Reflecting on diverse diaspora experiences, Maria Koinova, Ayşenur Korkmaz, and Camilla Orjuela will discuss contemporary quests for justice. Attendance is free, please join the conversation and register by email.
Across Europe today, various diaspora groups memorialise human rights atrocities, seek justice, and mobilise for genocide recognition. These transitional justice efforts can be contested and denied by other diasporic political entrepreneurs. Join us for a dynamic and engaging event that seeks to bring scholars, diaspora activists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers together to talk about diasporic quests for justice. How do diasporic mobilizations such as political activism, memory-work, commemorations shape our understanding of transitional justice? When and why do we feel compelled to mobilize around justice issues such as genocide recognition, whether in our own history or others’?
In the first part of the event, there will be two presentations by Maria Koinova and Ayşenur Korkmaz, and a commentary by Camilla Orjuela. Koinova will tell us about how diasporas participate in truth commissions, and seek for commemoration of the past atrocities they suffered. She will focus on the temporal aspects of the diasporic engagement with transitional justice, based on comparative reflections on the Bosnian, Palestinian, Ukrainian, and other diasporas. Korkmaz will discuss how Armenian and Turkish diasporas in Europe contest each other’s histories regarding the Armenian Genocide, exploring disputes around genocide recognition and commemoration. Orjuela will provide online commentary, followed by a discussion and Q&A session.
In the second part of the event, there will be small roundtable discussions facilitated by the Amsterdam-based artist collective, MOHA and Wafa al-Attas, a creative producer and community artist. All participants, including the presenters, will be invited to explore the pivotal moments in their relationship with justice, both in their own histories of violence and in broader contexts. Afterward, the roundtables will reconvene for a final discussion.
The event will conclude with refreshments, providing an opportunity for continued conversation and networking.
Programme
14.30 – 15.00 Presentations by Maria Koinova and Ayşenur Korkmaz
15.00 – 15.15 Online Commentary by Camilla Orjuela
15.15 – 15.30 Discussion and Q&A
15.30 – 15.45 Coffee Break
15.45 – 16.30 Roundtable discussions
16.30 – 17.00 Drinks
Biographies
Maria Koinova is a Professor in International Relations at the Politics and International Studies Department at the University of Warwick. Her research topics include ethno-national and intra-state conflicts, diasporas and contested sovereignty, and international politics of migration. Her geographical expertise is in EU’s neighbourhood.
Ayşenur Korkmaz is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (2023-24). Her research focuses on the Armenian genocide and its afterlives in Armenia and diaspora contexts.
Camilla Orjuela is Professor of Peace and Development Research at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research has focused on diaspora mobilization, peace activism, identity politics, post-war reconstruction and reconciliation, famines, memory conflicts and transitional justice.
MOHA (Alice Pons / France, Olivia Reschofsky / Hungary) is a collective of artists specialised in designing events, performances and discussions in very diverse contexts, together with different communities: from public spaces to social organisations, academic settings to art festivals. More than productions and projects, we consider our work as a potential space, a well-thought-out platform to be activated by and with others. We use art to research and strengthen new forms of communication, collaboration, and interaction between people from various paths of life.
Wafa al-Attas is a specialized, community-minded creative producer and social entrepreneur dedicated to supporting artists in developing their work, emphasizing the vision and purpose behind their creations. With her expertise, Al-Attas swiftly transforms events into immersive experiences that encourage audience engagement, fostering connections, and catalyzing positive change within communities.