Key research themes
1. How can legal frameworks reconcile individual equality and group-specific protections to ensure substantive minority rights?
This theme investigates the tension between universal citizenship principles based on individual equality and the need for differential legal recognition and protections to accommodate the distinct ethno-cultural, linguistic, and religious identities of minority groups. It addresses the theoretical and practical challenges in establishing minority rights regimes that balance equality with cultural distinctiveness, emphasizing the necessity of positive measures and substantive equality rather than mere formal equality.
2. What roles do diaspora advocacy and transnational citizenship mechanisms play in the protection and empowerment of ethnic minorities?
This theme explores how minority groups engage in advocacy beyond their residing states through diaspora networks and mechanisms like dual citizenship. It interrogates the efficacy, challenges, and political implications of diasporic interest representation and trans-border citizenship rights as instruments for minority protection. The analysis includes the complex interplay between kin-states, host states, and international law, highlighting the limits and potentials of extraterritorial minority rights promotion.
3. How do intersectional identities and specific minority experiences inform resilience, social integration, and political recognition strategies?
This theme delves into the nuanced lived experiences of minority groups, especially sexual minorities and marginalized ethnic groups, focusing on how intersecting identities affect psychosocial resilience, cohesion, and claims for recognition within broader societal contexts. It also examines the cultural, political, and social mechanisms that shape minority integration, from grassroots activism to legal recognition, emphasizing the role of stigma, intersectionality, and empowerment in minority rights discourses.