Patrycja Ziółkowska: In media, host societies, integration-focused institutions, and scientific discourse, refugees are often relegated to the roles of “strangers” and “others”. Their position as “others” is sustained by pervasive stereotypes depicting them mainly as invasive threats or as passive, victimized subjects. Trying to delve into the issue of positioning refugees as “others” and “outgroups” within the society, this paper focus on the attitudes towards refugees from Chechnya, of workers of institutions aimed at supporting refugees in Poland. The article adopts the theoretical framework of (un)deservingness and racialised masculinities, researching the stereotypes that perpetuate ‘soft borders’ (Elder 2006) for some categories of migrants. It’s particular aims are to investigate stereotypes that contribute to perpetuating the image of refugees refigees from Chechnya as “others”.Anna Marino: This paper aims to analyze the process underlying the role categorizations play in migration narratives and performing social and political outcomes that affect migrants’ opportunities to be a visible part of the national community and be protected in their fundamental rights. We focus on migrant activism, which has visibilized migrant categories in an alternative way, creating conflict with the mainstream categorization and empowering the categorized to access places of visibility – a precondition to have a voice in the production of categorization recognized by societies. In addition, we show how migrants – particularly publicly visible ones – are categorized when they do not comply with the adjustment to national norms and behaviours expected from them or resist their depoliticization. We argue that by challenging representations of the national community through their political subjectivity, migrants have the potential to be categorized as lacking the resources to be integrated and to belong to the nation. We present our theoretical contribution in addressing the underlying logic of a process of exclusion by conflicts of categorizations. We start from its ontological characterization, namely that categorizations create counter-narratives and, therefore, the inherently conflicting nature of the process. We then argue that, while migrants’ challenge of the dominant narrative can produce more exclusions, it is a necessary condition to figure out modalities to transform injustices affecting migrants. Conflict is not the opposite of integration; instead, the ability to engage in a conflicting process of counter-narratives is a sign of integration in society.  

B

Martina Kolářová-Veverková: I would like to present preliminary findings of my qualitative research focused on employee’s experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of my project is to identify mechanisms of work stress specific for a crisis and link them with more general views and risk perception. Three main types of worker’s experience were identified, the differences are not only due to job stressors, but are strongly affected by perception of power relationships at work and by finding one’s role (sense of purpose) in the pandemic. This latter aspect manifests itself as crucial for their general interpretation of the Covid-19 crisis.

Jole Decorte: The research is structured around a “puzzle” concerning the gap between the normative and implementation levels of anti-poverty policies in Italy, specifically focusing on the theme of non-take-up. To explore the underlying relational dynamics of this phenomenon, a sociological approach has been chosen, utilizing the conceptual tools of street-level bureaucracy. Given the challenges in identifying the specific target of people in poverty excluded from benefits, the research focuses on the meso level of local welfare, then reconstructing relational dynamics at the micro and macro levels. In particular, the goal is to identify individuals who “fall out of the local welfare circuits” and understand their motivations. The research aims, first, to integrate qualitative data to gain a multidimensional understanding of the non-take-up phenomenon at the local welfare level. Secondly, it seeks to provide empirical insights useful for promoting equity and social justice in the practice of social services.

Theorizing: How to make empirical research theoretically relevant or how to make theory relevant for empirical research

Henning Laux, Professor of Sociological Theories of the Knowledge Society, Leibniz Universität Hannover

The lecture is interested in theorizing and addresses three practical problems. First, there is a broad consensus that science cannot work without theories. It is generally accepted that scientific articles and academic theses always need a theory section. However, it often remains unclear why this should be the case. The lecture discusses why (good) theories are needed, what (different) functions theories fulfill in the research process, and what forms they can take. Secondly, teaching and research are dominated by the application of existing theories. The creative process of theorizing, on the other hand, is often neglected. The lecture therefore shows various possibilities and strategies of theory building. Thirdly, theories sometimes tend to seal themselves off from empirical questioning. The lecture therefore discusses how this gap can be bridged and how specific empirical findings can contribute to the irritation, adaptation, development or even falsification of abstract theories. 

(No reading)

Session C: Social relevance (prof. Bhambra)

Petra Poncarová, Hanne Gaukel, Tereza Trojanová, Magdalena Michlová, Anna Marino, Martina Veverková

Session D: Theoretical relevance (prof. Laux)

Alia Rabio, Carlos Fabris, Nicol Staňková, Sharayu Shejale, Javier Hernandez Garcia, Olivier Waeber

Session E: Social relevance & Ethical concerns (prof. Holmwood)

Alicia Mariné, Erika Mosenbach, Jole Decorte, Patrycja Ziółkowska