Bringing together experts to understand and counter hate
By gathering together experts who excel in their own fields, ECSH works in an interdisciplinary way to understand hate and provide tools to European and national bodies to counteract hate.
ECSH scholars have a proven track record of advancing excellent scientific and scholarly research which has been published in leading academic journals and by leading academic publishing houses; have won multiple awards for their teaching, and are dedicated to fostering graduates who are aware of the European and international context to their disciplines.
ECSH draws together experts from academia, civil society, and state and international bodies who work across the spectrum of hate to collaborate in addressing the most immediate challenges in understanding, combatting, and preventing hate towards minorities across Europe.
We engage with civil society organisations advocating with and for sexual and gender minorities, racialised and ethnic minorities, the homeless, those with disabilities, and asylum seekers.
Our research critically engages with international academic debates in the area of hate and has been at the forefront of developing a scholarly approach to the topic of hate. We have published numerous books, journal articles, and book chapters, and presented at conferences in the United States, across Europe and further afield as well as in Ireland.
Published research
Our research has been published by international publishing houses, Oxford University Press and Palgrave MacMillan and in international journals such as the Journal of Hate Studies, Critical Sociology and Crime Law and Social Change.
Our peer-reviewed academic research provides a scholarly basis for our policy and international impact.
Get in touch
If you would like to contact us to discuss a potential funding proposal, work with us in developing a funding application, or work with us as a postdoctoral scholar, please contact us at ECSH@ul.ie
Funding
Members of the ECSH have been successful in securing funding from a number of national and European funding agencies. Our research has been funded by:
- The European Commission DG Justice Programme
- The European Commission Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme
- European Union: Horizon 2020
- The Irish Research Council
- The Irish Council for Civil Liberties
Research themes
European Understandings of Hate
This theme seeks to deepen our understanding of hate, both theoretically and in practice. Whilst there have been a number of initiatives across Europe which seek to combat hate, there is no single theoretical framework from which this work is drawn, and research has shown that those European initiatives are not appropriately implemented at a country-level (Schweppe, Haynes, and Walters 2018).
This theme seeks to develop a clear and inclusive understanding of hate which can inform the work in and across Europe.
Criminalising Hate
Criminalising prejudice is one of the means by which modern democracies seek to combat hate.
This theme unpicks and explores the structures and potential forms of hate crime legislation, as well as the limitations that such legislation for addressing prejudice.
This theme explores the scope and purpose of hate crime legislation and seeks to promote the utility of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers Recommendation on Combating Hate Crime as a core standard to address hate across societies and member States.
The Legislating Against Hate page has more information about our work in this area.
Growing up in an Inclusive Europe
This theme develops our understanding of the experiences of young people in Europe today.
It looks at this issue from two perspectives: first, from the perspective of young people from minority communities; and second, challenging prejudicial beliefs in young people more generally.
Seeing teachers as one of the primary supports to young people in both a support and educational context, the theme works with teachers and produces research which seeks to understand and support them in their work.
Populism, Politics, and Exclusion
The rise of populist politics, which promotes homogeneity and the sovereignty of the majority, threatens the open, inclusive and pluralist society which is the goal of the European project.
This theme examines the impact of populism, means of challenging it, and exploring means by which a pluralist society can be fostered.
Margins and Marginality
Those that live on the margins of society, or those who have been marginalised by society, are most at risk of being targets of hate.
This theme seeks to understand the experiences of these individuals, as well as look at ways in which systems – including legal systems – can protect them.
The central pillar to this theme in ECSH is the Irish Travellers Access to Justice project.
Past projects
Researchers in the ECHS have participated in a range of interdisciplinary research projects which have produced ground-breaking research across disciplines and sectors.
If you would like to engage with ECSH colleagues on a research project - either funded or unfunded - please contact us at ECSH@ul.ie.
