My Fulbright project looked at why and how law is being used as a tool of democratic inclusion in Europe—the idea of legal mobilization. Specifically, I was investigating how lawyers on the ground in struggles for social justice work with clients, civil society organizations, and larger networks to formulate legal claims asking European-level courts—the Court […]
During the first COVID lock-down in my hometown Vienna, Austria, writing a Fulbright proposal for visiting the United States felt strange. My partner and I did not even dare to celebrate when we received the request to sign the contract and submit our documents for the visa procedure. When we finally touched ground in California, we could not believe our luck. We could finally taste the life we only knew from the movies, music and, in general, our pop-cultural upbringing. Until our departure, I never stopped marvelling at this alien world, beautiful and seemingly endless landscapes, diversity in biomes and cultures, buzzing urban areas, but also its enormous divide between rich and poor, ubiquitous slums and the currently prevailing grand polarization of the American population.
On a beautiful, sunny day in early May, I stepped out for some fresh air, an EU policy study tucked into my bag, and headed to the park to do some reading. As I sat trying to brush up on the regulations governing eCommerce and digital services, a group started playing frisbee on the lawn. […]
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Labour of love
I visited Columbia University during the fall semester of 2021. As chance would have it, this was the semester during which Columbia University’s student workers went on a 10-week strike which saw them win a range of improvements over previous working conditions
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A sense of community
In my line of research, I often ask respondents, “do you feel a sense of community” in their country of asylum. This question prompts various responses, where some have found their “tribe” and others feel like a lone wolf. Their answer often informs my follow-up question: “do you regret your initial decision to leave your […]
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Another Place
It’s scary here. I can’t find my footing. I don’t feel the earth beneath me. I’m floating. Untethered. It’s a privilege to be here. To be a voyeur in people’s lives with my camera and tell their stories. To try and make meaning of what’s happened to them…of what happened to me. The road is […]
Street-level accoglienza (reception) is a concept that I developed while doing ethnographic research on migrant reception and solidarity initiatives in the Central Mediterranean between the years of 2014 and 2019. The concept is derived in part from Michael Lipsky’s “street-level bureaucrats”, i.e., those state actors who are thought to enact policies and give them shape […]
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Belgitude
When I arrived in Belgium for my Fulbright grant a few weeks before winter 2021 I was, about as literally as possible, a fish out of water. Upon getting my bearings and meeting locals I began to receive a common question: why did you choose Belgium? To this I had come up with a pithy […]
From 27 to 29 April 2022, the Fulbright Commission in Brussels facilitated the participation of 25 current American Fulbrighters and 25 European alumni of EU-funded exchange programs in the 2022 EU-US Young Leaders Seminar on the Future of Democracy. The event marked the fifth iteration of the EU-US Young Leaders Seminar, which was first held […]
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Gluten-free adventures
I have celiac disease, which means I have a gluten allergy. If I eat food that contains gluten, I get sick. Moving to Vienna, Austria and spending extended lengths of time in Sweden for my Fulbright research means I have spent a lot of time staring at the shelves in supermarkets, trying to figure out […]