Lecture Series: "European Global Studies: Focus Transnational Repression"
"European Global Studies: Focus Transnational Repression" is the title of this year`s lecture series at the Institute for European Global Studies. It is organised by Ralph Weber and Shrey Kapoor in context of the MA European Global Studies.
Renowned international scholars have been invited to give a talk in this series. They will examine how governments use repressive violence across borders to monitor, pressure, silence and harm their own diasporas and exiles, as well as other perceived critics and enemies abroad. The range of means used by governments includes cyber-attacks, digital threats and phishing attempts, coercion by proxy (mostly through family members), Interpol abuse, refugee espionage, but also physical violence, even illegal deportations, forced returns and murders. Leading figures from different disciplines and with interdisciplinary backgrounds, focusing on countries such as China, India or Turkey, will present their research findings and discuss them with the participants. The aim of the lecture series is to understand the phenomena in their diversity and to reflect on the crucial question of how liberal democracies can and should respond to these challenges.
The talks will take place at the Institute for European Global Studies (Riehenstrasse 154, lecture room 00.015) from 16h15-18h00.
Eva Pils will start on 10 October with her lecture entitled: "How to (not) confront transnational repression: The Case of China". She is a professor of law at King's College London, an associate scholar at the US-Asia Law Institute at New York University Law School and an external member of the Erlangen-Nuremberg Centre for Human Rights.
Next, on 31 October, we look forward to Shrey Kapoor's lecture on "The 'World's Largest Democracy' as a Node of Transnational Oppression? Exploring the Dynamics of India's Hindu Nationalist State Formation across Borders". Shrey Kapoor is a PhD student at the Department of Development Sociology, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Cornell University. He is also Research Assistant at the Institute for European Global Studies. His research focus is on urban dispossession and resettlement in India, theories of violence and hegemony, neoliberal nationalism and authoritarian populism in a postcolonial world and interdisciplinary research designs.
We are delighted to welcome Alke Jenss on 21 November with a talk on "Dangerous Cities, Cities in Danger: Rethinking Coercion in Transnational Trade". Alke Jenss is Senior Researcher for Coordination Cluster Contested Governance at the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
On 28 November, Fiona B. Adamson from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS) will speak about “Infrastructures of Transnational Repression”. Fiona B. Adamson is Professor of International Relations with research interests in the international politics of migration, mobility and diaspora, with a particular focus on conflict and security.
On 5 December, Marcus Michaelsen will explore "Silencing across Borders: Digital Transnational Repression against Political Exiles and Diaspora Activists". Marcus Michaelsen is a researcher specialising in internet controls, surveillance and digital activism under authoritarian regimes. This talk will be held online.
The lecture series will conclude on 12 December with Saipira Furstenberg's lecture on "Transnational Repression in the Age of Globalization: How do Host States Respond? Saipira Furstenberg is Research Grant Holder at Ca' Foscari University of Venice.