CHIBOW Early Stage Researcher participates in conference on „Biographical Perspectives on European S
CHIBOW Early Stage Researcher Jakub Galeziowski participated in mid-term conference of ESA RN03 „Biographical Perspectives on European Societies”. The conference took place in Riga, Latvia, 22-23 September 2016 and was hosted by University of Latvia (Faculty of Social Sciences).
Jakub presented on the CHIBOW ITN and his individual research project in a paper titled „Silenced biographies of Children Born of War in Poland".
In his presentation, Jakub showed that Polish Children Born of War as a group is completely hidden from researches (in comparison to Western European countries, where CBOW are very active in their numerous associations). Pointing to, among others, the specifics of the region and its history with many years under communist regime, when this topic was not present in private and public discourse. Jakub explained that to describe this phenomenon he adopted the concept of Elephant In The Room of E. Zerubavel, American sociologist, who wrote about conspiracy of silence, which shapes personal lives, influences relationships within families and society, and finally is linked to silencing processes in the public sphere. Life stories of Polish CBOW have remained untold until now.
This year the title of the meeting was: Biographical Research: Inequality and Innovation. It was focused on the contribution of biographical perspective to sociological debates on recent developments. Two keynotes of prof. Vieda Skultans and prof. Ursula Apitzsch were presented and then followed by vivid discussions on important social issues in contemporary Europe, i.e.:
Biographical research and the divisions in Europe: challenges and potentials
Biographical perspectives on inequality in contemporary Europe
Biographical strategies in overcoming inequalities
Social innovation research and biographical perspectives on agency
Interconnections of biographical perspectives and discourses: finding silenced stories and provoking hegemonic narratives
Forced migration, mobility and movement across Europe
Silenced biographies