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Justice, Borders and Rights

Professor Umut Erel

The Justice, Borders and Rights Research Stream is led by Professor Umut Erel.

It consists of a group of researchers from a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary backgrounds whose work grapples with some of the most salient and polarizing debates around borders.

Meet the team

Our work interrogates the social, cultural and political repercussions of and knowledge production around border practices -  issues are at the forefront of old and new debates about conflict and global inequalities. Our work is characterised by research partnerships, collaborations and knowledge exchange projects between academics, NGOs, INGOs, international media and cultural organisations, social welfare institutions, community organisations, legal professionals, policymakers, artists and politicians.  

Find out more about our teaching and impact

Justice, Borders, and Rights engages with struggles for inclusion, recognition and representation against a backdrop of the construction, reconstruction, deconstruction and transgression of borders. Our key focus is on borders, conceived of in their myriad symbolic and material varieties, and how they frame, shape and define people, institutions, communities and nations. Researchers also look at how people challenge borders and construct communities and bridges across borders, including through international cultural exchange, media and communication networks.

Researchers in the stream approach the following questions from different perspectives:

  • What are the connections between and across old and new boundaries and social divisions around race, gender, class, sexuality, language, culture and religion?
  • How are exclusions and belongings of citizens and non-citizens shaped, debated and contested and re-created? 
  • What new methods, sites and practices are being created and mobilised for political, cultural and social participation and solidarity?
  • What forms of activism and participation in and beyond the academy are contesting and changing borders of exclusion and discrimination?
  • What is the role of academic research and scholarship in contributing to and analysing borders and border-crossing practices at local and translocal, organisational and individual levels?
  • What and how do theories of citizenship, justice, rights and governance contribute to the analysis of contemporary global/local politics and to imaginaries of alternatives and change?

​Justice, Borders and Rights video playlist

Projects

An artist draws on someone's arm at the Tate Exchange programme

'Who are we?'

The OU has been a partner on Tate Exchange between 2016-2021, led by Professor Umut Erel, resulting in multiple exhibitions, symposia, poetry readings, workshops, learning labs and participatory arts-based activities at Tate Modern and online.

A beautiful little toddler looks out the window smiling with his hands on the window

Covid Chronicles: From the Margins

The Covid Chronicles: From the Margins project, led by Professor Marie Gillespie, is researching what life is like during the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspectives of creative asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants in the UK and around the world.

Stunning wall art of a beautiful Black woman winking, with bright yellow eye shadow and matching hat

Hip Hop Pedagogy and Power: Reclaim the Archive

Tim Butcher, Visiting Fellow at The Open University and Associate Professor of Organisation Studies at the University of Tasmania, co-created this project with Counterpoints Arts, Tate Exchange, the Tate Archive and Plymouth College of Art.

A sign reads "Everyone is welcome"

Understanding Refugee Experiences: Refugee Week 2021

From free courses and research on life during the pandemic to creative and artistic projects in refugee camps, and with child migrants separated from their families, we have a rich archive of material created by, with, for and about refugees.

Image of the Migration Museum logo

The Migration Museum

The Justice, Borders and Rights team are collaborating with the Migration Museum Project on education, dissemination and knowledge exchange projects. This includes exhibitions, seminars, learning labs, and ‘pop up professor’ events.

The UN in Switzerland

UN Global Compact

Members of Justice, Borders and Rights contributed to the UN global compact for safe, regular and orderly migration. The compact arises from an extraordinary summit that took place in 2016 to respond to the large movement of migrants and refugees.

Two hands hold each other on a beach

Families and Relationships across Crises

Members collaborated on a special issue for Discover Society, an open-access publication of social research, commentary and policy analysis on the topic of ‘Families and Relationships across Crises’, published in May 2017. 

Image shows Stuart Hall in a TV lecture

The Year of 'Mygration'

The Open University's Year of Mygration stands as a remarkable introduction to diverse perspectives of migrants and migration. 250 daily contributions were gathered throughout 2018 to emphasise how we are all affected by migration.

An individual stands with their back to the camera on the phone

Expressive Writing in post-conflict cultural recovery

Dr Siobhan Campbell has worked with collaborative partners in Iraq and in Lebanon to explore how creative writing practice can be a tool in post-conflict resilience building. She works mainly with women who have been affected by conflict.

Contact the Citizenship and Governance team for more information about any of our projects.