Menschenrechtsdiskurse in der Migrationsgesellschaft (MeDiMi)
The subject of this interdisciplinary research project is to determine the scope, forms and consequences of the expansion of human rights discourse in contemporary migration societies. MeDiMi’s starting observation is that actors in these societies often refer to human rights norms discursively to articulate images of themselves as well as their interests. The project describes this process as "the advance of human rights" (Vermenschenrechtlichung; literally, “human-right-ization”).
MeDiMi traces the advance of human rights in migration discourse in three contexts. These contexts include the legal system, areas of political action, as well as other professional and everyday socio-cultural contexts in which perceptions of self and the attitudes of actors within migration societies are expressed and formed. Legal analysis, social-science research and cultural studies of ten selected fields will provide the empirical basis for a theory of discursive practice in migration societies. This will enable us to achieve a new understanding of the role of human rights in contemporary societies, especially European ones.
