DFUTURE

Marco's project explores this through migrants’ lived experiences and Albania’s role as co-constructor of Europe’s borders. 🌍

The EU’s migration policy is increasingly outsourced to the Western Balkans. Deals like the Italy–Albania Protocol and EU–Albania FRONTEX raise big questions: whose rights are at stake, and who shapes “EUrope”?

Congratulations to @marcozampieri.bsky.social for receiving a PhD Fellowship from @fwovlaanderen.bsky.social. We're over the moon to be able to continue to work with Marco and engage with his interesting, important and timely project.

The research group will miss Benjamin's presence. We are grateful for our time together and proud of the person he has become. And even though we wish him all the best, we are also slightly envious of his future colleagues.

Congratulations, Dr. Benjamin Blanckaert! 👨‍🎓

Congratulations to promotors Silvia Erzeel and Didier Caluwaerts, and many thanks to jury chair @elinesevers.bsky.social

Benjamin gave a very engaging and accessible presentation, sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm with a captivated audience. The Q&A with the jury members @dkavadia.bsky.social, @emilievh.bsky.social, @robindevroe.bsky.social, Joost Vaesen and Min Reuchamps was spirited and insightful.

Another festive week at @dfuturevub.bsky.social 🎉

Benjamin Blanckaert succesfully defended his dissertation "Holding Together or Falling Apart? Electoral Politics Across the Linguistic Divide in the Brussels-Capital Region."

About last night...

🎉 Congratulations Dr. @kamilbernaerts.bsky.social ! 🎓

📖 Dr. Bernaerts defended his dissertation on polarisation and its complex, dynamic relationship with democracy and institutions.

Needless to say, it was fantastic!

Find out more about Kamil's work via kamilbernaerts.com

Why top politicians are pessimistic or optimistic about democracy and its evolution Amid widespread concerns about the crisis of democracy, scant scholarly attention has been given to the views of elite politicians who are at the helm of democracy and, for instance, have the abili...

New publication by DFuture’s Nino Junius et al.: “Why top politicians are pessimistic or optimistic about democracy and its evolution”.

What makes political leaders lean one way - optimism or pessimism - and how does that shape democracy’s direction?

Link: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Presented two papers at #ecpr25 in Thessaloniki:

1️⃣ Brussels youth & their perceptions of democracy: ecpr.eu/Events/Event...
2️⃣ Urban youth’s expectations of political representation (with prof. @elinesevers.bsky.social): ecpr.eu/Events/Event...

Thanks to discussants & chairs for the feedback.

New publication in International Political Science Review! Together with Didier Caluwaerts, I found that the relationship between polarisation and violence was weaker in countries with a federal system and/or a rigid constitution. Important contribution regarding polarisation's impact on democracy.

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

New article by DFuture colleagues @kamilbernaerts.bsky.social & Didier Caluwaerts in International Political Science Review:

Fight or unite? Consensus institutions, polarization, and political violence in 113 democracies (1900–2023).

🔗 journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Ideas vs. interests: explaining party elites’ support for party democratic innovations Over recent decades, political parties have experimented with organisational reforms aimed at enhancing more inclusive, direct models. More recently, one emerging model involves Party Democratic In...

✨ Just out: “Ideas vs Interests: Explaining Party Elites’ Support for Party Democratic Innovations” by @thomlegein.bsky.social, David Talukder, Rangoni & @emilievh.bsky.social.

🗞️ Dive into the article: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Analysing JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Yunus describes how US foreign policy under Trump depicts Europe as being led by a corrupt elite which refuses to listen to its conservative people. This, he argues, further legitimises Europe’s own right-wing populists

JD Vance’s international right-wing populism Right-wing populism has gone beyond the nation state. Analysing JD Vance’s speech at the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, Yunus Poblome describes how US foreign policy under Trump depicts...

Political science blog @ecprtheloop.bsky.social published a piece by @yunuspoblome.bsky.social, intern at @dfuturevub.bsky.social and the REDIRECT Horizon Europe project 👏🚀

theloop.ecpr.eu/jd-vances-in...

She analyses how politicians (re)imagine, (re)mobilise and (re)construct national symbols in the aftermath of disasters across three countries.

#VUB #UAntwerpen #DFUTURE #DiscourseNet #DiscourseStudies

Her work is titled “(Re)imagining, (re)mobilising, (re)constructing nationalisms: A comparative analysis of politician discourse during the post-disaster scenes of Belgium, Turkey and United States."

Our colleague, Ebru Akgün, from VUB @dfuturevub.bsky.social and @uantwerpen.be, presented her doctoral research at the 6th DiscourseNet Congress, held at @ulbruxelles.bsky.social (ULB) from 7-10 July.

🚨 Reminder 🚨

🎉 Call for 2 postdoctoral research mandates (1 year) at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) 🎉

🎯 Deadline: 20/6/2025

Hoe het ecologisme meer mensen kan aanspreken Groene partijen staan vandaag vooral in de verdediging. Het is tijd om het klimaatverhaal te herschrijven, zodat meer mensen de noodzakelijke klimaattransitie steunen.

🌍 Hoe kan ecologisme méér mensen bereiken dan vandaag?

Nieuw stuk in SAMPOL van onze collega Ebru Akgün en @evaplatteau.bsky.social (Vlaams Parlement): over ecologie, klasse en inclusie.

👉 www.sampol.be/2025/06/hoe-...

#ecologisme #sampol #dfuture

🚨 Call for 2 postdocs!

The EDGE team at VUB is hiring! We’re looking for researchers to rethink democracy in Europe: climate, representation & inequality 🔍🌍

Start: Fall 2025
Location: Brussels 🇧🇪
Deadline: 20 June

Info & how to apply 👉 tinyurl.com/zpw3p6z7

Had a packed week at #EUIA25: presented my work on EU (in)security in post-2020 Armenia (coming soon @jcms-eu.bsky.social -stay tuned!) & discussed brilliant papers by @dfuturevub.bsky.social colleagues. We also stood in solidarity with Gaza & against academic complicity in the ongoing genocide.

😇 Want to get inspiration? Our latest PhD summary by Daan Vermassen is available #openaccess plc-journal.eu/article/view... and the review by Karen Celis plc-journal.eu/article/view...
@dfuturevub.bsky.social

European values, Eurasian family, or neither? A contrapuntal reading of the European Union’s agenda to combat domestic violence in Armenia This article studies how feminist activists in Armenia negotiate the agenda of the European Union (EU) to combat domestic violence in a contested geopolitical environment. Drawing on post-socialist...

1/ My recently published article @ifjpglobal.bsky.social studies how feminist activists in #Armenia negotiate the European Union's interventions to combat domestic violence amidst competing pressures. A thread👇
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
@giesugent.bsky.social @dfuturevub.bsky.social

Marie Curie Call for Postdoctoral Fellowship is still open:
‼️ DEADLINE 31/05 ‼️

🎉 Big congrats to DFuture’s Nino Junius & David Talukder — both awarded a FWO Postdoc Fellowship! 🧠🎓

🗣️ Nino: Can political parties foster inclusive, reflective deliberation?
🗳️ David: What happens when citizens feel underrepresented in democracy?

We’re proud of this inspiring future research!

🗳️ What’s next for democracy?

📍 June 05 in Brussels → Join the BRIAS Public Forum on Democratic Governance – Challenges & Innovations.

👥 Free, open to all, packed with sharp minds & bold ideas.
🔗 brias.be/en/brias-pub...

Take a look at this literature review by
Kevin Meyvaert @dfuturevub.bsky.social
"A Lower Voting Age in the Low Countries?
Potential Effects of Voting Age at 16 for the Low Countries".
Now available in #OpenAccess in Politics of the Low Countries (Vol. 6 No. 2) at: plc-journal.eu/article/view...

🆕 New article by Nino Junius!

Can mini-publics resist elite capture? If elections struggle, what about citizen deliberation? 🗣️

His study of the Ostbelgien model shows: yes, capture is a risk—but smart institutional design can seriously limit it. 💡

🔗 www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

More info:

🔗 MSCA: lnkd.in/ddDyViaN
🔗 VUB: lnkd.in/eY3bR5W3

#MSCA #Postdoc #HorizonEurope #AcademicJobs #Fellowship #VUB #DFUTURE

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