Understanding and combating racism in compulsory education
Among the many institutions involved in the management of intercultural conviviality, primary and secondary schools play a decisive role by virtue of their structuring influence on children’s attitudes and social relations. In a working paper recently published by Oxford University’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), Pier-Luc Dupont offers a theoretical synthesis of the relationship between education policies and the reproduction of racism in Western Europe. Based on a wide range of empirical studies, he shows that biased curricula interact with the scarcity of foreign-origin teachers and the ethnic segregation of pupils to catalyse out-group prejudice. He also puts forward a number of concrete measures and opportunities for political mobilisation aimed at reversing these trends.
To read the working paper, click here. For the associated COMPAS blog post, click here.
Managing cultural and religious diversity in public space
Ángeles Solanes, professor of Legal Philosophy at Valencia University and main investigator of the Multihuri project, will be at the University of Montreal (Centre d'études ethniques des universités montréalaises) to deliver a conference entitled "Managing cultural and religious diversity in public space: some European examples" on 28 April at 12:00. The presentation will analyse the debates currently being held in varios EU states on the fundamental rights of foreign nationals, the use of religious symbols in public space and the opening of cemeteries and places of worship. This activity is promoted by Pierre Bosset, an internationally recognised expert on culture-based reasonable accommodations, and will also examine some possibilities of comparison with the Canadian model of diversity management.
Local communities, interculturalism and the potential of mediation
The Intercultural Community Intervention Project, launched by Fundación Obra Social La Caixa in 2010 and currently implemented in 39 Spanish regions, has become a model of good practice in the area of mediation and diversity management. Carlos Giménez Romero, professor of social anthropology at Madrid's Universidad Autónoma and the project's scientific director, will share the lessons learned on 5 April at 16:30 pm, in the conference entitled "Local communities, interculturalism and the potential of mediation: The experience of a cohesion-building project in high-diversity areas". The activity will be open to the public in the auditorium of the Social Sciences Faculty at the University of Valencia (Tarongers Campus).
Dissemination session on human rights and religions
The relationship between human rights and religions has been an ongoing legal, political and social concern since the dawn of modernity. In recent years, a series of headlines have brought this issue to the fore, often with a focus on Muslim communities residing in Europe and surrounding regions. In a dissemination session entitled "Human rights and religion: an impossible coexistence?", which will be held at the Law Faculty of Valencia University on 23 February, several specialists will assess the current situation and its implications for the promotion of human rights. This activity is organized within the "Innorights" and "Human rights, multicultural societies and conflicts" projects, both coordinated by professor Ángeles Solanes at the Human Rights Institute.
