Fear is one of the most common reactions to news about the situation on the Polish–Belarusian border and about refugees trying to reach Poland, and, more broadly, to news about migration. In the current crisis – with the possibility of a Russian attack on Ukraine and its consequence, a large influx of refugees from Ukraine to Poland and Wrocław – the subject of fear of “strangers” has become highly topical.
This Friday, 18 February, at 18:00, as part of the events at Passage of Dialogue (Przejście Dialogu), there will be an opportunity to take a close look at all our fears and consider how to deal with them. How can they be addressed? How can we minimise the aggression they give rise to? Is an information campaign based on rational discourse enough? Are there systemic solutions or established good practices that can help remedy the situation?
We invite you to the debate All Our Fears – a meeting in the “Sytuacje graniczne” (Borderline Situations) series, featuring outstanding experts Michał Bilewicz, Dorota Hall and Dominika Blachnicka-Ciacek, and moderated by Daria Sudoł.
The event will be streamed live on the Facebook pages of Passage of Dialogue and Wrocław Centre for Social Development (WCRS).
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Michał Bilewicz – habilitated doctor of social sciences, associate professor at the University of Warsaw, social psychologist, sociologist and commentator. He heads the Center for Research on Prejudice at the University of Warsaw and lectures at the university’s Faculty of Psychology.
Dorota Hall – habilitated doctor, cultural anthropologist and sociologist, professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences and President of the International Study of Religion in Central and Eastern Europe Association (ISORECEA). Her interests include minorities and social exclusion, particularly in the context of religion, gender and sexuality. Her most recent book is the monograph W poszukiwaniu miejsca. Chrześcijanie LGBT w Polsce (In Search of a Place: LGBT Christians in Poland, 2016). From 2009 to 2012 she served as the national expert in the European Commission’s European Network of Socio-Economic Experts in the Non-discrimination Field. She has also prepared research reports for the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, including on migration.
Dominika Blachnicka-Ciacek – sociologist researching the relationship between space, memory and a sense of belonging among migrants and refugees in cities in Europe and the Middle East. She completed her PhD in visual sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She is currently an assistant professor at SWPS University and head of the Polish team on the project “Empowering Young Migrants in Vulnerable Situations through Fluid Integration” (funded by the European Commission).
Daria Sudoł – cultural critic, journalist, activist and feminist. A social educator, cultural animator and project coordinator who has worked in the non-governmental sector for many years, helping to engage and empower local communities. She is involved in a number of socio-cultural initiatives and grassroots equality movements, and actively campaigns for excluded people, women’s rights, animal rights and the natural environment. President of the Punkt Widzenia (Point of View) Foundation. Curator of Dialogopolis 21’.
