News from ECMI InfoChannel

The upcoming Special Issue of the Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe (JEMIE) intends to focus on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on minority language media (MLM). We therefore invite scholars to submit articles tackling particular issues or highlighting best practices concerning MLM during the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns.

Sharing knowledge and providing training in minority rights related issues is one of the main core activities of the ECMI. On 23-24 June the ECMI organised a training workshop for the minority organisations represented in the Minority Council (Minderheitenrat) in Germany. The workshop idea stemmed from the cooperation between the ECMI and the Minority Council (Minderheitenrat).

In spite of the fact that a significant number of academic events have been postponed or cancelled due to the Covid pandemic, our researchers do not just sit back and rest on their laurels. The research at the ECMI is still alive and shared with the interested audience during many online events such as online conferences, online talks, or online teaching modules. Networking and building partnerships, an inseparable part of the ECMI everyday life, has also moved to the online sphere and the ECMI keeps its presence at important high-level meetings where minority rights are discussed.

One of the more neglected dimensions in the study of minority protection, and human rights more broadly, relates to the contribution of social movements in bringing about legal and social change to minority protection norms and mechanisms. To respond to this gap, ECMI hosted an expert online workshop on 20-21 May 2021, convened by the Cluster on Culture and Diversity discussing the connections, actors and legal approaches connecting minority rights standards and local activism based on ethno-cultural identity claims.

The next online talk aims to explore potentials of non-territorial autonomy, core practical challenges, and prospects for better practical outreach (both widening and deepening) of the concept. It is structured around four main topics: the nexus/tension between the territorial and personal principles in the minority protection; labeling the concept as “autonomy”; membership; and competences: NTA institutions as minority agents.

The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) invites applications for the position of Senior Researcher and Head of Cluster within the field of “Conflict and Security”.

On 21 April, the ECMI Cluster Justice & Governance organised a closed workshop on exploring possibilities for monitoring and evaluation of performance (functionality and/or impact) of the national minority councils in five countries: Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. The workshop reflects the Cluster’s continuous work on institutional setups for minority participation in public affairs, and complements the Cluster’s activities in two projects: COST Action ENTAN and the “Autonomy Arrangements in the World”.

We are inviting you to join our distinguished international panel of experts discussing securitisation of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on minorities and diversity from an interdisciplinary perspective.
 

The ECMI welcomes potential applicants for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellowships under its 2021 strategic focus “Minority challenges in the digital age”. The ECMI is developing new insights into how the digital evolution in our societies has impacted individuals and groups belonging to minorities in many understudied ways.  

Amid all the adjustments in our private and professional lives brought about by the pandemic in the past year, the ECMI has gone through its own significant changes. One of the most important ones was a change in the leadership. A new ECMI era began in March last year when Prof. Vello Pettai became the ECMI Director. On the occasion of his one year in office, Prof. Pettai writes a few words to reflect on this period.

The ECMI supports Prof. Dr. John Siegel (Universität Potsdam) and Prof. Dr. Markus Seyfried (Hochschule für Polizei und öffentliche Verwaltung NRW) in their evaluation of the Schleswig-Holstein law on the promotion of the national minorities.

***

Das ECMI unterstützt Prof. Dr. John Siegel (Universität Potsdam) und Prof. Dr. Markus Seyfried (Hochschule für Polizei und öffentliche Verwaltung NRW) bei ihrer Evaluation des Gesetzes zur Stärkung der Nationalen Minderheiten in Schleswig-Holstein.

Next deadline for submissions has been extended to 15 January 2021.

The Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe (JEMIE) welcomes research articles, commentaries, and book reviews from practitioners, academics and students on all aspects of ethnopolitics and minority issues,