DEMOS AAU

A seminar on Migration, Labour and Belonging was held last week, organized by Tomislav Pušić, Ferhat Demirag, and Mashudu Salifu as part of the DEMOS research group.

The seminar brought together several distinguished PhD candidates and Postdoctoral researchers.

Carola Vasileiadi (PhD Candidate, Erasmus University Rotterdam) presented her fieldwork in Thessaloniki, focusing on solidarity practices toward people on the move within deteriorating infrastructures.

Hannah Kay (PhD Candidate, Erasmus University Rotterdam) discussed her fieldwork in Trieste, examining intersecting patterns of mobility and immobility by tracing four distinct narratives emerging from urban life.

Carola and Hannah are undertaking a two-week research stay at Aalborg University within the DEMOS research group, where they will further discuss their ongoing projects. Further details about their project can be found at https://urbimm.eu/

Konstantinos Floros (Postdoctoral Researcher, AAU) presented his project on Autonomous Cartographies of Migrant Platform Work in Denmark, highlighting the use of counter-mapping to explore how migrant cleaners collectively document their spatial and social realities in Copenhagen.

Ferhat Demirağ (PhD Student, AAU) presented a thematic literature review addressing forced migration and the fragmentation of belonging in Scandinavia.

Franz Bernhardt (Dr) (Research Assistant, AAU) discussed his research on legal activism as a preventive strategy, with a focus on housing activism and litigation challenging the Danish Ghetto Law.

Gülnur Demirci (PhD Student, Malmö University) addressed the methodological challenges of conducting research in authoritarian contexts, discussing how she navigates boundaries, risks, and ethical dilemmas in her project on the transnational construction of Circassian cultural memory across Turkey, Russia, and Germany.

Professors Martin Bak Jørgensen and Óscar García Agustín offered critical perspectives on migration through the lens of Gramsci and social theory, examining hegemony, solidarity, and the potential for counter-hegemonic movements across borders.

Tomislav Pušić (PhD Fellow, AAU) presented research on the opacity of migration infrastructure along the Balkan route, analysing how smuggling networks, migrants, humanitarian actors, and states produce opacity as an infrastructural tactic to navigate and circumvent surveillance.

Mashudu Salifu (PhD Fellow, AAU) presented a patchwork ethnography on the formation of migration corridors from the ground up, drawing on fieldwork in the Canary Islands to examine how migrants repurpose infrastructures of endurance to sustain movement along the Western Atlantic route.

The two-day seminar concluded with a workshop on fieldwork ethics and methodology, followed by a collective discussion among participants.

🎙️ May the 4th be with you!

Today we’re celebrating Star Wars Day, the fan-created holiday built on the iconic phrase “May the Force be with you” — but also asking what this galaxy far, far away tells us about power much closer to home.

In our latest episode of POP-POL, host Frida Selim Williams is joined by Óscar García Agustín and Martin Bak Jørgensen to unpack Star Wars — from the fall of the Republic to the rise of the Empire, and the everyday realities of resistance in series like Andor.

We talk about authoritarian drift, rebellion, and why staying out of politics is rarely an option — because as the episode title suggests:
if you don’t do politics, politics will do you.

So whether you’re rewatching the originals, diving into Andor, or just here for the memes — today’s a reminder that even in fiction, power, fear, and resistance are never just fantasy.

🎧 Listen now: https://open.spotify.com/episode/30CnWLWXVsUdWL3a4oPbXt?si=f6eefccaa94e4055

POP-POL — where pop culture meets politics, no jargon needed.

‼ Democracy is under pressure worldwide. ‼

Understanding the signs is the first step to protecting it.

Sources:

Freedom House — Freedom in the World 2025

V-Dem Institute — Democracy Report 2024

Reporters Without Borders — World Press Freedom Index 2025

World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators

Transparency International — Corruption Perceptions Index 2024

OECD — Trust in Government (2025)

What can international policy spaces tell us about the current state of gender equality?

At the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, DEMOS student assistant Frida Selim Williams represented the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), engaging in global discussions on rights, representation, and inequality.

In a new article, she reflects on her experience at CSW70 — highlighting key themes such as shifting global dynamics, uneven representation, and the challenges of translating commitments into practice. The piece also raises critical questions about whose voices are present in these spaces, and whose remain underrepresented.

From a DEMOS perspective, the article underscores the importance of connecting academic research with real-world policy processes, and the continued relevance of studying democracy, inequality, and social justice in a global context.

🔗 Read the full article here

DEMOS Student Assistant at CSW70: Reflections from the United Nations At the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, DEMOS student assistant Frida Selim Williams represented the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), contributing to ongoing global discussions on gender equality, rights, ...

🎙️ New episode alert!

What if belonging came with a cost?

We’re back with another episode of POP-POL — where pop culture meets real politics.

This time, host Frida Selim Williams is joined by Óscar García Agustín and Martin Bak Jørgensen to unpack Sinners — the genre-bending film that blends horror and music to explore identity, culture, and power.

We talk about assimilation and what it means to “fit in,” the role of the blues as cultural memory and resistance, and how visibility can quickly turn into erasure. We also dive into who gets labeled a “sinner,” and how race, gender, and power shape those judgments.

From seductive promises of unity to the loss of identity, Sinners asks a simple but uncomfortable question: what do you have to give up to belong?

🎧 Listen now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Nipw0I4ERqxprKDMIclwj?si=4Sn-oWllR0egfC8-eVDL-Q

POP-POL — where pop culture meets politics, no jargon needed.

Here at DEMOS, we wish everyone a wonderful and peaceful transition into 2026! 🥂🥳

We want to thank everyone for an outstanding year! To all of our colleagues, students, guests and associates, we are grateful for all the achievements and goals of 2025, and we cannot wait for what 2026 will bring!

🎙️ New episode alert — and our final one of the year!

This week on POP-POL, we take on One Battle After Another — the explosive political action thriller that dives deep into resistance, betrayal, and what happens when the revolution comes home.

Host Frida Selim Williams is joined by DEMOS researchers Martin Bak Jørgensen and Óscar García Agustín to talk about:

🔹 What the film says about the burnout and legacy of revolutionaries
🔹 How sanctuary cities are portrayed — and how states respond to real-world resistance
🔹 The way race and gender shape who gets remembered as a hero (and who doesn’t)
🔹 Whether a revolutionary can ever really “retire” — or if the fight just changes
🔹 And finally, whether One Battle After Another is a story of hopelessness — or a call to keep showing up

It’s our last episode of 2025 — but we’ll be back next year with even more pop culture, politics, and fun conversation without the jargon.

🎄 Thanks for listening, and Merry Christmas from all of us at DEMOS!

🔗 Listen now on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/5f27euFLHPkKDwrHBqGSRU?si=k8i-W_JtS2aqM7SaYPXtQw
🎧 POP-POL — where your favorite films meet the real world.

📢 New episode alert!

🦸‍♂️ Superman: The Immigrant, the Icon, and the Man in the Cape is out now!

In this episode of POP-POL, host Frida Selim Williams is joined by Óscar García Agustín and Martin Bak Jørgensen to explore the political layers behind the most famous superhero of all time.

We talk:
🛸 Superman as a migrant and the myth of assimilation
🧍‍♂️ Why Clark Kent hides — and who gets to feel safe in plain sight
🦸‍♂️ Masculinity, morality, and the pressure to be a “good guy”
🇺🇸 And what “truth, justice, and the American way” even means in 2025

Superman isn’t just about superpowers — he’s a reflection of the stories we tell about nationhood, identity, and who gets to belong.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/41XRpfZpWERmYo8hqeaNEx?si=ef8aCcnXTNapRpuUp3-wOw
💬 POP-POL — where pop culture meets politics (and capes come with baggage)

(And don't worry! This isn't our last episode of the year!)

Curious what does DEMOS stand for? 👀
👉🏼Swipe to find out more

📢 New episode alert!

🧠 Poor Things: Who Owns Her Story? is out now!

In this episode of POP-POL, host Frida Selim Williams is joined by DEMOS interns Krystal Anne Estrella and Pavlena D. Bachvarova to explore Poor Things — the bold, surreal film that reimagines womanhood, power, and pleasure from the ground up.

We talk about:
✨ Feminism and freedom
🧪 Scientific "experiments" and social control
🔥 Sexual agency, objectification, and the limits of liberation
📖 And who gets to tell the story of womanhood — and why

🎙️ This episode also comes just after November 25 — the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. A reminder that conversations around control, autonomy, and systemic violence are more than cultural—they're political —and it is important to pause to consider who narrates these conversations.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3kpQ2f4U9AL8V1t5Y4drjE?si=qXnWx17iSIaO2SQs2kKwAA
💬 POP-POL — where pop culture meets real politics (no jargon, just questions that matter)