Researcher at the European Centre for Minority Issues and Lecturer / PhD Student at the Europa Universität Flensburg. Focusing on national minorities in relation to universal basic income and regional development policy, as well as comparative research on minority language media. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Monika Eigmüller and Prof. Elin Haf Gruffydd Jones
In the context of the rise of TikTok and short-form audiovisual media content, this article addre... more In the context of the rise of TikTok and short-form audiovisual media content, this article addresses the adaptation attempts by traditional or institutional media outlets operating in a regional or minority language. Whilst prior research has focused on media outlets’ use of Facebook and Twitter, and individual’s use of TikTok in minority languages, this article identifies a research gap for the situation of institutional use of TikTok. Basque, Catalan and Galician media spheres are used as case studies to explore the usage of minority language television, radio and newspapers on TikTok through analysis of 26 accounts. The results point to a mixed performance, with more engagement success through using sub-brand accounts – which in some cases have reached millions of views or likes. The analysis suggests that by offering content with a cultural or geographic proximity to the audience, some media actors have had success in the competitive environment of TikTok.
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 2021
The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in ord... more The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in order to preserve, develop and promote the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe resulting from the high number of national minorities inside the European Union. This article examines the theory behind universal basic income as well as two policy proposals on the EU level and how these overlap with the stated goals and broader aims of the mspi. Developing four core areas as assessment criteria, the article finds that Universal Basic Income (UBI) theory overlaps significantly in terms of potential impact on the capacity for living in homeland, learning in mother tongue, preservation and development of identity and culture, and aiming for equality. These potentially diminish if the basic income amount is not enough to meet basic needs, plus the narrative differs depending on the funding mechanism.
Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe
This article focuses on income loss and its knock-on effects experienced by Roma communities in s... more This article focuses on income loss and its knock-on effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU states during the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown measures in the first half of 2020. Roma communities in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine were all facing socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation before the COVID-19 pandemic, thus international organisations were warning very early on that Roma communities were at serious risk during lockdowns, including in the fields of employment or loss of income. This article uses primary data collected across the seven states from a survey of 440 Roma individuals and 53 in-depth interviews with Roma stakeholders, in order to add empirical evidence to an under-researched area. The main findings include that almost 73% of those surveyed experienced a reduced income, and the major reason for this was due to access to or demand for informal work which was hindered by t...
Munich Personal RePEc Archive Paper No. 107324, 2021
The European Structural and Investment Funds are distributed to the regional level within the EU,... more The European Structural and Investment Funds are distributed to the regional level within the EU, targeting primarily regions which are ‘less developed’ in terms of GDP as a percentage of EU average. At the same time, many of the national and linguistic minorities within the EU lie in geographically and economically peripheral areas, such as the traditional areas where Celtic languages are spoken. This working paper uses a qualitative method to examine projects in the regions in which four Celtic languages are or have been traditionally spoken, covering Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. Whilst the four languages and their heartland communities varying greatly in terms of numerical size and also economic marginalisation, all have received structural funds which can be linked directly to projects using the language or indirectly through projects in areas where there are a large percentage of speakers of the language. The findings show that the direct links are more prominent in the Scottish Highlands and Islands and West Wales, than the Irish Gaeltacht or Brittany. This is of course concerning in light of the UK’s recent departure from the EU and thus ending of applicability for ESIF.
Every year many Chileans migrate, an increasing trend. Academic literature often highlights the r... more Every year many Chileans migrate, an increasing trend. Academic literature often highlights the roles of individual well-being and crime among important reasons for migration in general. We contribute to this literature by focusing on Chile. This investigation considers, with multiple years of a secondary dataset, the intention to migrate and, with a primary data sample, the post migration life of Chileans. We find that Chileans are more likely to migrate if they are less satisfied with life, have themselves or a family member been a victim of crime, are highly dissatisfied with their income, at least reasonably well-educated, self-employed and male. We also present tentative evidence that, for those who have migrated, being a victim of crime when in Chile is associated with greater life satisfaction in the host country. Policy implications are also presented, reflecting the desire of the Chilean government desire to slow this increasing trend of migration.
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 2021
The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in ord... more The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in order to preserve, develop and promote the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe resulting from the high number of national minorities inside the European Union. This article examines the theory behind universal basic income as well as two policy proposals on the EU level and how these overlap with the stated goals and broader aims of the mspi. Developing four core areas as assessment criteria, the article finds that Universal Basic Income (UBI) theory overlaps significantly in terms of potential impact on the capacity for living in homeland, learning in mother tongue, preservation and development of identity and culture, and aiming for equality. These potentially diminish if the basic income amount is not enough to meet basic needs, plus the narrative differs depending on the funding mechanism.
This Research Paper focuses on economic effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU s... more This Research Paper focuses on economic effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU states during the COVID-19 pandemic and states’ consequent lockdown measures in the first half of 2020. Roma communities in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine, were all facing socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation before the pandemic and international organisations were warning very early on that Roma communities were at serious risk during the pandemic, including in the fields of employment or loss of income. This research paper uses primary data collected from a survey of 440 Roma individuals across the seven states in order to add empirical evidence to an under-researched area. The main findings include that almost 73% of them experienced a reduced income and the major reason for this was due to access to or demand for informal work was hindered by the lockdowns. Moreover, most Roma who needed to borrow money did so through private means (family and friends) rather than through official or state institutions.
Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 2020
In comparison with most European/EU states, the UK collects a vast amount of data disaggregated b... more In comparison with most European/EU states, the UK collects a vast amount of data disaggregated by ethnicity. This covers areas such as health, education, employment, and a variety of welfare programmes, and is not just limited to the public sector. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how widespread this is and allow for a comparison to be made against other states' approaches. First, an historical overview explains how the UK has come to its current position in terms of data collection, including how terminologies evolved and how such data spread from being only in the census to having a much broader scope. This scope is unpacked in detail through different areas, demonstrating the depth of data disaggregation by ethnic group in the available statistics. Lastly, an analysis of the monitoring cycles of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities offers an external perspective on the UK's practice of ethnic data collection. The article concludes by observing that the UK continues to collect ethnicity data in an increasing number of areas and recommends that this be extended to include more minority groups.
Research on Gaelic language in Scotland has increased substantially in recent decades, as has Sco... more Research on Gaelic language in Scotland has increased substantially in recent decades, as has Scottish regional development programmes following devolution. However, the overlapping of these two aspects remains limited, particularly in the context of regional development data available on regions where Scottish Gaelic speakers mostly reside. This Research Paper uses the OECD Regional Wellbeing index as a framework to measure regional development in Scotland at the level of council area, comparing this with its percentage of Gaelic speakers. Equivalent data for eight of the eleven OECD topics is analysed and the focus is placed on the three council areas with significant Gaelic speaking populations – Argyll and Bute, Na h-Eileanan Siar and Highland. The results show that these three regions consistently perform average or good across the eight topics measured, in comparison to the national average in Scotland. This demonstrates that Gaelic language is not a hindrance to development and the three regions perform comparably to other remote council areas such as the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
The broader goals of the Minority SafePack Initiative call for a pact between minorities and majo... more The broader goals of the Minority SafePack Initiative call for a pact between minorities and majorities in order to preserve, develop and promote the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe in relation to the high number of national minorities inside the European Union. After a successful campaign and the collection of over 1,100,000 validated signatures, the Initiative is ready to be submitted to the EU Commission alongside concrete legislative proposals. This Working Paper examines how the EU-wide proposals for a basic income possibly fit theoretically with the Initiative, discussing basic income more generally as well as two proposals from Van Parijs and DiEM25. Developing four core areas as assessment criteria, the Working Paper finds that basic income theory overlaps significantly in terms of potential impact on the capacity for living in homeland, learning in mother tongue, preservation and development of identity and culture, and aiming for equality. However, these potentially diminish if the amount of a basic income is not enough to meet basic needs, as could be the case with the two proposals analysed – particularly when applied in the EU member states with a higher cost of living. Nonetheless, the differentiation between the Euro-dividend and the Universal Basic Dividend in terms of funding mechanism offers a significant factor which could change the normative understanding of a basic income – with the latter possibly better suiting the idea of a pact between different groups in society, in this case the majority and national minorities.
Minority empowerment is a relatively new approach on research and policy-making in the field of m... more Minority empowerment is a relatively new approach on research and policy-making in the field of minority studies. At its core lies the ideal to remove the marginalisation of minorities by providing room for them to take agency on their own behalf. One policy that has been identified as having the potential to rapidly affect marginalised communities is the implementation of a Universal Basic Income; a monthly amount paid equally to all residents of an area without any means-testing or conditions. This working paper explores how these two fields of research can connect and identifies the key areas of everyday life that could be affected. This includes focus on employment, education, relationships and family life, community work, and government intrusion and social stigma; core elements for any individual and society, including minority communities. The analysis section finds that UBI has the potential to alter all of these aspects, but only if it is used to increase the existing standard of welfare and government services and not as an opportunity to reduce government spending by cutting the vital existing programmes.
This Working Paper is a mapping exercise of the minority communities in the three Baltic states o... more This Working Paper is a mapping exercise of the minority communities in the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, with regard to the regional development within the countries. Using census data combined with a series of regional development indicators from Eurostat and OECD Regional Well-Being, an overview of each of the countries’ regions at the NUTS Level 3 is provided, as well as a comparison across all three. This research finds, through a series of bivariate regression analyses, that within and across all three countries, there is no statistical linear relationship between the percentage of minority population in a region and multiple indicators of regional development – including GDP. Rather, the main dividing line is between capital city regions and the rest of the country/s. Yet, in peripheral regions, the regional development indicators show that regions with a large minority population are not necessarily any worse off than other peripheral regions which have a low minority population – particularly the case in Lithuania. This offers some evidence that a large minority population is not a hindrance to a region’s development. Nonetheless, the research provides an overview of the challenges in which many regions home to a large percentage of minorities possess, particularly in the areas with a high ethnically Russian population percentage. Thus, this Working Paper concludes by identifying patterns and outliers of regions in order for intensified and comparative further case study research at the micro level.
In the context of the rise of TikTok and short-form audiovisual media content, this article addre... more In the context of the rise of TikTok and short-form audiovisual media content, this article addresses the adaptation attempts by traditional or institutional media outlets operating in a regional or minority language. Whilst prior research has focused on media outlets’ use of Facebook and Twitter, and individual’s use of TikTok in minority languages, this article identifies a research gap for the situation of institutional use of TikTok. Basque, Catalan and Galician media spheres are used as case studies to explore the usage of minority language television, radio and newspapers on TikTok through analysis of 26 accounts. The results point to a mixed performance, with more engagement success through using sub-brand accounts – which in some cases have reached millions of views or likes. The analysis suggests that by offering content with a cultural or geographic proximity to the audience, some media actors have had success in the competitive environment of TikTok.
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 2021
The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in ord... more The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in order to preserve, develop and promote the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe resulting from the high number of national minorities inside the European Union. This article examines the theory behind universal basic income as well as two policy proposals on the EU level and how these overlap with the stated goals and broader aims of the mspi. Developing four core areas as assessment criteria, the article finds that Universal Basic Income (UBI) theory overlaps significantly in terms of potential impact on the capacity for living in homeland, learning in mother tongue, preservation and development of identity and culture, and aiming for equality. These potentially diminish if the basic income amount is not enough to meet basic needs, plus the narrative differs depending on the funding mechanism.
Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe
This article focuses on income loss and its knock-on effects experienced by Roma communities in s... more This article focuses on income loss and its knock-on effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU states during the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown measures in the first half of 2020. Roma communities in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine were all facing socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation before the COVID-19 pandemic, thus international organisations were warning very early on that Roma communities were at serious risk during lockdowns, including in the fields of employment or loss of income. This article uses primary data collected across the seven states from a survey of 440 Roma individuals and 53 in-depth interviews with Roma stakeholders, in order to add empirical evidence to an under-researched area. The main findings include that almost 73% of those surveyed experienced a reduced income, and the major reason for this was due to access to or demand for informal work which was hindered by t...
Munich Personal RePEc Archive Paper No. 107324, 2021
The European Structural and Investment Funds are distributed to the regional level within the EU,... more The European Structural and Investment Funds are distributed to the regional level within the EU, targeting primarily regions which are ‘less developed’ in terms of GDP as a percentage of EU average. At the same time, many of the national and linguistic minorities within the EU lie in geographically and economically peripheral areas, such as the traditional areas where Celtic languages are spoken. This working paper uses a qualitative method to examine projects in the regions in which four Celtic languages are or have been traditionally spoken, covering Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. Whilst the four languages and their heartland communities varying greatly in terms of numerical size and also economic marginalisation, all have received structural funds which can be linked directly to projects using the language or indirectly through projects in areas where there are a large percentage of speakers of the language. The findings show that the direct links are more prominent in the Scottish Highlands and Islands and West Wales, than the Irish Gaeltacht or Brittany. This is of course concerning in light of the UK’s recent departure from the EU and thus ending of applicability for ESIF.
Every year many Chileans migrate, an increasing trend. Academic literature often highlights the r... more Every year many Chileans migrate, an increasing trend. Academic literature often highlights the roles of individual well-being and crime among important reasons for migration in general. We contribute to this literature by focusing on Chile. This investigation considers, with multiple years of a secondary dataset, the intention to migrate and, with a primary data sample, the post migration life of Chileans. We find that Chileans are more likely to migrate if they are less satisfied with life, have themselves or a family member been a victim of crime, are highly dissatisfied with their income, at least reasonably well-educated, self-employed and male. We also present tentative evidence that, for those who have migrated, being a victim of crime when in Chile is associated with greater life satisfaction in the host country. Policy implications are also presented, reflecting the desire of the Chilean government desire to slow this increasing trend of migration.
International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 2021
The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in ord... more The Minority SafePack Initiative (mspi) calls for a pact between minorities and majorities in order to preserve, develop and promote the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe resulting from the high number of national minorities inside the European Union. This article examines the theory behind universal basic income as well as two policy proposals on the EU level and how these overlap with the stated goals and broader aims of the mspi. Developing four core areas as assessment criteria, the article finds that Universal Basic Income (UBI) theory overlaps significantly in terms of potential impact on the capacity for living in homeland, learning in mother tongue, preservation and development of identity and culture, and aiming for equality. These potentially diminish if the basic income amount is not enough to meet basic needs, plus the narrative differs depending on the funding mechanism.
This Research Paper focuses on economic effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU s... more This Research Paper focuses on economic effects experienced by Roma communities in seven non-EU states during the COVID-19 pandemic and states’ consequent lockdown measures in the first half of 2020. Roma communities in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Ukraine, were all facing socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation before the pandemic and international organisations were warning very early on that Roma communities were at serious risk during the pandemic, including in the fields of employment or loss of income. This research paper uses primary data collected from a survey of 440 Roma individuals across the seven states in order to add empirical evidence to an under-researched area. The main findings include that almost 73% of them experienced a reduced income and the major reason for this was due to access to or demand for informal work was hindered by the lockdowns. Moreover, most Roma who needed to borrow money did so through private means (family and friends) rather than through official or state institutions.
Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 2020
In comparison with most European/EU states, the UK collects a vast amount of data disaggregated b... more In comparison with most European/EU states, the UK collects a vast amount of data disaggregated by ethnicity. This covers areas such as health, education, employment, and a variety of welfare programmes, and is not just limited to the public sector. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how widespread this is and allow for a comparison to be made against other states' approaches. First, an historical overview explains how the UK has come to its current position in terms of data collection, including how terminologies evolved and how such data spread from being only in the census to having a much broader scope. This scope is unpacked in detail through different areas, demonstrating the depth of data disaggregation by ethnic group in the available statistics. Lastly, an analysis of the monitoring cycles of the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities offers an external perspective on the UK's practice of ethnic data collection. The article concludes by observing that the UK continues to collect ethnicity data in an increasing number of areas and recommends that this be extended to include more minority groups.
Research on Gaelic language in Scotland has increased substantially in recent decades, as has Sco... more Research on Gaelic language in Scotland has increased substantially in recent decades, as has Scottish regional development programmes following devolution. However, the overlapping of these two aspects remains limited, particularly in the context of regional development data available on regions where Scottish Gaelic speakers mostly reside. This Research Paper uses the OECD Regional Wellbeing index as a framework to measure regional development in Scotland at the level of council area, comparing this with its percentage of Gaelic speakers. Equivalent data for eight of the eleven OECD topics is analysed and the focus is placed on the three council areas with significant Gaelic speaking populations – Argyll and Bute, Na h-Eileanan Siar and Highland. The results show that these three regions consistently perform average or good across the eight topics measured, in comparison to the national average in Scotland. This demonstrates that Gaelic language is not a hindrance to development and the three regions perform comparably to other remote council areas such as the Orkney and Shetland Islands.
The broader goals of the Minority SafePack Initiative call for a pact between minorities and majo... more The broader goals of the Minority SafePack Initiative call for a pact between minorities and majorities in order to preserve, develop and promote the linguistic and cultural diversity in Europe in relation to the high number of national minorities inside the European Union. After a successful campaign and the collection of over 1,100,000 validated signatures, the Initiative is ready to be submitted to the EU Commission alongside concrete legislative proposals. This Working Paper examines how the EU-wide proposals for a basic income possibly fit theoretically with the Initiative, discussing basic income more generally as well as two proposals from Van Parijs and DiEM25. Developing four core areas as assessment criteria, the Working Paper finds that basic income theory overlaps significantly in terms of potential impact on the capacity for living in homeland, learning in mother tongue, preservation and development of identity and culture, and aiming for equality. However, these potentially diminish if the amount of a basic income is not enough to meet basic needs, as could be the case with the two proposals analysed – particularly when applied in the EU member states with a higher cost of living. Nonetheless, the differentiation between the Euro-dividend and the Universal Basic Dividend in terms of funding mechanism offers a significant factor which could change the normative understanding of a basic income – with the latter possibly better suiting the idea of a pact between different groups in society, in this case the majority and national minorities.
Minority empowerment is a relatively new approach on research and policy-making in the field of m... more Minority empowerment is a relatively new approach on research and policy-making in the field of minority studies. At its core lies the ideal to remove the marginalisation of minorities by providing room for them to take agency on their own behalf. One policy that has been identified as having the potential to rapidly affect marginalised communities is the implementation of a Universal Basic Income; a monthly amount paid equally to all residents of an area without any means-testing or conditions. This working paper explores how these two fields of research can connect and identifies the key areas of everyday life that could be affected. This includes focus on employment, education, relationships and family life, community work, and government intrusion and social stigma; core elements for any individual and society, including minority communities. The analysis section finds that UBI has the potential to alter all of these aspects, but only if it is used to increase the existing standard of welfare and government services and not as an opportunity to reduce government spending by cutting the vital existing programmes.
This Working Paper is a mapping exercise of the minority communities in the three Baltic states o... more This Working Paper is a mapping exercise of the minority communities in the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, with regard to the regional development within the countries. Using census data combined with a series of regional development indicators from Eurostat and OECD Regional Well-Being, an overview of each of the countries’ regions at the NUTS Level 3 is provided, as well as a comparison across all three. This research finds, through a series of bivariate regression analyses, that within and across all three countries, there is no statistical linear relationship between the percentage of minority population in a region and multiple indicators of regional development – including GDP. Rather, the main dividing line is between capital city regions and the rest of the country/s. Yet, in peripheral regions, the regional development indicators show that regions with a large minority population are not necessarily any worse off than other peripheral regions which have a low minority population – particularly the case in Lithuania. This offers some evidence that a large minority population is not a hindrance to a region’s development. Nonetheless, the research provides an overview of the challenges in which many regions home to a large percentage of minorities possess, particularly in the areas with a high ethnically Russian population percentage. Thus, this Working Paper concludes by identifying patterns and outliers of regions in order for intensified and comparative further case study research at the micro level.
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https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/working-paper-series/WP75.pdf
https://www.europenowjournal.org/2024/06/17/transnational-minority-activism-in-europe-beyond-the-minority-safepack-initiative/
in geographically and economically peripheral areas, such as the traditional areas where Celtic languages are spoken. This working paper uses a qualitative method to examine projects in the regions in which four Celtic languages are or have been traditionally spoken, covering Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. Whilst the four languages and their heartland communities varying greatly in terms of numerical size and also economic marginalisation, all have received structural funds which can be linked directly to projects using the language or indirectly through projects in areas where there are a large percentage of speakers of the language. The findings show that the direct links are more prominent in the Scottish Highlands and Islands and West Wales, than the Irish Gaeltacht or Brittany. This is of course concerning in light of the UK’s recent departure from the EU and thus ending of applicability for ESIF.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/assets/documents/research/working-paper-series/WP75.pdf
https://www.europenowjournal.org/2024/06/17/transnational-minority-activism-in-europe-beyond-the-minority-safepack-initiative/
in geographically and economically peripheral areas, such as the traditional areas where Celtic languages are spoken. This working paper uses a qualitative method to examine projects in the regions in which four Celtic languages are or have been traditionally spoken, covering Breton, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. Whilst the four languages and their heartland communities varying greatly in terms of numerical size and also economic marginalisation, all have received structural funds which can be linked directly to projects using the language or indirectly through projects in areas where there are a large percentage of speakers of the language. The findings show that the direct links are more prominent in the Scottish Highlands and Islands and West Wales, than the Irish Gaeltacht or Brittany. This is of course concerning in light of the UK’s recent departure from the EU and thus ending of applicability for ESIF.