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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INWELCHAV (Intersectional Analyses of Welfare Chauvinism in Europe)

Teaser

Summary

The project Intersectional Analyses of Welfare Chauvinism in Europe (INWELCHAV) examined how populist radical right parties have reshaped through their public interventions the collective identity and the terms of being included into such collective, in the political system in which they activate in the past decade in Europe. The political activity of these parties is understood against the present context, in which Europe has to deal with a complex situation that consists of overlapping and ongoing crises. More clearly, the European debt crisis, which ensued in late 2009 as a result of unrestrained neoliberal economic pursuit, added uncertainty to the political crisis that already affected the democratic legitimacy of national institutions (such as national parliaments and governments), and of those overarching institutions at European level (such as the European parliament and the European Commission). To complicate matters further, the refugee reception crisis, which unfolded in Europe in the aftermath of the humanitarian crisis in late 2015, provided an opportunity for populist radical right parties to redraw the political boundaries in national and European politics.
Using their mobilization in the name of defending the collective identity in their country, these parties have sharpened the public debate concerning the future of the welfare state. They argued for a separation between the â€œnativesâ€ of the ethnic majority in their respective countries, as self-evident and exclusive beneficiaries for full welfare provision, and those belonging to a generic â€œotherâ€â€“ a category that lumped together such diverse people as migrants, ethnic minorities, racialized groups, and people with alternative lifestyles.
INWELCHAV had as a primary objective to examine critically how populist radical right parties reshaped the collective identity discussion and welfare issues debate from a so-called intersectional perspective. Intersectionality is the academic term for an analysis that takes into account how such diverse elements as oneâ€™s gender and sexuality, ethnicity and race, and social class interact in determining oneâ€™s position in society. INWELCHAV achieved thus two objectives: it analyzed how these two matters were approached by selected populist radical right parties in both national contexts, more clearly several national elections in Finland, Romania, and Sweden in the past decade; and at European level, in the two most recent elections for the European parliament.
INWELCHAV was highly innovative, because it provided a complex analysis of the topic by applying a unique scholarly approach, bridging the disciplinary boundaries between gender studies, political sciences, and sociology. In other words, INWELCHAV responded to an actual problem that confronts various societies across Europe. INWELCHAV pushed the boundaries of knowledge on the topic, providing through a series of articles, book chapters, conference presentations and keynotes, an innovative perspective on the topic.

Work performed

INWELCHAV followed a clear pattern of two-way transfer of knowledge in research, publishing, dissemination and management. As such, INWELCHAV has fully achieved all its objectives and milestones.
Work with the project entailed, on the one hand, collection of empirical material, which was in traditional print format as well as digital and even social media data. The collection of data was undertaken by rigorously enforcing INWELCHAV ethical guidelines, and strictly following the legislation on the matter. The collection of data was performed throughout the project to ensure the research results were accurate and actual. The empirical material was then critically assessed by means of a specific theoretical lens (intersectionality), which has not been used previously to the same extent in the field, and thus enabled INWELCHAV to be at the frontier of knowledge on this topic. This resulted in several smaller research units, in the form of research papers.
These papers were later presented for critical scrutiny from the academic community in the context of several highly reputed international conferences across Europe, such as the biannual conference of the European Sociology Association; the biannual European Conference on Politics and Gender, and several other smaller expert conferences. These research papers served as first drafts of article, which were submitted to highly reputable academic journals in the field.
Work with the project also entailed, on the other hand, communication and dissemination of the project results. Part of this, the Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie Fellow participated in a secondment, undertaken approximately mid-way in the project.This allowed for valuable input to be received from the civil society organization that hosted the secondment. A series of highly visible events were organized in this framework, both in Brussels, as well as in the other offices across Europe. The outreach strategy developed for INWELCHAV was adaptive and efficient, reaching widely and effectively, through a series of activities carefully tailored for each stage of INWELCHAV. As such, the research results were communicated widely both through articles that popularized the research results to a lay audience, and through a consistent social media presence.

Final results

INWELCHAV has made a significant contribution beyond the state of the art of the field. The projectâ€™s key research outputs are: a database part of the EU initiative for open research data, guided by the principle â€œas open as possible, as closed as necessaryâ€; three articles accessible through various forms of Open Access formats (Gold; Green open access format) at the ULB repository; and several book chapters part of an edited Open Access book project developed through close collaboration with other researchers from renowned universities across Europe, which is to be published in 12 months after the conclusion of INWELCHAV. The research outputs, particularly the articles have already widely shared and discussed on social media, and according to Google Scholar and Scopus, other scholars have already cited several of these articles in their own work. Additionally, some teaching syllabi on social sciences at different universities across Europe have already incorporated them among the course literature. In short, this is a clear indication that INWELCHAV research results are of a high scientific quality, and have pushed the frontiers of knowledge in this particular field. In addition, INWELCHAV clearly developed new scientific links between the host institution (ULB) and other universities across Europe. It also strengthened the research network of the Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie Fellow, and improved his scientific project management skills, as well as his non-academic communication skills, which resulted in his successful employment at the conclusion of INWELCHAV.
INWELCHAV research results have a social impact, beyond academia as well. They raised the interest of journalists, civil society actors, policy- and decision-makers in several European countries.