Cosmopolitan citizenship under construction. A structural-cultural approach to the implementation process of human rights of Roma and Gypsy travellers.

Description: This research starts from the observation that the human rights ideal has not yet been realized, illustrated by the many violations of the rights of one of the most vulnerable groups in our current society, the Roma migrants. In order to understand this discrepancy between the human rights ideal and the reality, we look at how this ideal is being interpreted by different actors (political, judicial, civil society, media) on different levels (transnational, national, local). The human rights instrument can be seen as a social construct, which is given different meanings according to the actor who uses it. The main aim in this research is to unravel the construction process of human rights of Roma migrants, analyzing how the structural positions and discursive strategies of the involved actors influence the contestation in the newspapers concerning human rights after a violation is being proclaimed. This study is carried out through multiple case studies of such violations.
Promoter(s): Lesley Hustinx
Researcher(s): Chloë Delcour
Department / Research group: Department of Sociology/ CST (Centre for Social Theory)
Faculty: Faculty of Political and Social Sciences