Founded in 1992, the Sussex European Institute (SEI) is an interdisciplinary research hub that brings together scholars and experts whose work engages with Europe’s political institutions, political economy, and its historical legacies.

Upcoming Events 

Spring 2023

Wednesday Date TBC, Migratization - The Ascription of Migration as Performative Practice

Migratization - The Ascription of Migration as Performative Practice

Alyosxa Tudor (Reader in Gender Studies, SOAS)

Date: Wednesday, (new date to be confirmed)

Venue: tbc

Abstract: To make sense of the overlapping racist, anti-immigration and anti-EU rhetoric that marks the pre- and post-Brexit moment in the UK, in my talk I suggest differentiating between racism/racialization and migratism/migratization in critical scholarship. The conceptualizations foreground a postcolonial understanding of racism and make it possible to analyze both migration-based discrimination and discrimination based on perceived migration in violence and hate crimes connected to the Brexit referendum. I first coined ‘migratization’ in the book chapter ‘Racism and Migratism: The Relevance of a Critical Differentiation’ (Tudor 2010): “Migration and migrants are not at the center of this article, but the power relations that construct migration. I call the process of construction ‘migratization’; the power relation that constructs ‘migratization’ is ‘migratism’’ (Tudor 2010, 396). Racialization and migratization are not symmetrical or oppositional but have a complicated interdependent relationship, are bound to each other and play a crucial role in organizing the Western nation state. To illustrate my arguments that intend to challenge and extend existing scholarship, I discuss exemplary snapshots from news articles, blog posts and social media sources. I suggest conceptualizing migratization (the ascription of migration) as performative practice (Tudor 2018) that repeatedly re-stages a sending-off to an elsewhere and that works in close interaction with racialization. I argue that the proposed differentiation can help us to disentangle the layers of ascriptions of migration and racialization we witness in the examples, without downplaying the role of white supremacy on one hand or ignoring the migration-based discrimination against East Europeans on the other.

Wednesday 15 March 2023, Interrogating Muslims: The Liberal-Secular Matrix of Integration

Interrogating Muslims: The Liberal-Secular Matrix of Integration

Schirin Amir-Moazami (Professor of Islam in Europe, Freie Universität Berlin)

Date: Wednesday 15 March 2023

Time: 2pm

Venue: Freeman Building,G22

Abstract: This book interrogates the patterns and discursive structures that have generated the seeming urgency of Muslims' integration. Focusing on Germany, it problematizes the grounds on which politics of integration are justified and reasoned upon, and thereby investigates divergent operations of power vis-à-vis Muslims and Islam in a formally liberal-secular society. The integration paradigm in Germany has been predicated on an imperial knowledge regime, in which Islam figures as the external friend or enemy of an imagined Christian secular. This book analyzes three kinds of integration practices as symptomatic sites for the multifaceted dimensions of power in this paradigm: the scientific measurement of Muslims' degrees of integration which are correlated with their degrees of religiosity; the politics of recognition promoted by state-organized dialogue with Muslims; and the threat of sanction, found in the regulations of citizenship and explicitly in citizenship tests. Centrally, the book argues that the paradigm of integration navigates between universalist claims and particularistic-racial and religious-re-enactments of a secular nation-state framework at moments in which this very framework is crumbling.

Wednesday 29 March 2023, Racist and Imperial Genealogies in LGBT- free Zones and Struggles over Europe in Poland

Racist and Imperial Genealogies in LGBT-free Zones and Struggles over Europe in Poland

Pawel Lewicki (Associate Director, European Studies Centre, Pittsburg)

Date: Wednesday 29 March 20023

Time: 5pm

Venue: Via Zoom, details nearer the time

Wednesday 26 April 2023, Queer, Iranian and in exile: Comparing the experiences of Iranian queer refugees living in Turkey, the UK and Canada

Queer, Iranian and in exile: Comparing the experiences of Iranian queer refugees living in Turkey, the UK and Canada

Moira Dustin, Lecturer in Law, University of Sussex

Nuno Ferreira, Professor of Law, University of Sussex

Kamran Matin, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Sussex

Mehran Rezaei Toroghi, Research Fellow in Law, University of Sussex

Date: Wednesday 26 April 2023

Time: 3pm

Venue: TBC

Thursday/Friday 4th & 5th May 2023, Sussex European Institute & LPS Doctoral School: Europe's peripheral and racial (b)orders

Thursday/Friday 4th & 5th May 2023

Sussex European Institute & LPS Doctoral School:

Europe’s peripheral and racial (b)orders

Panel discussion (open to everyone) and work-in-progress workshop (open to postgrads/ postdocs)

Expert Panel (4th May, 1.30 – 3pm). Moot Room, Freeman Building. All welcome!

Josh Bowsher (Lecturer in Sociology, University of Sussex)

Sabine Hess (Professor in European Ethnology, University of Göttingen)

Arshad Isakjee (Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Liverpool)

Work-in-progress sessions (4th May: 3.30 – 5.30pm, 5th May: 10-12pm, 1-3pm).

The Sussex European Institute and the Doctoral Programme at the School of Law, Politics and Sociology invite expressions of interest for an interdisciplinary work-in-progress workshop for early career scholars at the University of Sussex. The event will involve an expert panel (which will be open to everyone) and 2-3 work-in-progress sessions for scholars at doctoral and postdoctoral level which are designed to facilitate exchanges about research experiences (and will be closed to the wider public). We are particularly keen to hear from early career scholars who critically engage with Europe, coloniality, the making of peripheries and semi-peripheries, borders, human rights, racism, and data activism in these areas. Specifically, the event will focus on Europe’s racial orders, the making of (semi-)peripheral border zones, bordering practices on land and at sea, and critical humanitarianism and other repertoires of resistance. We will also discuss the practicalities of working in critical border studies, including the ethics of data collection, asymmetrical relations, issues arising from data activism, and trends of criminalising activist research or research-based activism.

Chairs:

Aleks Lewicki, (Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Co-Director Sussex European Institute, University of Sussex)
Nuno Ferreira, (Professor of Law, Director of Doctoral Studies, University of Sussex)
Katy Budge, (Doctoral Tutor, School of Law, Politics and Sociology, University of Sussex)

If you are an early career scholar interested in participating in the event, please send a title and abstract (max. 300 words) introducing your research to A.Lewicki@sussex.ac.uk. The deadline for expressions of interest is 24th February 2023.

A limited number of bursaries (covering travel and accommodation) are available to early career scholars based at other UK Universities. Please indicate if you would like to apply for one of these bursaries when you submit your title/abstract.

Past Events

Autumn 2022

Wednsday 21 September 2022, Workshop: Emotions, Brexit and European Politics

Workshop: Emotions, Brexit and European Politics

Date: Wednesday 21st September 2022

Time: 2-4pm

Location: via Zoom

Description:

The aim of the workshop is to allow participants working within this area to share their research and to have an informal discussion about the connections between emotion, Brexit, and populism in Europe. After a brief introduction from our side and a few introductory words, we would like to give our invited speakers the opportunity to talk about their research and how it connects to the themes of the workshop (for a maximum of 10 minutes each). Following that, we would like to open up the conversation for a free-flowing informal exchange of views around the question of ‘How does attention to emotion change our understanding of Brexit and support for populism in European politics?’

Convenors: Emily Robinson, Jonathan Moss, Jake Watts

Wednesday 19 October 2022 Giorgia and friends: The Italian general election 2022 - Dr Simona Guerra (Surrey)

Title: Giorgia and friends: The Italian general election 2022 - Dr Simona Guerra (Surrrey)

Date: Wednesday 19 October 2022

Time: 14:00 - 15:50

Venue: Freeman F39, University of Sussex

Wednesday 16 November 2022 - Radicalism, identity construction and emotionality in soical movements  - Dr Savroula Chrona (Sussex)

Title: Radicalism, identity construction and emotionality in social movements – Dr Stavroula Chrona (Sussex)

Date: Wednesday 16 November 2022

Time: 14:00 - 15:50

Venue: Freeman F39, University of Sussex

TBC, Values and civic participation - Professor Paula Suridge (Bristol)

Title: Values and civic participation – Professor Paula Surridge (Bristol)

Date: TBC

Time: TBC

Venue: Freeman F39, University of Sussex

Wednesday 7 December 2022, Selection of Legislative Candidates in Turkey's Main Opposition Party: A Macro and Micro Level Analysis fom Bourdieusian Perspective - Dr Osman Kocaaga (Sussex and Kirklareli Universities)

Title: Selection of Legislative Candidates in Turkey's Main Opposition Party: A Macro and Micro Level Analysis from Bourdieusian Perspective – Dr Osman Kocaaga (Sussex and Kirklareli Universities)

Date: Wednesday 7 December 2022

Time: 14:00 – 15:50

Venue: Freeman F39, University of Sussex

2021-2022

Thursday 5 May 2022, Sussex European Institute 30th Anniversary Event

Sussex European Institute 30th Anniversary Event

Date: Thursday 5th May 2022

Time: 09:30am - 4:00pm BST

Venue: Moot Room (G06 Freeman Centre)

For full details visit here

Wednesday 02 March 2022, Anglo-Irish relations in the wake of Brexit

Title: Anglo-Irish relations in the wake of Brexit

Date: Wednesday 02 March 2022

Time: 2pm to 3:30pm

Venue: Via Zoom

Speaker: Etain Tannam (Trinity College Dublin)

Wednesday 30 March 2022, The forthcoming presidential and legislative elections in France

Title: The forthcoming presidential and legislative elections in France 

Date: Wednesday 30 March 2022

Time: 2pm to 3:30pm

Venue: Freeman G16

Speaker: Sue Collard  (Sussex)

Wednesday 13 October 2021, Beyond the Cartel: Parties, Anti-System and Democracy in the 21st Century

Title: Beyond the Cartel: Parties, Anti-System and Democracy in the 21st Century

Date: Wednesday 13 October 2021

Time: 14:00 - 15:50

Event: Online via zoom

Speaker: Jonathan Hopkin (LSE)

Wednesday 24 November 2021, Small Worlds in Europe: investigating the Determinants of Non-Statewide Party Success

Title: Small Worlds in Europe: Investigating the Determinants of Non-Statewide Party Success

Date: Wednesday 24 November 2021

Time: 14:00 to 15:50

Venue: Ashdown House 102

Speaker: Jonathan Parker, University of Sussex

 2020-2021

Wednesday 23 June 2021, The ongoing Politics of Brexit and Ireland

Title: The Ongoing Politics of Brexit and Ireland

Date: Wednesday 23 June 2021

Time: 4-6pm London UK time

Venue: On-line via Zoom

Speakers: Prof Katy Hayward, Prof Brigid Laffan, Prof John O’Brennan

Chair: Dr Neil Dooley, University of Sussex

Abstract

The ‘unique circumstances on the island of Ireland’ have fundamentally shaped the negotiations around, the outcomes of, and the aftermath of Brexit. While the impact of Brexit on Ireland and Northern Ireland barely featured during the 2016 referendum campaign, it quickly became one of the thorniest and most defining issues in negotiations. Despite pledges to ‘get Brexit done’ and the UK formally exiting the EU on January 31st 2021, tensions and negotiations around the Northern Ireland protocol have persisted. Ireland was, and remains absolutely central to the ongoing politics of Brexit.
Presented by the Sussex European Institute, this workshop will explore questions around the centrality of Ireland's interests in Brexit negotiations, the current UK government position on the Northern Ireland protocol, the impact of Brexit and ‘de-Europeanisation’ on British-Irish relations and how the politics of Ireland/Northern Ireland understood and framed by UK political elites. It will broadly consider, if the politics of Brexit are ongoing, what role will ‘the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland’ play in their evolution?

Presented by the Sussex European Institute, this workshop will explore questions around the centrality of Ireland's interests in Brexit negotiations, the current UK government position on the Northern Ireland protocol, the impact of Brexit and ‘de-Europeanisation’ on British-Irish relations and how the politics of Ireland/Northern Ireland understood and framed by UK political elites. It will broadly consider, if the politics of Brexit are ongoing, what role will ‘the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland’ play in their evolution?

Wednesday 17 March 2021, Europe's unsafe environment anti-migrant violence in COVID times

Title: Europe’s unsafe environment anti-migrant violence in COVID times

Date: Wednesday 17 March 2021

Time: 4-5pm London UK time

Venue: On-line via Zoom

Speaker: Dr Maurice Stierl, University of Warwick

Abstract

The Covid-19 crisis has prompted a range of novel mobility restrictions that have impacted migrant and displaced communities particularly harshly. Focussing on the situation at Europe’s external borders, I will examine the drastic anti-migrant deterrence and racialised containment measures that have emerged over the first year of the pandemic. Although these measures need to be understood in the continuity of the EU border regime, we can nonetheless observe a shift: from hostile Europe to unsafe Europe. While practically, Europe’s manifold hostile environment policies vis-à-vis precarious migrants persist, the Covid-19 emergency has allowed to justify ‘keeping them out’ or ‘containing them elsewhere’ in the name of their own protection, far away from Europe’s unsafe environment, plagued by a rampant pandemic.

Chair: Dr Aleks Lewicki, University of Sussex