Structural racism exists because of social constructions of group demarcations. Such boundary making processes are at the root of both structural and individual xenophobia and racism. This project therefore first aims to empirically map boundary making processes in people’s everyday life institutional contexts. Second, the project aims to provide empirical evidence for what actions as a response to boundary making processes will support equality. 

RAISE draws on the assumption that to reduce structural racism, people (and the institutions they operate in) have to be aware of these underlying boundary making processes that reproduce structural racism and the role it has in lasting inequalities. Recognition and acknowledgment of these forms of injustice will contribute to social action for equality. The project will be the first in Europe to study empirically the awareness of boundary making processes in reproducing structural racism and what collective actions contribute to break through such boundary making processes.

I-CLAIM investigates the living and working conditions of migrant households with precarious legal status in Europe.
The project combines the need to advance scientific knowledge and theorisation on migrants’ irregularity, its drivers and consequences and the urgency to develop policy options and public interventions aimed at improving the conditions of undocumented migrants and their families.

The research focuses on the situation in Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. I-CLAIM works closely with a wide range of European and national stakeholders, including labour unions and migrant rights organizations, to develop recommendations on how to improve the living and working conditions of migrants with precarious legal status in Europe.

In the past century, millions of people have moved in and out of Europe and over time, their pathways have been forming a rich arrival infrastructure. Here, newcomers negotiate their possible futures with the resources that civil servants, old and new friends, family members, employers and many others are providing. ReROOT is a project that attests to the numerous constraints set on people’s futures, but also to the efforts and energies that construct lively new worlds within the arrival infrastructure. Worlds, where the horizons of the possible are opened up.

In nine pilot sites, ReROOT amplifies some of the diverse voices in the arrival infrastructure to learn from these struggles and achievements. Through a joint effort of 12 academic and civil society organisations, these nine pilot sites create a vibrant network of perspectives and skillsets – from policy makers and researchers to newcomers, social workers and community-driven organizations. By bringing together expertise in many shapes and types, ReROOT aims to foster sustainable, evidence-based integration practices, policies and wider public imaginaries.

Therefore, ReROOT partners co-create hands-on training materials for municipalities, civil society and social professionals in order to learn how to advocate for the local arrival infrastructure they care about, want to understand and help to open-up.

• Carolien Lubberhuizen

The COVID-19 pandemic has strained the economies, health-care systems, social structures and living standards on the islands Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten. Using a human rights-based approach this multidisciplinary study will focus on the social impact of the COVID -19 pandemic and the State responses towards protecting vulnerable families. We apply to an multi-sited, mixed-methods approach to understand the diverse reasons that contribute to increase in vulnerability and measures that can be taken to build social resilience among families and communities. This study will also evaluate the performance of COVID-19 measures and make recommendations for futures outbreaks and epidemics.

• prof. dr. Ajay Bailey

• Prof. A. Duits
• Dr. Benedicta Deogratias
• Dr. Antonio Carmona Báez
• Dr. Jelte Elsinga
• Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth
• Dr. Elisabeth Echteld

Refugee youth and young asylum seekers often find themselves in precarious positions: insecure housing, lack of social networks and employment restrictions, coupled with a lack of money. Many occupy the public spaces of cities and towns where they seek refuge. Their presence in these spaces has been strongly problematized in European immigration debates. There has, by contrast, been far less debate on how young refugees can contribute their own histories, voices and agencies to the development of convivial public spaces and to what extent this can enhance their integration and participation in society.

In many European cities, it is often arts and cultural initiatives that provide a platform for refugee and migrant voices, playing an influential role in their encounters with public space and other people. This study identifies the importance of these initiatives and uses them as the entry-point to researching the personal geographies of young refugees and asylum seekers in four European cities, mapping their migration histories, exploring their post-arrival experiences and asking how their place-making and artistic practices contribute to the transformation of urban public space.

The research focuses on the everyday experiences of refugee youth in Newcastle (UK), Leipzig (Germany), Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Brussels (Belgium). The methodological approach is primarily qualitative and draws heavily upon the principles of participatory research. It includes extensive participatory observation in each of the localities. Refugee youth will be offered a suite of creative methods to choose from for tracing and representing their personal geographies. Whilst being attentive to the migration histories of our participants, we acknowledge the importance of understanding how these align with the particular urban histories of each city. This means that we analyze the discursive constructions and representations of refugee youth in the local media as well.

• dr. Rik Huizinga