Minority and Security experts bundle their knowledge: Workshop of the Conflict and Security Cluster!

To strengthen its network and to exchange ideas with other experts in the field, the ECMI organises experts-workshops on a regular basis. This time the workshop will be organized by the Conflict and Security Cluster of the ECMI. Under the title: “Insecurity from below: Minorities, Security and Securitisation of Group Relations” the ECMI has invited renowned experts from various fields of Minorities and Security. On the 6th and 7th of November, they will share their understanding of the most important security issues for minorities in Europe.

What are the key security concerns linked to minorities in diverse societies? How do minorities define security challenges and threats? What are the main security discourses among them? To what extent do security challenges influence group relations and group boundaries with majority groups and in diverse societies?

…these questions are just an extract from the full content which will be addressed:

In two intensive days, key debates will be conceptualized and research pathways for understanding links between security and minorities and relevant discourses in the European states will be established. This discussion will be carried out against the backdrop of different security-related policies in the EU member-states and wider Europe, particularly in the Balkans and Eurasia. The participants will be given the space to propose new approaches to conceptualising minority-security debates and shaping the future research agenda, as well as contributing to the new strategy of the ECMI’s Conflict and Security Cluster. The outcomes will feed into institutional policies for the socio-political integration of old and new minorities, protection mechanisms and addressing security challenges.

Among the guests (in alphabetical order):

Dr. Neven Andjelic/ Reader in International Relations and Human Rights/ Regents University London; Donika Emini/ Researcher/ Kosovo Centre for Security Studies and Executive Director/ CiviKos; Dr. Carter Johnson/ Associate Professor/ International Affairs HSE-Moscow; Stephanie Marsal/ Minorities, Conflict and Security Expert, former HCNM and CoE; Dr. Nina Perkowski/ Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg; Dr. Marko Savkovic/ Program Director/ Belgrade Centre for Political Excellence; Prof. Vello Petai/ Professor of Comparative Politics/ University of Tartu/ ECMI Director (2020); Dr. Stavroula Pipyrou/ Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology/ University of St Andrews and Founding Director of the Centre for Minorities Research; Dr. Sonja Stojanovic Gajic/ Director, Belgrade Centre for Security Policy; Dr. Anton Thomsen/ HCNM, Political adviser working on Eastern Europe and NIS (special focus on Moldova, Belarus, and the Baltic States).

As a follow-up on the workshop, there will be a special edition of the Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe (JEMIE) with a working title “Minorities, Security and Securitisation of Group Relations: Approaching Security from a Minor Perspective” – we will keep you posted.