This project uncovers how xenophobia and racism are challenged within local communities in Europe. Through projects such as kitchen hubs, arts projects, and shared living spaces, we illustrate how newcomers and locals come together and create new, shared living experiences.
This living together –what we call transgressive cosmopolitanism – is rooted in the everyday lives of uprooted and marginalized peoples such as migrants and refugees. It is practiced daily within neighborhoods and communities.
We use these themes to organize case studies to answer the following questions:
- Why, how and under what conditions some communities are more open to cultural difference than others;
- What types of projects facilitate openness to newcomers;
- And how do citizens and non-citizens participate in these projects in ways that transform understandings of citizenship and belonging.
This five-year project is is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The project is conducted by Professor Kim Rygiel at Wilfrid Laurier University and Professor Feyzi Baban at Trent University in Canada.
