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Public Lecture Series, Spring Semester 2016
Topographies of Displacement and Resistance:
Refugee movements since the Arab Revolutions and their transnational consequences
For several months now, European news outlets are filled with daily reports on refugees on their way to Europe. Much of the debate centers on the discourses of “crisis” and “threat” for Europe, hampering more nuanced discussions. The pressing question on how to engage with the contemporary humanitarian challenge triggered by war and displacement, and how to deal with its long-term consequences is not just a matter for politicians but concerns the public-at-large. Going beyond shortsighted concerns, we aim for a more comprehensive analysis by bringing together a variety of critical perspectives and neglected aspects of the current refugee movements.
On our website you can find the blogposts of our students, the videorecords of the public lectures, the programme, a photo gallery and of course articles and more about our lectures series in the media.
In the first part of the lecture series that takes place in Spring Semester 2016, the focus will be on different sites of refuge and resistance from the people who are fleeing the MENA region. After the Arab uprisings and the subsequent changes in the region, one of the largest displacement process since WW II has been unleashed. What is often overlooked in Western media is the fact that most of the refugees are hosted in the neighboring countries (Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey) yet we rarely hear about the situation of refugees there. With five public lectures and a final discussion various aspects of the situation of the refugees on their stations before their arrival in Europe are going to be addressed. By inviting scholars, intellectuals and activists who have first hand expertise about the current situation in the various sites of refuge and resistance in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and the Balkans, we provide a unique insight for students, university members and the wider public in Basel. In addition to presentations on displacement and resistance in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria the lectures will also take into consideration practices of transnational solidarity and forms of self-organization that have emerged on the flight routes. Another focus will be the gendered experiences and practices of fleeing. The public lectures are going to be accompanied by a film screening about displacement during the Basel Bildrausch Festival in May 2016 in cooperation with the Stadtkino Basel. In Spring 2017, the lecture series is going to continue with a focus on the (labor market, housing, safety) situation of refugees in Europe within the context of right wing populist movements mobilizing against refugees, racism and violence, debates of a new welcoming culture, the ever more tightening European border regime and alternative citizenship concepts.
Download the poster of the public lecture series here: Plakat_Ringvorlesung_Fluchttopographien (pdf, 2 MB, only available in German)
The lecture series is organized by Prof. Dr. Bilgin Ayata (Seminar of Sociology) and Dr. des. Sarah Schilliger (Seminar of Sociology) with the support of the Department of Social Sciences as part of its commitment to foster academic debate on current socio-political issues.
For questions about the lecture series, please email bilgin.ayata@unibas.ch or sarah.schilliger@unibas.ch
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