ECMI Spring School: Minorities and Ethnopolitical Situations in Europe

The ECMI Spring School took place as a two-day webinar on Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June 2020. Read a post about the Spring School here.

Content

Europe is comprised of not only a range of nation-states, but also an array of ethnic minorities within those countries. This webinar will profile the different ethnopolitical situations, in which these minorities find themselves, meaning the varying historical and political paths by which they came to be a part of different nation-states. While European legal conventions for human and minority rights protection are strong, this does not mean that all ethnic groups on the continent have equal political standing or footing. The ethnopolitical situation of an ethnic group depends on its historical, economic and social background. 

This webinar will lay out the different situations in which European minorities and ethnic groups find themselves. We will begin with an overview of ‘ethnopolitical situations’ as an analytical concept and relate it to adjacent phenomena like ethnicity and nationalism. Thereafter, we will profile seven ethnopolitical situations that are prevalent in Europe, together with concrete examples of groups that illustrate these category-types. For each group, we will try and bring out the social, economic, political and normative dimensions that characterize the particular situation.

Given the webinar format, our event will be structured over two days, in order not to overburden the teaching and learning experience. It will also be organized with as much interaction and exchange as possible. In particular, the second day will be devoted to group work, during which participants will be asked to apply their new conceptual knowledge to a categorization of ethnic groups in Germany. We will have a broader discussion of how the conceptual framework presented in the webinar helps to understand better not only the German example, but also others in Europe and even around the world.

Programme
  • June 5
    • 10:00 Welcome introduction
    • 10:15 Ethnopolitical situations: concepts and categories & Concentrated, non-kin-state minorities
    • 12:00 Break
    • 12:15 Dispersed, non-kin-state minorities & Kin-state minorities
    • 13:00 Lunch break
    • 14:00 Organized labor migration (Post-colonial migrant population & Post-imperial minorities)
    • 15:30 Description of group work for Day 2
  • June 6 
    • 10:30 Group work
    • 11:15 Report back & discussion
    • 12:00 Final wrap-up
    • 12:30 Conclusion

 

Benefits for Participants
  • Extra-curricular activity with an official certificate of attendance;
  • Gaining empirical knowledge of Europe’s linguistic and cultural diversity;
  • Listen to and interact with lecturers from across Europe;
  • Experience of an internationally renowned institution.
Where and When
  • The Spring School was originally planned Friday 24th April – Sunday 26th April 2020. The new dates are Friday 5th and Saturday 6th June 2020.
  • Online Zoom Webinar
  • No participation fee required

Coordinator

Craig Willis

Researcher

Further Information

ECMI Founders