policy analyses, in-depth interviews, and the analysis of online discussions on physician migration. On the one hand, both countries are in need of immigrant doctors, which is reflected in the official discourse in Germany to attract new healthcare workers, unlike in Turkey, where this need is not uttered out loud. On the other hand, the everyday experiences of immigrant doctors reveal their struggles with establishing medical authority in both receiving countries.
Joanna Urbańska (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań)
Paper short abstract:
Despite their many differences, what all Muslims in Poland share is that they can never be described as Polish-Catholic. In a state where these categories determine belonging, their loyalty/identity/rights may be questioned. The paper examines practices of racialisation of Muslims in Poland.
Paper long abstract:
After 1945 Poland became an homogenous state, inhabited mostly by ethnic Poles of Catholic faith. In fact, the figure of Catholic-Pole still remains present and is regarded as a representation of an average citizen. Ethnic and religious diversity has not prevailed in many regions, but the north-eastern part of the country, Podlasie, is an exception in this matter – populated not only by Catholics, but also Orthodox Christians as well as Polish Tatars – Muslims. Coincidentally, it has long been considered a notoriously xenophobic part of Poland. Public anti-Muslim rhetoric became widely spread in Poland during the election campaign in 2015. Islamophobic narratives were largely mobilized again in the face of the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border in 2021. I have conducted ethnographic fieldwork in Podlasie in 2022 and 2023, tracing everyday practices of othering of Muslims. The group is very diverse, ranging from local Polish Tatars to already settled refugees from Chechenia and Syria, to people on the move crossing the border from Belarus. However, what all Muslims in Poland have in common, is that they can never be described as Polish-Catholics. In the state where those two categories symbolically determine belonging to the nation, Muslims may find their loyalty/identity/rights questioned. I am examining disciplining practices linked to the processes of racialization of Muslims in Poland, and the responses to those acts.
Justyna Matkowska
Paper short abstract:
This article aims to explore the impact of thematic and formal structures within Polish media articles on the alienation, otherness, and subsequent discrimination experienced by Roma and Muslims.
Paper long abstract:
This article aims to explore the impact of thematic and formal structures within Polish media articles on the alienation, otherness, and subsequent discrimination experienced by Roma and Muslims. Utilizing the analytic paradigm of critical discourse analysis, this study delves into the interplay of images and racialization practices concerning these marginalized groups in Poland, a highly homogeneous nation-state. The emergence of these issues, notably following the "refugee crisis" of 2015, led to what is referred to here as the "xenophobic turn." Employing critical discourse analysis, this research focuses on the construction of the 'Other' within carefully selected media outlets. The study includes both conservative and liberal perspectives, examining two newspapers and two weeklies over a one-year period.
Dan Rodríguez-García (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona)
Paper short abstract:
Research on racism and discrimination in Europe has overlooked national ethnic minorities. Drawing on ethnographic data on dynamics of mixedness, racialization and discrimination, we examine the significant case of Spanish Roma, a group that is still perceived as the ultimate ‘Other’.
Paper long abstract:
One of the main challenges faced by European societies is addressing and combatting pervasive realities of racism and discrimination. Nevertheless, European research on racism and discrimination has traditionally focused on immigrant populations, overlooking national ethnic minorities and other populations who are racialized and discriminated against. This is particularly the case of the Roma people, the largest ethnic minority in Europe, that has historically experienced widespread stigmatization, discrimination and exclusion, particularly in countries such as Spain, where Spanish Roma (“gitanos”) constitute the most important national ethnic minority, with 600 years of presence in the country, yet still perceived as the ultimate ‘Others’. Acknowledging the significance of mixing across ethnoracial boundaries as one of the most important test for revealing social divisions and the social structure, we present findings from a pioneering research project that has explored dynamics of mixedness (intermarriage and multiethnicity) among Roma populations in Spain and the minority/majority relations in Spanish society at large. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews with Roma/non-Roma mixed couples and individuals, we examine participants’ responses regarding social attitudes towards interethnic mixing, the effect of mixing on Roma identity, and experiences of antigypsyism, racialization, and discrimination associated with ethnoracial crossing. The final aim of this presentation is to contribute to a broader conceptualization of the dynamics of othering, racialization and discrimination in migration studies, which is also greatly needed in order to improve anti-discrimination policies and practices.
Keywords: Roma populations, ethnic minorities, racism, racialization, discrimination, social inclusion/exclusion, mixedness.
Tomáš Kobes (University of West Bohemia)
Paper short abstract:
The paper aims to illustrate how Romaphobic imaginaries on the side of the official authorities contribute to the failure of the state in the effective promotion of Roma integration.
Paper long abstract:
Why is the Slovak state failing in the integration of Roma people? Last year, a syphilis outbreak among underage Roma children in Trebisov gained attention again from Slovak tabloids. Syphilis epidemics have been breaking out regularly here since 2002 and the last wave occurred in 2018. It was widely medialized, especially due to the high number of shocking infections among minors suspected of child prostitution. Despite the case being discussed by the official authorities, no factual solution contributing to destroying the prostitution network and improving local Roma life has yet been implemented. Syphilis continues to spread in the town of Trebišov among underage Roma children, and despite public declarations, none of the responsible authorities have any serious interest in addressing this alarming situation. The case became invisible, occasionally highlighted by local tabloids.
This appalling situation, typical of the parasitism of organized crime and pedophile networks on the poverty of the local Roma community, is a good example of neglecting and disregarding Roma discrimination in Slovakia influenced by the stereotyping ideas about Roma otherness which are promoted by the official Slovak authorities. Based on this case, my paper aims to illustrate how these Romaphobic imaginaries play a significant role in the spread of the official racist discourse, and how they consequently contribute to the failure of the Slovak state in the effective promotion of Roma integration and equality.
Markéta Hajská (Charles University)
Paper short abstract:
The paper focuses on the way, how antigypsyism inflected refugee assistance to Ukraine Roma refugees in the period after the beginning of war in Ukraine. It is based on deep ethnographic research of the main railway station in Prague, which was a key entrance gate to the CR for Ukraine refugees.
Paper long abstract:
The dealing with Ukrainian Roma refugees at the Prague station has shown accumulated experiences of marginalisation and stigmatisation of Roma, as well as unequal access to the citizenship, legal status, humanitarian aid, which fundamentally differed for those perceived as “whites” and “non-whites”. The paper describes a social history of aid to Ukrainian Roma migrants, primarily through interviews with actors (Roma and Non-Roma, NGO´s, volunteers etc.), media research and ethnography of institutions, and provides a focus to understand how antigypsyism becomes reproduced and normalised. It focuses 1.on the diachronic description of the institutional help to Ukrainian refugees in the Prague´s station and 2. on processes of racialization and ethnic and religious othering of Ukrainian Roma refugees.
In Spring 2022, several thousands of Ukrainian Roma have arrived in the CR. The approach to them has shown the obvious limits of the otherwise unprecedented solidarity with the war refugees from Ukraine that could be observed at the societal level and in terms of state policy. Ukrainian Roma were discriminated already by Czech and Slovak carriers at the Ukrainian-Slovak border. Later they faced various forms of institutional and structural racism. The dual citizenship (Hungarian and Ukrainian) of some was used as an excuse for their residential segregation and for double standards in various aspects of humanitarian assistance. Their marginalised position was rationalised in the political debate and framed as cultural differences and social "inadaptability". This argumentation was built on the historically conditioned discourse against the Roma not only in the CR but across CEE.
Hubert Tubacki (Adam Mickiewicz University)
Paper short abstract:
Stereotypes and official rhetoric in Poland shape civic attitudes toward the Roma, perpetuating racialization. Class exclusion compounds divisions, while a shift from Catholicism to Protestantism eases tensions. Other differences persist, but cultural distinctions lose significance.
Paper long abstract:
Based on two years of research among the Roma community (1) in a large city (Wroclaw), (2) among a community of Roma activists and activists, and (3) in a small town (Bystrzyca Klodzka), I present the processes of racialization and alienation of Roma in a super-homogenous Polish society considered to be predominantly Catholic. The stereotypes and official rhetoric generated by years of coexistence on Polish territory drive civic attitudes and actions towards the Roma community. These actions take various forms, but often contribute to the reproduction of stereotypes and further racialization. Part of the Roma community additionally struggles with class exclusion and material hardship, this produces additional spaces for deepening divisions. At the same time, in the course of the study, I observed a process in which the change of religion from Catholicism to the Protestant faction contributed to a change in behavioral patterns in the Roma community and the perception of them by the majority society. It seems to have been a much stronger factor than the action of the state and European Union bodies. Rather than exacerbating differences, the change of religion contributed to a reduction in the antagonism of the local community. Thus, it violates the image of Catholicism as the glue of the Polish nation-state community. The processes of producing another still have an impact in this community mainly emphasizing as phenotypic and linguistic differences, but the role of cultural differences on which racist and alienating actions were previously based has lost its importance.