IBEI Research Project States, Nationalism, and the Relationship between Ethnic Diversity and Public Goods Provision (ETHNICGOODS), teamed up with the Research in Sociology of Religion research group (ISOR) based at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and IBEI's Diversity and Politics cluster to organise a joint symposium titled “The Politics of Identity” on Tuesday, 18 June 2024. 

The symposium will explore themes such as nationalism, pluralism, citizenship and ethno-religious boundaries in light of key societal transformations such as the digitalisation of social life, deepening political polarisation and radicalisation, and the intensification of securitisation in diverse cultural and political contexts.   

From our own cohort and based on research behind the EthnicGoods dataset, Emre Amasyali and Andrei Tarasov will take us through varieties of nation-building in post-Soviet countries, Frank-Borge Wietzke on the usefulness of ethnic vs national identity distinction in African political studies and EthnicGoods Principal Investigator Matthias vom Hau will discuss the links between democratisation, nation-building and securitisation of indigenous groups in Argentina and Chile. 

✏️ To attend in person, please send an email to apinto@ibei.org.
▶️ To access the streaming, please register here.

PROGRAMME

09:30 - 9:45 Introduction by Matthias vom Hau (IBEI), Mar Griera (ISOR-UAB)

09:45 - PANEL I | The Politics of National Identity

Discussant: Marta Simó, ISOR-UAB

• Varieties of Nation-Building in Post-Soviet Countries: A Fuzzy-Set Ideal Type Analysis (Emre Amasyali and Andrei Tarasov, IBEI)
• Islam as a Political Tool in Moroccan Diplomacy and Religious Politics (Melania Brito-Clavijo, ISOR-UAB)
• Chinese Perspectives on Catalan and Scottish Independence (Yinghe Liu, IBEI)
• Romaníes y religión: La iglesia evangélica en México (Jesús Eduardo Villota Mera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM))

11:15 - 11:45 Coffee Break

11:45 - PANEL II | Identity in Question

Discussant: Matthias vom Hau, IBEI

• Do We Have Too Much Riding on the ‘Ethnic Versus National Identity’ Question in African Political Studies? (Frank-Borge Wietzke, IBEI)
• Anonymity and Islamic Authority in Cyber Space (Avi Astor, ISOR-UAB)
• De los márgenes al centro (Mayte Cantero-Sánchez, ISOR-UAB)
• Identidad digital en grupos universitarios católicos y evangélicos (Patricio Oliva, ISOR-UAB (virtual))

13:15 - 14:15 Lunch Break

14:15 - PANEL III | Political Radicalism and Processes of Securitization

Discussant: Frank Borge Wietzke, IBEI

• Distinct Legacies of Threat Construction: Democratization, Nation-Building and the Securitization of Indigenous Peoples in Argentina and Chile (Matthias vom Hau, IBEI)
• Urban Governance in the Post-Attacks Context in Western European Cities. Exploring the Nexus of Threat Management and Urban Integration (Alex Govers López, KU Leuven (virtual))
• Religion, Politics, and Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Argentina in the Context of Religious Conservatism and Far-Right Rule (Gabriela Irrazábal, ISOR-UAB)

15:30 - 15:45 Coffee Break

15:45 - PANEL IV | Pluralism, Righs, and Belonging

Discussant: Rosa Martínez-Cuadros, ISOR-UAB/UB

• The Relativity of Sanctuary: Experiences of irregular migrants in Barcelona (Gülce Şafak Özdemir, IBEI)
• Too Many Halal Butcheries: Urban Gastronativism in a Gentrifying Parisian Neighborhood (Víctor Albert-Blanco, ISOR-UAB)
• Rethinking Integration: The Capabilities Approach in Migration Studies (Eva Fortes, IBEI)
• From Banal to Moral Catholicism: The Religious Ritualization of Far-Right Protest in Contemporary Spain (Mar Griera, ISOR-UAB (with Joseba García-Martin, Martín Couto & Rosa Martínez))