All around the world, public intellectuals are persecuted in their home countries where they are threatened with imprisonment, torture, the death penalty and 'disappearance'. A new research project examines notions of the future and cultural encounters during the actors' exile in host countries, and it seeks to identify needs and develop methods to better support actors, host institutions and countries.

According to Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Christian Franklin Svensson, Department of Sociology and Social Work, the researchers, writers and artists (actors) come from very different places in terms of culture and social strata among others.

‘The actors belong to a global cultural elite, but at the same time, several of them have an involuntary future in the global wave of migration. They regularly face ethical dilemmas when they are oppressed or threatened because of their work and works. It can become dangerous for themselves, their family and colleagues. But the public intellectuals who are refugees or threatened symbolise a resilience and show that oppression can be counteracted through cultural arenas and research’, says Christian Franklin Svensson.

The data collection of the project consists of ethnographic fieldwork supplemented by a policy analysis. The project is carried out in collaboration with the civil society, the public sector, interest groups, educational institutions, cities of refuge, and cultural centres.

Contact

Assistant Professor Christian Franklin Svensson
Email: cfs@socsci.aau.dk
Tel .: +45 9940 2608