Cycle 33 (2017/2018)
33th Cycle: Davide Nicola Carnevale, Francesca Cimino, Rossella De Falco, Ino Kehrer, Elena Mara, Adriana Michilli, Barbara Santibanez.
Davide Nicola Carnevale
Moldovan Orthodoxies. Social Insecurity, Political Borders and the debate about Religious Freedom
This project aims to investigate the forms of political transfiguration and the processes of re-elaboration of individual and social resources operating in a post-Soviet context, the Republic of Moldova, through a socio-anthropological analysis of its religious scenario.
The religious debate faces the delicate repositioning of this country in the european and global context, addressing all its crucial aspects. It is no coincidence that, two different official national Churches stand together, in a non-canonical condition which mirrors the fragile Moldovan geopolitical position. Through the debate on the freedom of religion in particular we be outlined some aspects of the Moldovan reconfiguration processes, in institutional relations, in the management of a “bipolar” religious hegemony, in the re-adaptation of Orthodox beliefs to the new ideologies, with a look on how this dialectical debate is changing among Moldovan priests in Italy.
The religious rooting will therefore be investigated both as an interpretative instrument of adaptation to a context of widespread socio-economic insecurity and as a governmental instrument. If the grow of Orthodox communities emerge as a conscious form of adaptation to the ineffectiveness of the new secular local policies, Orthodox institutions have a political role also at a larger scale, with political parties fluctuating between the rhetoric of religious freedom and the promotion of Orthodoxy as the pillar of the national-traditional identity.
Francesca Cimino
Public policy, human rights and mixed migration flows: addressing the challenge of identification of women victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation applying for international protection
The project focuses on the women who are eligible for international protection and at the same time victims of trafficking in human beings for sexual exploitation. The aim is to examine the situation of women victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation arriving through the “mixed flows” who are either claiming for asylum or involved in the international protection system, in order to better understand the efficiency of the identification procedures and to define policy recommendations to improve them. The work will pay particular attention to the situation of Italy and Greece. The project wants to answer to the following questions: “Are the identification procedures of women victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation adequate considering the related guidelines of UNHCR and the Human Rights paradigm?” and “What about the possibility to develop public policy human rights oriented on the matter?”. At the end of the research we expect to have an overview of the European situation, public policy and procedures implemented, national referral system; an in-depth analysis of the two European countries Greece and Italy; and proposals of possible improvement actions.
Rossella De Falco
Public Health, Inequality and Economic Crisis: What Future for the Right to Health?
I am investigating the impact of post-2008 fiscal consolidation measures on the enjoyment of the right to health in a representative pool of countries in the European Union (EU). Such a study falls in the broad category of post-facto human rights impact assessments (HRIAs), making extensive use of human rights indicators and rights-based budget analysis. However, while building on existing literature, I am also trying to address the many gaps and challenges in the field. In fact, I am bringing into my research quantitative methods derived from econometrics and statistics as to solidly underline correlations and any causal relationship between variables. This involves mainly secondary data modelling through software such as STATA and R. Once data will be collected and interpreted, I will outline possible human rights’ responsibilities, primarily on the side of EU’s member states as well as regional and financial international institutions lending on the sovereign bond markets. The proposed reconstruction of the accountability chain will be conducted in line with recent developments in the framework on right-based economic recovery, which is gradually emerging from the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ (CESCR) letters and recommendations, UN Independent Experts’ activities, legal opinions, civil society’s voices, and the still limited case-law at regional and global level. The main methodological challenges I am facing are: lack of disaggregated data; vagueness and gaps in the legal framework dealing with ESCR and financial resources. Such gaps, rather than discouraging research in the area, signal that much more work is needed in order to clarify and deepen existing advocacy tools. The aim of my research is to provide socio-economic rights advocacy in with a new, comprehensive, reliable and evidence-based analysis of the effect of public policies on the right to health in the EU. This kind of analysis are urgently needed, as economic recovery measures are triggering socio-economic malaise in developed and non-developed countries alike, putting the realisation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESR) at risk.
Ino Kehrer
This research project aims to evaluate the impact of the evolving interplay between sex, gender and law on the human rights of people with intersex traits
About 1.7% of people has an intersex condition, this means that they present a biological variation of sex characteristics which do not fit the typical binary socio-cultural notions of female and male bodies. As such, intersex conditions directly calls into question sex and gender categories and notions that are embedded in western social and legal systems. This research will challenge the long-lasting discourse surrounding intersex traits as a psycho-social emergency that has to be cured immediately through medical procedures and focus on the rights of people with intersex traits. During the first stage of the research, with a look to the Italian case, an evaluation of the living situations of people with an intersex condition will be carried out, to examine the social and legal implications relating to the status of such children and adults. During the second part of the research, starting from the major international and European human rights framework and concepts (universality, equality and non-discrimination), a comparative analysis will be done, concerning the national laws, policies and case law that contribute to the recognition and protection of the fundamental rights of intersex people.
Elena Mara
Security and human rights in the context of migratory trends. The case of Greece
The project aims to investigate the relation between security threats and human rights in the context of immigration. Immigration has evolved to be one of the most pressing problems of the European Union (EU) for the past decades. Since 1980 the political construction of migration presented the influx of citizens of third countries as a potential destabilizer of the process of European integration. The Middle East turmoil of the past decade and the rise of terrorism reaffirm the notion that the 3d country citizens’ influx in EU soil, have been seen through security lenses, presenting migration as an existential threat to state sovereignty, European Identity, and the process of European Integration among others. Given the focus on the security aspect of immigration, security logic used to justify a series of human, civil and humanitarian rights violations, giving EU countries the impetus to deny their international responsibilities and implement policies of wartime nature (e.g. Militarization of the borders). The project, using Greece as a case study, aims to trace the process by which immigration has turned in to security consideration among European countries, and the impact of security logic in the status of the human rights of Immigrants, with special focus on refugees and asylum seekers. The main ambition if the project is to justify that the current immigration crisis has created a human rights deficit in EU, and that the European policies must look away from security logic in to the respect of human rights in order to overcome with the current immigration crisis.
Adriana Michilli
Restorative Justice in the Western Balkans
Truth and Reconciliation Commissions are established in post-conflict societies as a non-judicial institution to determine the societal impact of human rights violations. They are meant to redress past abuse, reduce inter-ethnic tensions and prevent recidivism rates within vulnerable communities. Given the ethno-political wars of the 1990s in the Western Balkans, it seemed promising that this initiative would succeed in restoring social relations. When the Commissions resulted in failure, there was minimal interest given to researching the reasons why. This study attempts to close this literary gap by:1)examining the social conditions obstructing the practice of truth commissions,2)analyzing the progress of current restorative justice programs in the region,3) exploring public perceptions on the need for alternative justice initiatives.
Barbara Santibanez
Citizenship and human rights education
Her main research area is citizenship and human rights education, focusing on how topics such as democratic citizenship and human rights are taught in secondary schools in Europe. More specifically, the research project aims to explore how secondary-level teachers in France understand their role of educators, and what needs to they identify in relation to teaching these topics in the classroom. Moreover, the research seeks to analyse the impact of the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe in the last years on teachers’ perceptions and practice. In order to answer the main questions, this project is intended as a mixed-methods applied research, using quantitative and qualitative instruments to collect and analyse the data.