MAGnituDe - Migration, Affective Geopolitics and European Democracy in Times of Military Conflicts
Short description
MAGnituDe explores the consequences of mass migration caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for European democracy and provides evidence-based strategies to reinvigorate democratic governance in response to the negative social consequences of the war for European societies.
MAGnituDe utilises the feminist concept of affective geopolitics to analyse how geopolitical narratives and imaginations shape everyday human encounters through which social, political, and cultural identities get constructed and contested. The general objective of MAGnituDe is to enhance citizen participation through preventing polarisation and the fragmentation of identities related to mass displacement in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The project utilizes affect as a tool, tapping into the sensuous, emotional, and corporeal dimensions of human experience.
Background
Russia’s war against Ukraine has provoked an unprecedented level of forced displacement to the European Union (EU) and EU Neighborhood (EN). As of November 2023, there are almost six million Ukrainian refugees in Europe (UNHCR 2023). Although Ukrainians were quickly offered a temporary protection status (TPS), governed by the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), it is currently uncertain what status will be granted to these refugees afterwards. However, many forcibly displaced people (FDPs) plan to stay in the EU even when the war is over. MAGnituDe explores the consequences of the mass displacement of people caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for European democracy and provides evidence-based strategies to reinvigorate democratic governance in response to such negative consequences of the war as intensified polarisation and the fragmentation of identities in European societies.
General objective
To enhance citizen participation through preventing polarisation and fragmentation of identities related to mass displacement in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine by utilizing affect as a tool, tapping into the sensuous, emotional, and corporeal dimensions of human experience.
Project design
The research in the project is organised in four workpackages.
- WP1. SensArticulate: affect-centered methodologies for fostering democratic participation (WP lead: Pompeu Fabra University)
- WP2. Affective citizenship (WP lead: University of Gothenburg)
- WP3. Spaces of conviviality (WP lead: Lithuanian Center for Social Sciences)
- WP4. Agonistic memory and belonging (WP lead: University of Eastern Finland)
