EthnicGoods

Varieties of Nationalism: A Research Agenda Symposium: 18 March, 18–19:30 h @IBEI How do states turn their population into “a nation”? From language policies and affirmative action to forced resettlement and ethnic cleansing, governments have pursued very different nation-building policies—often with major consequences for diversity, public services, and conflict. Join our public symposium for first findings from a new research program on varieties of nation-building and what drives them. We will also introduce the Nation-Building Policies (NBP) Dataset—the first global, longitudinal dataset tracking nation-building over time. Commentaries from Anna Grzymala-Busse, Ruud Koopmans, and Maya Tudor will place the project in wider debates on nationalism, state formation, and diversity governance.

How do states turn populations into “a nation”?

Join our public symposium on new research into #nation-building policies worldwide, featuring the launch of the #NBPDataset — the first global, longitudinal dataset tracking nation-building over time.

🗓 18 March, 18–19:30
📍 @ibei.org

#AcademicSky

Els reptes de les polítiques de la diversitat avui | Activitats | CCCB En un context de retorn de les polítiques excloents, aquest seminari internacional organitzat amb l’IBEI reflexiona sobre el reconeixement dels drets de la d

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...whether the nationalist revival is reshaping state policies and international relations, and the possible future contours of diversity management.

More info here: www.cccb.org/ca/activitat...

#Populism #Nationalism #NationBuilding #RefugeeCrisis

INTRODUCING OUR EXPERT PANEL: DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT IN THE FACE OF EXCLUSIONARY NATIONALISM [Photos of Panellists] Viviane Ogou Corbi Spanish Congress of Deputies Martin Shaw IBEI Research Professor, expert on Genocide/War Kristian Herbolzheimer International Catalan Institute for Peace Matthias vom Hau IBEI Associate professor, EG Principle Investigator Daphne Halikiopoulou University of York Professor, expert on the Far-Right

How do we manage ethnic and cultural diversity in the face of rising exclusionary #nationalism?

With major conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza, and increasingly restrictive policies worldwide, our panel will discuss how these opposing dynamics interact...
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#Populism #NationBuilding

Across three panels, scholars explored Baltic identity politics, digital nationalism, textbooks, minority languages, and late-Soviet activism. We closed with publishing insights from Luca Anceschi, editor of Europe-Asia Studies. Thanks to all participants for an inspiring exchange!

#AcademicSky 2/2

Last week in Amsterdam, EthnicGoods co-organized the workshop “Ethnicity, Indigeneity, and Identity in Soviet & Post-Soviet Contexts” with the University of Amsterdam. A keynote by Pål Kolstø set the stage for rich discussions on identity, nationalism, and memory.

#AcademicSky 1/2

EXPERT PANEL: 12–13.30 H, 20 MARCH 2026 | CCCB, BARCELONA DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT IN THE FACE OF EXCLUSIONARY NATIONALISM All states must manage ethnic and cultural diversity — while approaches to diversity management can vary widely, from violent to integrative — research shows a global shift toward recognizing group-specific rights between 1945 and 2020. Yet today this trend appears challenged by a renewed rise in exclusionary nationalism, visible in major conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza, and restrictive policies worldwide. This panel brings together an international group of experts on peace and conflict, the populist far-right, nationalism, and diversity governance. They will discuss how these opposing dynamics interact, whether the nationalist revival is reshaping state policies and international relations, how diversity recognition may be linked to the rise of the “right against rights”, and to examine possible future contours of diversity management.

As EthnicGoods comes to an end, we’re excited to announce an open expert panel to examine the rise of #populism, exclusionary #nationalism and the future of #diversity management.

Join us on March 20th, 12-13:30, at the CCCB in Barcelona.

For more info: www.cccb.org/ca/activitat...

#AcademicSky

How do wars make states, and why do their effects last centuries? Join EULAS for a webinar on "Bringing War Back In" with expert and author Dr. @llschenoni.bsky.social + discussant Dr. Matthias vom Hau.

📅 24 Feb 2026, 15:00 CET: zoom.us/webinar/regi... @ucl.ac.uk @ibei.org @ethnicgoods.bsky.social

ETHNICITY, INDIGENEITY, AND IDENTITY IN SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET CONTEXTS Keynote: Prof. Pål Kolstø, University of Oslo International Workshop 13 FEBRUARY 2026 9:00-18:00 UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM KLOVENIERSBURGWAL 48 ROOM BEAMER This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 864333)

We’re delighted to welcome Professor Pål Kolstø as keynote speaker for our interdisciplinary workshop in Amsterdam tomorrow; where we will be exploring how #Soviet and post-Soviet identities are contested, renegotiated, and transformed across time and space.

#PoliticalScience #AcademicSky

Program | Workshop: Ethnicity, Indigeneity, and Identity in Soviet and Post-Soviet Contexts - EthnicGoods Please see the full program here and below! Workshop: Ethnicity, Indigeneity, and Identity in Soviet and Post-Soviet Contexts Exploring how Soviet legacies continue to shape identity, belonging, and…

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This interdisciplinary workshop brings together scholars examining how Soviet and post-Soviet identities are contested, renegotiated, and transformed across time and space.

See the full program here: ethnicgoods.org/program-work...

#AcademicSky

WORKSHOP: 13 February 2026 | University of Amsterdam ETHNICITY, INDIGENEITY, AND IDENTITY IN SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET CONTEXTS CHAIRING THE PANELS: Emre Amasyali is the lead postdoctoral researcher for the ERC-funded ETHNICGOODS project, where he oversees the development of the Nation-Building Policies (NBP) dataset, the first systematic global coding of state policies toward ethnic minorities. Gulnaz Sibgatullina is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History, European Studies, and Religious Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on Islam in Europe, contemporary Islamic thought, state-church relations, and minority issues in Russia. Andrei Tarasov is a research fellow for the ERC-funded ETHNICGOODS project, hosted by the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals. Andrei's research interests include the nation-building policies towards national minorities, particularly in the Eurasian region.

📝 The #SovietUnion profoundly influenced how ethnicity and nationality were categorized, governed, & lived. The state embedded these identities deeply into social & political life.

Yet these categories were never fixed; they were constantly contested, negotiated, & reimagined... 1/2

#AcademicSky

Thanks for the interest! The paper hasn't yet been published, but it will be presented at the EthnicGoods symposium in March 2026, and we hope for it to be published soon.

*taps the sign* AI cannot write, because writing is more than stringing words together in a specific order. #AcademicSky

Our team recently highlighted the abuse of the CDC WONDER dataset, with a significant increase in the number of publications since 2023 (GenAI onset). In the first month of 2026, 276 new papers have been published, ~20% of the output in 2025 and ~79% of 2024 already.

A caption: Academics: 'This paper addresses a gap in research that has been bedevilling scholars for years... ' The gap: An image of two cars parked extremely close together in a lot, with barely any space between them

Really interesting roundup from Hilda.
Thanks!

As states acquire the capacity to count, tax, and educate their populations, they also acquire the means to suppress cultural distinctiveness in systematic, non-lethal ways.

4/4 #SocialScience #NationBuilding
@emreamasyali.bsky.social

This substitution of lethal force with administrative control suggests that contemporary atrocity risks cannot be assessed through body counts alone.

3/4 #SocialScience #NationBuilding

... yet more likely to pursue cultural elimination.

Rather than relying on overt violence, high-capacity states deploy institutional pathways—schools, courts, registries, and census instruments—to reconfigure or erase group identities through policy.

2/4 #SocialScience #NationBuilding

[Graph] The State Capacity Paradox: Strong states swap the bludgeon for the scalpel. "As administrative infrastructure matures, states shift from physical violence to more sophisticated cultural elimination."

We often assume that strong state institutions and administrative capacity constrain atrocities. In our latest paper, however, we identify a countervailing pattern: states with greater capacity are less likely to engage in mass killing...

1/4 #SocialScience #NationBuilding

2/2 .... as pathbreaking. He also provided invaluable guidance to the ETHNICGOODS project, especially during the early stages of dataset construction.

Our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends, colleagues, and students. We will remember him with gratitude and fondness.

Photograph of Matthias Koenig (1971–2026)

We are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of our colleague Matthias Koenig (1971–2026), Professor of Sociology at Heidelberg University.

Matthias was at the forefront of comparative research on diversity governance, and his empirical and theoretical contributions were widely recognized... 1/2

ICE detains five-year-old Minnesota boy arriving home, say school officials Superintendent says Liam Ramos and his father were taken into custody while in their driveway and sent to Texas

‘Terrible things are happening outside… Families are torn apart; men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return… to find their families gone.’
Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Information and program for the Workshop — contact us and we'll send you an accessible PDF.

Information and program for the Workshop — contact us and we'll send you an accessible PDF.

Information and program for the Workshop — contact us and we'll send you an accessible PDF.

📝 We're looking forward to a productive Workshop in Amsterdam. How have Soviet and post-Soviet regimes influenced identity, belonging, and #nationhood across Eastern Europe and Eurasia?

We will explore continuities and ruptures, as well as new developments in minority issues across the region.

VARIETIES OF NATION-BUILDING: A TYPOLOGY [Graph showing 4 squares — two questions each have two options YES and NO] Question A: CULTURAL INSTITUTIONALIZATION Does the state legally encode and organizationally embed the group’s identity markers? Question B: NATIONAL EXCLUSION Does the state seek to exclude the group from the national body politic? A:No B:Yes = ERADICATION Erase group identity via physical removal or forced cultural homogenization. A:Yes B:Yes = SEGREGATION Socially and/or physically separate the group and its cultural markers from the body politic. A:No B:No = ASSIMILATION Promote adoption of a dominant or overarching national identity. A:Yes B:No = ACCOMMODATION Legally recognize and institutionalize group-based cultural differences.

📊 The current perspective on #NationBuilding is it started in the past and is “successful” or “fails”.

Our approach sees nation-building as an ongoing process, of distinct policies, that may change over time and vary by group. Our ongoing research identifies trends in policies.
#AcademicSky

Opinion: The fact that now-established academics survived a system built on overwork does not make it fair or well designed. We must change it, says Yu Tao #academicsky #ECRs
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/lets-not-pass-down-pain-we-endured-early-career-researchers

Banner with a blue abstract design from the European University Association, titled 'Briefing: Participation in institutional governance - Evolving models of university governance II.'

For the past decade, governance reforms have been largely shaped by narratives promoting accountability, public engagement and the societal role of universities. This has resulted in strengthened board competences and enhanced external representation.
🔗 buff.ly/P0Q6nks

Why do citizens who say they support democracy tolerate leaders who dismantle it? Delighted to share my paper “Framing Democracy: How Elite Discourse Shapes Citizens' Understandings of Democracy and Enables Backsliding” is forthcoming in World Politics...(1/5, link at the end)

HDCA: Is AI transformative for human flourishing? Phillipa Shepherd, Université Grenoble Alpes, FranceCaroline Kuhn, Bath Spa University, UK Understanding AI’s role in human development requires more than [...]

🌱 What will happen to human possibility when #AI reshapes the very capabilities that define our lives?

This article considers AI’s role in human development, & how these systems may transform our freedoms, relationships, & futures... 1/2

hd-ca.org/is-ai-transf...
#CapabilityApproach #SocialScience

Minimalist, Christmas-themed illustration and the words "Happy Holidays!"

🎄 We’ll be taking a break — from social media and our studies 😅 — until the New Year.

Happy Holidays from the EthnicGoods team!

Graph

2/2 ...Cultural elimination occurs far more frequently than genocidal violence.

Both peaked in the late-70s, but genocide declined post-Cold War, while cultural elimination resurged in the 2010s.

Paper by @emreamasyali.bsky.social, @janschlebusch.bsky.social & Tarasov forthcoming.
#AcademicSky