The activities of ECSH are conceived to study hate through the synthesis of different disciplinary and sectoral perspectives in a collaborative Co-Working Identity Space, designed so that people can work together to co-create solutions and practices. It will explore and understand the issues across the continuum of experiences, and the continuum of hate. The work programmes (WP) are structured to establish unique research, teaching, supervision and training packages which will result in the dissemination of accessible, and digestible, world leading research to an audience of knowledge users and generators.
The ECSH themes are:
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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 themeseeks 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.