Human Rights Discourse in Migration Societies (MeDiMi)

📢 Good news for everybody who missed the #MeDiMiConference2024. 🎙️ Audio recordings of the keynotes by Maximilian Pichl ("The State of the #HumanRights of Migrants in Europe") and Anuscheh Farahat ("Research on Human Rights and #Migration: The Way Forward") are now available on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/epKzBpYq. Many thanks to the two speakers for their brilliant talks! 📖 The Book of Abstracts and Bios is now available in its fifth and final version. This edition also includes the abstracts of scheduled participants who couldn't attend the conference in person. We believe it will remain a valuable source for anyone interested in the dynamics of #humanrightization. Enjoy browsing: https://lnkd.in/e_MRa7ZC ... ... and stay tuned for more content from the conference following soon!

When the U.S. sneezes, the world catches a cold. – Khanyisile Phillips (South Africa) Join the book launch on Wednesday, 23 October from 4:15 to 6 PM / 16:15 to 18:00 (CET). Everyone is welcome. No need to register beforehand. With bans on reproductive rights and access to health care, with censorship in schools and universities, and the instrumentalization of rights rhetoric itself, diversity stands at the heart of the elections in the United States. 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐼𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑆𝐴: 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 2024 𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 (transcript 2024) examines how the American elections influence diversity issues in the United States and elsewhere. Authors focus on reproductive and immigration rights, planetary justice, epistemic and physical violence against LGBTQIA+ people as well as efforts to abet this violence. The book and its contributors highlight the symbolic and political weight of the 2024 U.S. elections as a watershed moment for citizens of the world. Join us in person: JLU Seminargebäude II Alter Steinbacher Weg 44 35394 Gießen Room 011 Or, digitally via the following link: https://lnkd.in/efTiE_PU If you have issues logging in, please contact ralph.zoth@zmi.uni-giessen.de (German) or hiwis.olson@anglistik.uni-giessen.de (English). The book launch will begin with inputs by: Chia Youyee Vang (Vice Chancellor, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Division of Community Empowerment & Institutional Inclusivity and Professor in the Department of History) Āryā Jeipea Karijo (human, activist, storyteller and community organizer Kenya, Global Narratives Hive, TransQueer Fund and Collective) and K. Allison Hammer (Assistant Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale). And feature spotlights on diversity issues by authors Melanie Kreitler (University of Giessen), Marzia Milazzo (University of Johannesburg), Sabine N. Meyer (University of Bonn), Georgiana Banita (University of Bamberg), Maik Paap (University of Giessen), Birte Christ (University of Giessen), Sara Polak (Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society), Esther Edelmann (Leiden University) and Frans-Willem Korsten (Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society), Christine M. Klapeer (University of Giessen), and Mariel Reiss (University of Marburg). The launch will be moderated by Greta Olson (Professor of American and British Literature and Cultural Studies and Director of the Center for Diversity, Media, and Law (DiML) at the University of Giessen). Edited by Melanie Kreitler and Greta Olson, 𝐷𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐼𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑈𝑆𝐴 marks the first volume in the transcript book series [diversity, media, and law] with the Series Editors Dr. Jutta Hergenhan, Prof. Julian Ernst, Prof. Malte-C. Gruber, and Greta Olson.

Thank you, Sezgi, for your contribution to the success of the #MeDiMiConference2024! What makes me particularly proud: Many participants said that it was the first time they had met people from other disciplines and countries working on the same intersections of human rights & migration. See you in March 2026 at the next MeDiMi conference!

📢 Day 3 of the #MeDiMiConference2024! The final conference day started with a panel on "The Making of Human Rights Consciousness in Migration Societies", moderated by MeDiMi PI Greta Olson. Speakers Aghogho Akpome (University of Zululand), Andrea Fritsche (Universität Innsbruck), and Joachim Savelsberg (University of Minnesota) reflected on the non-institutional and socio-cultural conditions for human rights practices to occur in migration-related conflicts. After a final round of parallel panels, we concluded the event with a keynote by Anuscheh Farahat (Universität Wien), sketching an agenda for future research on human rights and migration. Anuscheh highlighted the importance of focusing on three interconnected dimensions of migration from a comparative, human rights-based, and interdisciplinary perspective: (i) the agency of migrants, (ii) the political economy of migration, and (iii) the different modes of belonging. Moderated by MeDiMi PI Michael Knipper, the keynote offered a stimulating end to this fantastic conference. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all the speakers, moderators, and participants for your active involvement and insightful contributions to understanding the dynamics of #Humanrightization. Your engagement made these three days truly inspiring and enriching!

📢 Day 2 of the #MeDiMiConference2024! What an inspiring and densely packed day with discussions on legal struggles, in-/exclusion, and (self-)representation of actors in migration societies! The day kicked off with a roundtable on "Human Rights Movements in Migration Societies: Experiences and Practices". Chaired by MeDiMi PI Jürgen Bast, the roundtable drew on the experience of Nele Allenberg (Deutsches Institut für Menschenrechte), Bernd Kasparek (Delft University of Technology) and Michele LeVoy (Platform for Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)) to understand when and how human rights were made relevant to challenge migration control measures by human rights institutions, civil society organizations, and academic networks. After a session of parallel panels, we continued with a roundtable on "Human Rights Law in Migration Societies: Migrants' Rights before the Courts". Moderated by MeDiMi PI Janna Wessels, Hanaa Hakiki (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V. (ECCHR)), Anuscheh Farahat (Universität Wien), and Mario Savino (Università degli Studi della Tuscia) discussed the role of law and access to courts in migration-related conflicts. Following another session of panels, MeDiMi Research Associates Maria Hartmann and Anna Arden hosted the final roundtable of the day on "What Does Democracy Mean in Migration Societies? Human Rights, Participation, and Solidarity". Against the backdrop of the increasing shift to the far right in Germany and beyond, Elizabeth Ngari (Women in Exile), Klaas Müller (Verfassungsblog), and Hidaya Nampiima & Fanny van der Vooren (Here to Support) discussed the understanding and shape of democracy in a society characterized by pluralism and migration and the role of human rights therein. We're concluding this intense day with a pleasant evening of informal exchange and delicious food. We look forward to tomorrow!

📢 Day 1 of the #MeDiMiConference2024! We had a great start to our Conference with an insightful keynote by Maximilian Pichl (Hochschule RheinMain) on "The State of the #HumanRights of #Migrants in Europe". Chaired by MeDiMi PI Susanne Buckley-Zistel, the lecture gave an overview on the simultaneity of the legal struggles for the concrete utopia of human rights and authoritarian discourses openly questioning the human rights system. Maximilian Pichl offered explanations for this conflicting developments and explored the interactions between society, law, and politics in the 21st century. We're looking forward to two more days of discussions on the dynamics of #Humanrightization!

Verschärfte #Grenzkontrollen sowie #Zurückweisungen an deutschen Grenzen dominieren momentan den politischen Diskurs, aber ist das überhaupt erlaubt? MeDiMi-Sprecher Jürgen Bast spricht im Interview mit dem Deutschlandfunk im Bezug auf die jüngsten Pläne von einem "kalkulierten Rechtsbruch". Interesse an der Begründung der Einschätzung? Das Interview ist unter folgendem Link abrufbar: https://lnkd.in/enJQVnV9

📢 Event Alert! The final public session of the #MeDiMiConference2024 is the concluding keynote by Anuscheh Farahat (Universität Wien) titled "Research on Human Rights and Migration: The Way Forward". No registration is required to attend the event. The keynote will sketch a research agenda for future research on human rights and migration, focussed on three interconnected dimensions of migration from a comparative, human rights-based, and interdisciplinary perspective: agency of migrants, the political economy of migration, and the different modes of belonging. More information is available under the following link: https://lnkd.in/e93TH2Nm. 📆 Date: 20 September 2024 🕔 Time: 1 - 2:30 pm 📍 Place: Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen Please note: There will be no live stream!

📢 Event Alert! Another public session of the #MeDiMiConference2024 is the roundtable titled “What Does Democracy Mean in Migration Societies? Human Rights, Participation, and Solidarity”. The event is open to everyone, no registration for the conference is required. How do we understand and shape democracy in a society characterized by pluralism and migration? What role do human rights play therein? Against the backdrop of regional elections in Thuringia, Saxony, and Brandenburg and an increasing shift to the far right in Germany, invited speakers Elizabeth Ngari (Women in Exile), Klaas Müller (Verfassungsblog) and Hidaya Nampiima & Fanny van der Vooren (Here to Support) will discuss the interplay between democracy, human rights, and migration. The discussion aims to connect local political incidents with international debates and similar experiences elsewhere in search of common global norms and defiances of their local politicization. The roundtable continues a series of “MeDiMi Impulses” by the MeDiMi Research Associates, who organize themselves as a section of the Gießener Graduiertenzentrum Sozial-, Wirtschafts- und Rechtswissenschaften. More information is available under the following link: https://lnkd.in/eS_KZ2QM. 📆 Date: 19 September 2024 🕔 Time: 6 - 7:30 pm 📍 Place: Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen Please note: There will be no live stream!