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[EUNMUTE Doctoral and Early-Career Scholars Workshop] Standing Up for the Voiceless? Exploring the EU’s Capacity for Rights Protection
June 10 - June 11
Copyright Alain Van Assche
Room P02 (119 rue du Marais, Préfecture building, ground floor)
The EUNMUTE Doctoral and Early-Career Scholars Workshop is a scientific event organized by the Institute for European Studies at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles, as part of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence “Un-Muting Europe” (EUNMUTE). EUNMUTE is an interdisciplinary platform that brings together experts in European Union politics and law. It aims to investigate the EU’s ability to advocate for and/or to promote the rights of the “muted”, which refers to individuals or entities often overlooked, silenced, outnumbered, outpowered, or otherwise marginalized in national political discourses and decision-making processes.
The project addresses fundamental issues relating to the quality of democracy in Europe, focusing more specifically on the protection of marginalized voices. It raises key questions such as:
- To what extent does the EU currently serve as an alternative political arena for various categories of « voiceless » (e.g., women and sexual minorities, youth, future generations, third-country nationals, non-human living beings)?
- Does the EU’s proclaimed empowering capacity contribute to the creation of an “unmuting narrative”, adding to the legitimacy of the EU itself?
About the Workshop
The workshop will gather doctoral researchers and early-career scholars in fields such as law, political science, sociology, political philosophy, or EU studies to contribute to an engaging discussion on the European Union’s role in protecting fundamental rights through the concept of EU’s “un-muting power”. The workshop will explore whether and how the EU has been a driver of un-muting, and how voicelessness has been tackled in a number of policy domains such as natural resources preservation, safeguard of the rule of law and migration and asylum. Beyond the specificity of each case-study, the workshop aims to explore the very narrative according to which the EU can amplify the voices of marginalized and unheard groups. The workshop is structured around six panels that will help shape the event’s overall focus.
Supported by the Ecole doctorale thématique en études européennes F.R.S.-FNRS
This event is organized with the support of the Erasmus+ program of the European Union (101047658 – EUNMUTE – ERASMUS-JMO-2021-HEI-TCH-RSCH).