Research projects
Ongoing projects
Topic
The RESIST research project is concerned with „anti-gender“ politics that threaten equality, gender and sexual diversity and the legitimacy of critical knowledge in contemporary Europe. In addition to an interest in how these policies emerge and are perceived, the aim is to learn about feminist and queer practices of resistance and how they function in eight countries under study: Ireland, Spain, Belarus, France, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Greece, as well as transnationally.
Funding/scope/third-party funders
The research is funded as a Horizon Europe project by the European Union with around 4.5 million euros.
Project management
Prof. Kath Browne (University College Dublin)
Cooperation partners
Dr. Latife Akyüz (Academic Assistant, European University Viadrina)
Dr. Marianne Blidon (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Dr. Stefanie Boulila (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts)
Dr. Anna Carastathis (Feminist Autonomous Centre for research)
Dr. Sébastien Chauvin (Université de Lausanne)
Dr. Katya Filep (University Freiburg)
Dr. Roberto Kulpa (Edinburgh Napier University)
Prof. Gavan Titley (Maynooth University)
Dr. Maria Rodó-Zárate (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)
Term
01.10.2022 - 30.09.2026
Description
RESIST addresses 'anti-gender' policies that threaten equality, gender and sexual diversity and the legitimacy of critical knowledge in Europe today.
Our understanding is that 'anti-gender' policies are diverse and their manifestation differs across national contexts in Southern, Eastern and Western Europe. They are present across the political spectrum of centrist, left-wing and right-wing orientations, and can be found in illiberal and authoritarian regimes as well as in those considered liberal and democratic. Inspired by intersectional perspectives, we understand 'anti-gender' politics as multifaceted, as they restrict gender freedoms, question trans* inclusivity, and challenge multiculturalism and gender and sexual equality. By undermining critical studies of race and academic freedoms, 'anti-gender' policies have dangerous consequences for freedom of expression and the press, reproductive justice, sexual and gender diversity, and self-determination.
For our project, it is crucial to learn about feminist and queer practices of resistance against 'anti-gender' policies and how they function and are theorized in autonomous, grassroots collectives and organizations in eight countries under study (Ireland, Spain, Belarus, France, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Greece). Furthermore, a transnational case is examined in which people live in exile due to 'anti-gender' policies.
In order to create in-depth knowledge that empowers marginalized voices, we will collaborate with 40 queer feminist groups and aim to facilitate a mutual learning process and support.
Project website
Topic
Gendering of asylum infrastructures. Mobilizing awareness on gender, sexual orientation and experiences of violence in Europe after 2014.
Funding/scope
In detail, 171,100 euros were approved for the modules - Walter Benjamin position.
Project management
Dr. Marija Grujic
Term
4/2024-3/2026
Third-party funder
German Research Foundation Bonn
Description
Multiple scientific findings on the central importance of gender in the asylum context and the reception of refugees provide information on how a number of social issues relating to women and LGBTIQ+ people are perceived and treated in asylum contexts. However, the complexity of the everyday aspects of mobilizing gender and sexuality awareness and experiences of violence within asylum infrastructures (e.g. assessment, reception, counselling) is often overlooked. This project explores how responsible asylum staff are influenced by their understanding of the interconnections between gender, sexuality and violence when dealing with asylum seekers. The focus is on the mobilization of gender orders and views on femininity/masculinity, especially in the context of the assessment of 'special protection needs' and 'vulnerability', for which the responsible actors use digital tools to promote equal treatment and protection.
Based on qualitative research on the mobilization of gender, sexuality and violence in the assessment and reception of asylum seekers in Germany, shaped by the adaptation of EU protection mechanisms, and in the UK, with a view to the post-Brexit changes and the UK's 'hostile environment', the project analyzes prominent narratives about the interdependencies associated with the often divergent discourses about men as a threat and women as vulnerable to violence.
With reference to theories of gender orders”, ideas of femininities/masculinities in official guidelines and in the gender-sensitive approach to asylum procedures are examined in everyday practice. The project also draws on critical migration research on the coloniality of migration, intersectionality and decolonial approaches. In addition to the feminist critique of gender orders in forced migration and international protection, the use of digital technologies in asylum infrastructures will be theorized on the basis of critical sociological and anthropological studies on asylum reception, among other things.
The project will explore how gender-sensitive procedures are implemented and transformed through interactions between asylum staff and asylum seekers and what it means to assess vulnerability and perceive gender and sexuality through a perspective of violence.