"Our centre supports BLM"
During an interview by Jesse Voorn of the news and opinion media platform De Kanttekening, scientific director Peter Scholten discussed the activities of the new centre, current migration and diversity trends, institutional racism and Black Lives Matter.
Peter Scholten emphasises the need of academics increasingly engaging in societal debates, also regarding the broader societal interest in the topics of migration and diversity. The recently launched LDE Centre Governance of Migration and Diversity (LDE Centre GMD) can play a role in intensifying the collaboration between research and education and thereby putting migration and diversity higher on the agenda.
Migration and diversity are continuously changing concepts which becomes visible through new terms like 'superdiversity' or current developments such as the corona crisis and its influence on migration flows. Especially the current pandemic rises new questions around migration and inclusion, and how it influences migration and diversity issues within our societies. As a research centre, the LDE Centre GMD can contribute to the quality of such societal debates and provide insights into how societies deal with migration and diversity related issues from multiple perspectives.
According to Peter Scholten, it is important to acknowledge differences between regions and cities which requests a local approach on migration issues to more effectively deal with our current societal complexities. In order to deal with these complexities, such as institutional racism which finally gets more attention, we need structural changes and scientists have a responsibility to contribute that words are turned into action.
Read the whole interview (in Dutch) here