MeDiMi is an interdisciplinary research group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). We study discursive practices in migration-related conflicts. Our focus is on actors who advocate for the inclusion of migrants and, explicitly or implicitly, mobilize human rights: as a legal argument, a moral-political claim, or a maxim of (professional) ethics. Combining legal analysis, social-science research, and cultural studies, we develop a practice theory of human rights that is centered on the concept of humanrightization.

Concept of the Conference

With our second multidisciplinary conference, we aim to present and discuss empirical and conceptual findings after four years of research. We are seeking dialogue with other researchers across established communities and disciplinary boundaries. We invite researchers at all career stages and of all backgrounds – from undergraduate and doctoral students to senior academics and independent activist-researchers – to join us in exploring legal, political, and everyday struggles over the human rights of migrants in today’s societies.

The Call for Papers for the conference can be found here.

Registration for the conference is only possible via the MeDiMi website.
Please note that the number of places is limited.

The conference is an in-person event. The complete program, a book of abstracts
and bios, and further organizational details are available at www.medimi.de/conference

Organizers:
Research Group “Human Rights Discourse in
Migration Societies” (MeDiMi)
MeDiMi@recht.uni-giessen.de

Wednesday, May 6
14:00–18:00

Masterclass for PHD Students in Migration Law, Polictics, and Ethics
with Hiroshi Motomura (UCLA, Los Angeles)
Admission required. Expressions of interest in the
Masterclass are welcome at MeDiMi@recht.uni-giessen.de

Thursday, May 7
14:00–16:00

– Session A – Parallel Panels

Legal, Political, and Everyday Struggles

17:00–18:00 

Session B -Keynote

Humanrightization – A Practice Theory of Human Rights in Migration Societies
Jürgen Bast, Laura Holderied and Dariuš Zifonun
(Giessen & Marburg)

18:00–20:00

Session C -Plenary Event

Forms of Humanrightization

Human Rights Practices in the Syrian Diaspora
Susanne Buckley-Zistel & Team (Marburg)

Doctrinal Entrepreneurship in Human Rights Litigation
Janna Wessels (Amsterdam)

Doing Human Rights in Migrant Health
Michael Knipper & Team (Giessen)
Commented by Tine Destrooper (Ghent)

Friday, May 8
09:00–10:30

Session D – Plenary Event

Conditions of Humanrightization

Human Rights Law
Jürgen Bast (Giessen)

Human Rights Movements
Frederik von Harbou & Team (Jena)

Human Rights Consciousness
Greta Olson (Giessen)
Commented by Anuscheh Farahat (Vienna)

10:30–11:00 – Coffee Break

11:00–12:30

Session E – Plenary Event

Consequences of Humanrightization

Rights and Dynamics of Inclusion/ Exclusion in Migration Societies
Laura Holderied (Giessen)

Struggeling with Human Rights in Migrant Protest
Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez & Team (Frankfurt)

Notions of Justice in the Professional Everyday
Christine Wiezorek & Team (Giessen)
Commented by Vicki Squire (Warwick)

12:30–14:00 – Lunch Break

14:00–15:30

Session F – Parallel Panels

Legal, Political, and Everyday Struggles

15:30–16:00 – Coffee Break

16:00–17:30

Session G – Roundtable

The State of Migrants’ Human Rights in Europe and the US
with Anuscheh Farahat (Vienna), Hiroshi Motomura (L.A.),
Vicki Squire (Warwick)

Session A:
GCSC building
Otto-Behaghel-Str. 12
35394 Giessen

Sessions B–C:
Margarete-Bieber-Saal
Ludwigstr. 34
35390 Giessen

Sessions D–G:
University of Giessen
Main building
Ludwigstr. 23
35390 Giessen