SOLiDi MSCA Innovation Training Network

It is the first day of our final conference “solidarity in diversity: place and practice-based approaches” taking place at the University of Antwerp.

After a welcome and overview provided by Anke De Malsche and Stijn Oosterlynck on how we have de- and re-constructed solidarity, we received an introduction to public pedagogy by Gert Biesta and on institutional change by Magdalena Nowicka.

These presentations provided some food for thought on what these debates mean for solidarity, the concept that brings and holds us together for the coming three days.

Women are the largest group of survivors of domestic abuse, and face many barriers before escaping a violent situation.

Institutional barriers play a huge role for women in leaving, especially for those arriving in the Netherlands on a dependent permit of marriage migration.

In this article, Chloé and her supervisors research how, although there is a policy combatting domestic violence, there is still a lack of institution solidarity towards women, especially of migration background.

In this article Julia expands on researching activism through a critical, feminist, and sensory lens. In trying to bridge academia and activism, educators may encounter methodological concerns such as epistemic privilege, colonial embeddedness, translation and representation, and ethical-political responsibilities. A turn towards critical, feminist, and sensory methodologies may provide answers to these concerns in a way that goes beyond the mere performance of emancipatory and educational intentions.

WORKSHOP INVITATION & CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Berlin, 16.07.2024 - 17.07.2024

How can solidarity be adapted to superdiverse societies? How do we better equip professionals and organizations to nurture solidarities across ethnic-cultural lines? Or how do we articulate solidary when it is increasingly captured by ring-wing and nationalist populist forces?

Over the course of the past three years, 15 doctoral researchers from 10 different academic institution have been exploring these questions in collaboration with 23 societal partners.

On August 20, 21 and 22, this international network will present their findings during a three day event and reflect with you on how a new vision on solidarity can be articulated.

On August 20th, Stijn Oosterlynck will guide us through some of the important insights from the project, while Gert Biesta and Magdalena Nowicka will discuss which role there is for public pedagogies and institutional change and policy to support solidarities across differences.

On August 21st and 22nd, doctoral researchers of SOLiDi and selected external participants will present their research findings on solidarities in diversity in a variety of ways alongside partner organizations of the SOLiDi network. These presentations, panel sessions and expositions will be complemented with contributions that explore solidarity from an artistic perspective.

All info and agenda can be found on our website: https://www.solidi.eu/solidi-events/ws-14-joint-learnings-on-interculturalism-solidarity-in-diversity-and-intersectionalism

This event is open for all audiences (registration fee for all three days is € 60). You can register through the link here: https://uantwerpen.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3BO8YQrRDAU240C.

For more info or questions, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]

Looking back on a fun, interesting, and inspiring week with this brilliant team of researchers 👏

Once per year, we come together for our ‘progress presentations’ during which the doctoral researchers present their research and share some reflections they have gathered the past year.

We are reaching the end of the SOLiDi training program, which means that this third session is also our final one.

Although a stressful moment for those writing up, it is a pleasure to hear about our colleagues interesting and inspiring work and learn from each other’s cases and reflections!

On the pictures, you see everyone who has presented during this first day of the “progress presentations” 👏

Solinda Morgillo just published a book review about “Fighting Identity: An Ethnography of Kickboxing in East London” by Amit Singh for the journal “Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power”.

Singh’s book in an interesting study contributing to the studies of ‘race’ and conviviality and the potential of leisure spaces, such as kickboxing gyms, for forming bonds beyond essentialist identity categories. In her review, Solinda reflects on the potential of its contribution to the field in more depth.

At the beginning of the year, the SOLiDi consortium got together (online) for a series of workshops on "interculturalism" organised by Sharon Todd, Gert Biesta and colleagues at Maynooth University and Migrant Teacher Project. Because it is so difficult to define what culture is, we focused on what culture does: We saw that it can be used to classify people and differentiate between “us” and “them”. But it can also be empowering and allow for identification. Based on these different aspects of culture, we discussed: “What would a world without culture look like?” The question sparked an interesting conversation, and not just between us. Linda Sol decided to ask her followers about it on Instagram. See below some questions we discussed and insights we gained.

JOB ALERT: Want to become my colleague and join an inspirational and dynamic team of researchers? The department of Human Geography Uppsala University is hiring 3-4 new PhD students (start: 1st of September 2022). Deadline: 25 March 2022!

More info:

3-4 PhD student positions in Human Geography - Uppsala University, Sweden 3-4 PhD student positions in Human Geography , Uppsala University, Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University

Introducing Hannah Sommer, ESR 15. She will be researching solidarity in diversity in an urban setting at Universität Wien. Her research is supervised by Yuri Kazepov and co-supervised by Magdalena Nowicka at DeZIM-Institut.