• MisMiE

About the Project

Misrecognition of Minorities in Europe (MisMiE) is a European project involving researchers from Germany, United Kingdom, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Serbia and Romania.
The project is funded by the VW Foundation – an independent research foundation. The project runs since 2019 and will end in January 2021. The project aims to develop an understanding of misrecognition as a major dimension in the contemporary experience of minorities in Europe. The two minority groups under study are the Muslims in West of Europe and the Roma in East of Europe.

Following Reicher (2019), we define misrecognition as having one’s own sense of social identity challenged or rejected by other people. That is, misrecognition occurs when my sense of the groups to which I belong, and which define who I am, are at odds with the way I understand myself to be defined by others. We conceptualise misrecognition as an assembly of four subcomponents each tapping into different forms of experiences related to misrecognition. The project aims to understand 1) what gives rise to the sense of misrecognition, 2) how people experience it and, 3) the consequences it has for minorities in terms of their relation with the majority society and the societal authorities and their trust therein.

Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick, Dr. Caoimhe Ryan, Dr. Allard Feddes, Prof. Dr. Nick Hopkins, Dr. Slieman Halabi, Dr. Arin Ayanian, Prof. Dr. Bertjan Doosje, Tatjana Lazor, Yaatsil Guevara González, Dr. Sam Pehrson, Dr. József Pántya, Judith de Jong, Dr. Boglárka Nyúl, Prof. Dr. Andreea Ernst-Vintila, Prof. Dr. Anna Kende, Dr. Caroline da Silva.

Prof. Dr. Stephen Reicher, Dr. Sam Pehrson, Dr. Caoimhe Ryan, Prof. Dr. Anna Kende, Prof. Dr. Andreea Ernst-Vintila, Dr. József Pántya, Judith de Jong, Dr. Caroline da Silva, Dr. Arin Ayanian, Dr. Allard Feddes, Yaatsil Guevara González, Dr. Slieman Halabi.

Belongingness

First, membership misrecognition involves incidents in which one’s belongingness to the majority group is denied due to ones’ membership in the minority identity (e.g., Muslim, migrant, refugee etc.).

Second, totalising misrecognition refers to imposing a social identity that members of a minority group do not possess nor belong to its respective social group, or even when they do possess, they desire not to identify with the respective social group within specific contexts. This happens in various conditions, one of which is when a Turkish-German person wishes to be perceived and treated as German (“to blend in”) in interaction with German partners yet is treated as Turkish instead

Third, content misrecognition refers to negative attributions unjustifiably ascribed to the minority. For instance, to be defined as radical, anti-Western because of being a Muslim migrant.

Fourth, non-recognition encompasses experience where one’s social identity is completely disregarded even in contexts where it is relevant. This is related to being ostracised and feeling invisible. Unlike ostracism that takes place because one is personally not being favoured, non-recognition takes place due to one’s belonging to a certain (devalued) group.

About the Team

Directors

Prof. Dr. Andreas Zick is director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at Bielefeld University. There he is also Professor of Socialization and Conflict Research at the Faculty of Education, and he is the spokesperson for the sub-institute of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (fgz-risc.de). Andreas Zick studied theology and psychology, he received his doctorate from the Philipps University of Marburg on the "social psychology of prejudice", and he was habilitated at the Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg and received the Venia Legendi for the Psychology. He has conducted numerous research projects on prejudice and group-based hostility, radicalization and extremism, and integration and acculturation processes. He is also a member of scientific and civil society advisory boards and commissions. In 2016, he received the Communicator Award of the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Donors' Association for the Promotion of Sciences in Germany (Stifterverband für die deutsche Wissenschaft) for the communication and transfer of research into society.

Coordinators

Dr. Arin H. Ayanian is a post-doctoral research associate at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence in Bielefeld and a senior social consultant with the World Bank. At IKG, she coordinated the European research projects “Misrecognizing Minorities in Europe” and “Database and Assessment of Risks violent Extremists”, and now co-directs the project “Voices from the Past, Lessons for the future”. She has completed her Doctoral degree in social psychology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland and her Masters degree in psychology at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon. Her research interests revolve around intergroup processes and conflict; identity, emotions, moral obligation, collective action and radicalization.

Yaatsil Guevara González is PhD candidate in Sociology at the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology. She works as research fellow at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG-Bielefeld University). She studied Anthropology and holds a Masters in Regional Studies. Her research focuses on refugee and forced migration studies, gender studies, and anthropology of everyday life. She has also conducted research on radicalization, extremism and Muslim minorities. Her research combines different disciplinary approaches such as anthropology, sociology, area and gender studies. She has conducted ethnographic research in Mexico, Central America, U.S., and Germany. She mainly uses qualitative-participatory methodologies. She collaborated actively for several years in the migrant shelter “La 72-Hogar Refugio para personas migrantes”.

Our Core Research Team

France

Prof. Dr. Andreea Gruev-Vintila is the national coordinator for France for the MisMiE project. She is Associate professor of psychology at the School for Social Sciences and Administration of the Université Paris-Nanterre, the Parisian Research Center for Social Psychology. She has a PhD in Psychology from the Université de Paris. Her research focuses on the social thinking in contemporary societies in circumstances that can lead to representational polarisation, and the extremization of affect and behavior (mobilisation nexuses): collective risks (environment and health), violent "radicalisation", sexism. This work has led her to a particular interest for the social psychological processes and impacts of violence: state violance (totalitarianism), terrorism, violence against women and children. Before MisMiE, she coordinated the XTREAMIS project (Xenophobia, Radicalization in Europe, Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia) funded by the French National Research Agency. In 2019, she was an advisor for the French government´s national consultation on violence against women and children.

Dr. Caroline da Silva is a post-doctoral researcher for the project “Terrorists Reintegration in Open Custody” (TROC), funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR), at the University of Lille in the North of France. She has completed her Doctoral degree in social psychology at the University of Paris Nanterre in France. Her thesis focused on the national identity misrecognition of Maghrebi-French and its intra and intergroup repercussions. She holds a Master in social psychology (University of Paris) with a focus on the management of social and environmental threats. For the MisMiE project, she elaborated and conducted research in France with a mixed-method approach. Her research interests involve intergroup relations, social identity, social inequalities and radicalization, combining qualitative and quantitative methods.

Germany

Marco Eden is currently pursuing his second bachelor’s degree in Political Sciences and Psychology at the University of Bielefeld, Germany. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg, Germany. In Bielefeld, he worked as research intern at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence and as research assistant at the department for Social Psychology. Marco’s main interests are group-focused enmity and identity theory (dynamics of in-group enhancement and out-group devaluation processes like prejudice, misrecognition and dehumanization). He is further interested in the connection of psychological and political research and specifically interrelations with and implications for modern neo-liberalism and social structure.

Dr. Slieman Halabi a post-doctoral researcher at the Wuppertal University, Germany. He completed his Doctoral degree from the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena where he was a PhD student at the International Max Planck Research School on Adapting Behaviour in a Fundamentally Uncertain World. His research revolves around intergroup relations with a focus on individuals who straddle multiple conflicting identities (in-between groups). Slieman Halabi is also interested in social change and how people negotiate different strategies in everyday communication and interactions with members of the outgroup. Within this focus, he conducts studies on the influence of accents and language on intergroup relations.

Hungary

Prof. Dr. Anna Kende is an associate professor in social psychology at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She received her PhD in 2002. Her research focuses on the broad topic of intergroup relations, more specifically, she investigates the psychological underpinnings of social change both in the area of prejudice reduction and engagement in social movements. She has participated and coordinated several international research projects funded by the EU, national and international organizations, mostly concerning the situation of disadvantaged groups, and Roma people in particular. Her work covers both basic and applied research, which she has published in leading international journals. She has published 31 scientific papers in international journals, 5 book chapters in books by international publishers and numerous Hungarian journal articles and book chapters. She is the chair of the Department of Social Psychology, and she is a member of the Governing Council of the International Society of Political Psychology and chairs the Scholars Under Threat committee.

Dr. Boglárka Nyúl is a PhD candidate in Psychology at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She works as a junior researcher at the Department of Social Psychology. In her research she examines the role of rape myth acceptance and different situational factors in the evaluation of rape cases. She is also interested in prejudice and intergroup conflicts, especially attitudes toward Roma people. For the MisMiE project she coordinated the walkthrough interviews which focus on the daily experience of misrecognition among Roma people.

Dr. József Pántya is an assistant professor at the Department of Social Psychology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. He received his PhD in psychology in 2014 from the University of Debrecen, Hungary. His research focuses on the sense of fairness and its psychological impact, more specifically, he investigates the effects of social preferences and the perceived fairness of different social policies on social decisions, motivation, and behavior. He is also interested in the psychological consequences of social inequality for motivation and the efficiency of decision making. In a broader sense, his research interest is related to the social and economic psychological factors influencing different types of socially responsible attitudes and behavior (e.g., support for and compliance under different tax policies reflecting different approaches to social inequality).

The Netherlands

Naomi R. J. van Bergen is a junior researcher at the Social Department of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She holds a Research Master in Psychology (University of Amsterdam), with a focus on Developmental Psychology. Her main fields of interest are within Social Psychology and Developmental Psychology. Both the typical development of children and adolescents, as clinical psychopathology interest her. Currently, Naomi her research focuses on the psychology of radicalization, the experiences of minorities and creativity in children and adolescents.

Prof. Dr. Bertjan Doosje works at the Department of Social Psychology and at the Department Of Politcal Science, University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He held the Frank Buijs Chair on "Social tensions and Integration", financed by the Ministry of Social Affairs & Employment, Verwey-Jonker Institute (Utrecht) and MOVISIE (Utrecht). Bertjan's Research Interests are: * Radicalization Processes; * Antecedents and Consequences of Political Trust; * Income Inequality and its relations with trust; * Perceived Threat due to Terrorism; * Emotions in Intergroup Contexts; * Acculturation of Ethnic Minorities; * Terror Management Theory; * Social Identity Theory.

Dr. Allard Feddes is an Assistant Professor at the Social Psychology Department of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He has an MA in Social and Organizational Psychology (University of Groningen, the Netherlands, 2004) and a PhD in Social Psychology (Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena, Germany, 2007). He is generally interested in how group membership influences how we think (cognition), feel (emotion) and act (behavior). Currently his research focuses on the psychology of radicalization and terrorism, stereotyping and discrimination, hate crime, and populism.

Judith de Jong is a PhD candidate at the department of political science, University of Amsterdam. Her PhD research focuses on how intersections of ethnicity and gender affect citizens collective assessments of political representation. Judith holds a bachelor in anthropology and a research master in social science. For the MisMIE project, she conducted interviews and focus groups on everyday experiences of misrecognition among Muslim students and journalists in the Netherlands.

Romania

Claudia Craiu is a communication specialist, with a  strong background in journalism. She holds a master's degree in persuasive strategies in media, communication and advertising. She currently holds the position of Brand Manager at Roma Education Fund Romania. Claudia has a soft spot for research and holds a degree in archeology to prove it.

Dr. Claudiu Ivan is a sociologist, senior researcher, project manager, coordinator, and policy analyst with over an extensive experience in designing, developing, and implementing studies on policies involving a wide range of public, private and non-governmental stakeholders. He has over fifteen years of professional experience of which more than five in education field related research with public and private research companies, and non-governmental organizations. His main research works and papers focused on topics such as social inclusion and education, evaluation and implementation of social programs, community needs assessment, migration, discrimination and gender equality, provision of quality education in early education. He has conducted research focused mainly on educational attainment of Roma children and other categories of vulnerable groups e.g. people with disadvantaged social background (mono-parental families, rural areas in Romania, children with disabilities, etc.). He has also an extensive experience in the elaboration of country reports or case studies on or related to educational system in Romania at all levels.

Vlad Militaru is an advertising professional and a dedicated researcher focused on the in depth understanding of human behavior and social dynamics. Involved in many research works exploring social inclusion, he has a strong personal commitment to use his knowledge and skills to challenge the status-quo, help combat poverty, and provide aid to disadvantaged marginalized people.

Serbia

Dr. Tijana Karić holds a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. She works as a research fellow at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade. Her main research interests are in the area of intergroup relations, especially peace and reconciliation. She is also studying marginalized groups (e.g. refugees, Roma, juvenile offenders) and relationships between majorities and minorities. In her research, Tijana combines qualitative and quantitative methods, and applies analyses novel to Social Psychology, such as network analysis. She is also involved in research for policymaking and analysing public policies for dealing with vulnerable groups.

Prof. Dr. Vladimir Mihić is an associate professor at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. His PhD thesis, defended at the University of Belgrade, is closely related to the research of factors of ethnic, age and gender prejudice in Serbia. His primary research interests are in interethnic relations, especially in multiculticultar regions, like Vojvodina where he lives his whole life. He has been involved in several projects, both as coordinator and a member of a research group, dealing with the status and perception of Roma (especially, Roma children) in Serbia. The main topic of his current research is social identities in children attending bi-lingual schools, with the focus on different perception of ethnic identity, minority right and discrimination by the ethnic-majority and minority groups.

United Kingdom

Prof. Dr. Nick Hopkins is Professor of Psychology at the University of Dundee. He has a BA in Experimental Psychology, an MPhil in Criminology, and a PhD in Social Psychology. He has been an academic at the University of Dundee since 1989. He has research interests in group behaviour - especially the construction of social identities, the experience of mass gathering participation, and the experience of minorities.

Dr. Caoimhe Ryan is a Lecturer in Psychology at Glasgow Caledonian University. She was previously postdoctoral researcher on the MisMiE project at University of Dundee. Caoimhe has a PhD in Social Psychology from University of St Andrews, an MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology from LSE, and BA in Psychology from UCD. Her research interests include the social psychological factors affecting the welling of vulnerable and minority groups.

Dr. Samuel Pehrson is a social psychologist and Lecturer at the University of St Andrews. His main research interests are in intergroup relations, especially in the context of anti-migrant racism, as well as resistance to political repression. He is an associate editor for the British Journal of Social Psychology.

Partner

Hungary: Jeremy Braverman, Luca Váradi, Ádám Hushegyi (Central European University -CEU-)

Sheila Mysorekar (Neue Deutsche Medienmacher)

Carsten Duebbers (Cologne Police)

[Hier Anpassungen einfügen]

-> Rahmenfarbe von Tab-Gruppen in Fakultätsgrün umstellen. -> Ohne Anpassung: Farben sind manchmal Uni-Grün.