From 18 to 19 April 2024, the kick-off meeting for ARCHERIF project was held at the Institut national supérieur du professorat et de l’enseignement (INSPE) in Aix-en-Provence and at the Jardin du Pharo in Marseille, the headquarters of AMidex, the project funder.
During the two-day event, the research team, made up of Fidelia Ibekwe, project coordinator, Marco Capellini, project co-PI and Célia Kamel, research engineer, welcomed eight members of the project’s Scientific Advisory Board from six different countries:
- Alice Corble, Doctor and Research Fellow in Sociology, Cultural Studies, Libraries and Information Science at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England.
- Vincent Meyer, Professor of Information and Communication Sciences and sociologist at the Université Côte d’Azur in Nice.
- Fabrice Dhume, Professor, and sociologist at the Faculty of Economic, Social, Political and Communication Sciences at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
- Bjørn E. Bertelsen Professor and anthropologist at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen, Norway.
- Daniel Martinez Avilà, Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Léon in Spain.
- Maria Paula Meneses, Professor of Anthropology, History and Decolonial Studies at the Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal.
- Thomas Mandl, Professor at the Institute of Information Science and Technology at the University of Hildesheim in Germany.
- Evelyne Broudoux, Emerita Lecturer at the CNAM in Paris.
This event provided an opportunity to launch the project in concrete terms, create conditions conducive to its implementation and encourage scientific exchanges.
The meeting opened on 18 April with a presentation by Fidelia Ibekwe highlighting the project, its four main objectives, the context in which it has taken root and the phases of activity. This inaugural presentation paved the way for questions that will be at the heart of the project, including: the types of racism faced by ethnic minorities in higher education and research establishments in France, the best practices, measures, and actions implemented in the institutions at international level and the training or teaching resources available and their effectiveness.
Opening of the meeting by Fidela Ibekwe at INSPE Aix-en-Provence
Each participant therefore took the floor, which enabled us to see the situations and contexts of anti-racist policies in universities on a European scale. As far as French universities are concerned, each uses different terms and approaches, which creates confusion in the types of discrimination dealt with. For the European context, Bjørn E. Bertelsen presented the anti-discrimination situation in Norwegian universities; Daniel Martinez Avilà, the situation in Spanish universities; Thomas Mandl, the situation in Germany; and Paula Meneses, the situation in Portugal. It emerged from these presentations that most countries in continental Europe do not have a real policy for combating racial discrimination in universities, and in any case, no clearly targeted and effective policy. On the other hand, Alice Corble’s presentation on initiatives in the UK showed that the most successful initiatives are those led by students, and she called this form of resistance ‘constructive disruption’. In some cases, students succeeded in pushing their governance to take more concrete measures. In particular, Dr. Corble highlighted the work carried out within the body that regulates UK universities called “Universities UK” (UKK) on eliminating racial harassment on campus, which led to the explicit recognition by the authorities in 2021 of the existence of systemic racism at university affecting ethnic minorities.
This meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the methodologies to be adopted in the ARCHERIF project. Thinking about the methodologies to be used in human and social science surveys is crucial to guarantee the quality and validity of the results obtained. This involves an in-depth analysis of the research objectives, the questions asked and the specific context in which the survey will be conducted. In addition, it is essential to consider the ethical aspects of research, such as the consent of participants and the confidentiality of data. Fabrice Dhume (University of Louvain) was able to address these issues using the example of the ACADISCRI survey, (a project carried out between 2018-2022 which carries on today as an ANR funded project ESTRADES), to assess discrimination in French universities. This was the starting point for a reflection on epistemological and methodological renewal because the choice of data collection methods, whether interviews, questionnaires or observations, must be carefully considered in relation to the population studied and the research objectives. Bjørn E. Bertelsen highlighted the Eurocentrism of methodologies, university capitalism and the racism that goes with it. The methodologies used must therefore be adapted to the context. In this respect, Vincent Meyer (Université Côte d’Azur) presented the scenario methodology, which can be an approach for prompting a discussion during focus group interviews.
Thanks to this meeting, an environment conducive to mutual understanding was created, enabling everyone to fully grasp the importance of this project and its potential impact. By openly discussing objectives, methodological challenges and expectations, a solid foundation was laid for future work. The fruitful exchanges that took place enabled potential synergies to be identified and exploited. In short, this meeting was not just a moment of communication, but also the starting point for dynamic and productive collaborations that will enable us to make effective progress towards achieving our common goals: developing actionable knowledge to tackle racism more efficiently in Higher Education Institutions in France.
At the end of these days, a video presenting the ARCHERIF project was produced. In this video, available in the ‘Home’ section of the website, Fidelia Ibekwe, Fabrice Dhume, Alice Corble and Bjørn E. Bertelsen explain the goals and importance of this research project. We invite you to watch this video for an in-depth look at our project and our commitment.
The two days of intense exchanges between the partners demonstrated their commitment to the project and their desire to make a significant contribution to its launch and success.
Project members and international partners at the Pharo Gardens in Marseille on 19 April 2024