Periodic Reporting for period 2 - UNDETERRED (Unintentional discrimination detected and racism reveal and Deactivate)
Berichtszeitraum: 2024-03-01 bis 2025-08-31
The UNDETERRED project aims to strengthen the fight against ethnic and religious inequalities experienced by young people (aged 18-35) from immigrant or national minority backgrounds in Europe. The study addresses discrimination in access to housing, employment, health and education. Coordinated by the University of Bordeaux, the UNDETERRED project is made up of a consortium of 11 partners, including 7 academic partners (the Universities of Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bucharest, Lausanne, Laval, Utrecht and Bordeaux) and 4 non-academic partners (Bordeaux Métropole, the URHAJ, the EPPPD Museum and the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry).
The hypothesis defended by the project is that some of the discrimination suffered by young people from immigrant backgrounds is due to the norms, practices and rules in force in institutions (even if they are legal), which are never challenged by the various players, or never fought. These young people have difficulty finding accommodation because they are asked for guarantees that they do not have. They have difficulty accessing education because, unlike children from other backgrounds, they do not have all the information they need to make informed choices. They can't find work placements because they don't have the right social network. Faced with this succession of small and large obstacles, inequalities in access and opportunities accumulate and the processes of exclusion continue from generation to generation.
Discrimination is part of a system in which different institutions operate (the school system, the health system, the labour market, social housing allocation bodies). The aim is to understand how these institutions operate, and then to identify the practices, rules and standards that have a discriminatory effect.
The aim is to interview the players working in the institutions to determine their degree of perception, in terms of discriminatory effect, of the impact of these standards, rules and practices. Are they aware of these effects? In-depth sociological work will be carried out to check that the players have not ultimately acted on the basis of a stereotype or negative prejudice towards these minority populations that they have 'validated' on the basis of information that they have deemed credible: political discourse and a certain way of processing information via social networks can lead to statistical discrimination. Young people from different backgrounds will also be asked about the practices, norms and rules that they themselves have identified as obstacles to their lives.
On the basis of the interviews, the aim is to draw up a typology of situations of 'exclusion/discrimination/reduction of opportunities/self-exclusion' experienced by young people from immigrant backgrounds, without the majority players fully perceiving the discriminatory aspect.
The hypothesis defended by the project is that some of the discrimination suffered by young people from immigrant backgrounds is due to the norms, practices and rules in force in institutions (even if they are legal), which are never challenged by the various players, or never fought. These young people have difficulty finding accommodation because they are asked for guarantees that they do not have. They have difficulty accessing education because, unlike children from other backgrounds, they do not have all the information they need to make informed choices. They can't find work placements because they don't have the right social network. Faced with this succession of small and large obstacles, inequalities in access and opportunities accumulate and the processes of exclusion continue from generation to generation.
Discrimination is part of a system in which different institutions operate (the school system, the health system, the labour market, social housing allocation bodies). The aim is to understand how these institutions operate, and then to identify the practices, rules and standards that have a discriminatory effect.
The aim is to interview the players working in the institutions to determine their degree of perception, in terms of discriminatory effect, of the impact of these standards, rules and practices. Are they aware of these effects? In-depth sociological work will be carried out to check that the players have not ultimately acted on the basis of a stereotype or negative prejudice towards these minority populations that they have 'validated' on the basis of information that they have deemed credible: political discourse and a certain way of processing information via social networks can lead to statistical discrimination. Young people from different backgrounds will also be asked about the practices, norms and rules that they themselves have identified as obstacles to their lives.
On the basis of the interviews, the aim is to draw up a typology of situations of 'exclusion/discrimination/reduction of opportunities/self-exclusion' experienced by young people from immigrant backgrounds, without the majority players fully perceiving the discriminatory aspect.
01/03/2024 to 31/08/2025
The research was structured around an interdisciplinary approach developed in three main stages.
First, the exploratory phase (WP1 – M1 to M12) aimed to formalize an initial version of the discrimination system, building on the state of the art, collective reflection, and quantitative analyses.
Second, the development phase (WP2 – M12 to M36) focused on advancing and refining this model through the mobilisation of the project’s qualitative findings, including field surveys conducted with institutions, discriminated populations, and focus groups.
Third, an action-research phase (WP3 – M36 to M48) will commence in February 2026 to test and validate the model developed during WP2.
The model is structured around four distinct circuits of discrimination, designed to illuminate the underlying and often invisible mechanisms at work, rather than merely confirming, through statistical observation, the existence of significant discrimination at individual and collective levels. In line with the ambition of the UNDETERRED project, the holistic model developed provides a comprehensive analytical and holistic framework granting access to the processes that generate discrimination, and not solely to their observable outcomes.
The second version of the exploitation and dissemination plan is currently being finalised (December 2025). To date, approximately forty journals for potential publications have been identified by the research teams. In accordance with the Consortium Agreement, submissions will be made once the deliverables have been validated by the EU.
Regarding the development of a MOOC dedicated to understanding systemic discrimination and producing a comprehensive classification of institutional best practices across the various research sectors, the first phase of its development will take place during the early months of 2026. A company will work in close collaboration with the UNDETERRED consortium to formalise this dissemination framework for the project results.
Moreover, the Undeterred consortium is developing a scientific and public dissemination plan for its research results based on several pillars:
1.The organization of symposia, conferences, and presentations at study days, national and international colloquia and congresses;
2.Publications in Q1/Q2 indexed journals in international database, as well as books published by nationally and internationally recognized publishing houses.
The second pillar focuses on outreach activities in various formats at the European level:
1.Museum-based formats;
2.Artistic formats;
3.Literary formats;
4.Cinematographic formats.
The research was structured around an interdisciplinary approach developed in three main stages.
First, the exploratory phase (WP1 – M1 to M12) aimed to formalize an initial version of the discrimination system, building on the state of the art, collective reflection, and quantitative analyses.
Second, the development phase (WP2 – M12 to M36) focused on advancing and refining this model through the mobilisation of the project’s qualitative findings, including field surveys conducted with institutions, discriminated populations, and focus groups.
Third, an action-research phase (WP3 – M36 to M48) will commence in February 2026 to test and validate the model developed during WP2.
The model is structured around four distinct circuits of discrimination, designed to illuminate the underlying and often invisible mechanisms at work, rather than merely confirming, through statistical observation, the existence of significant discrimination at individual and collective levels. In line with the ambition of the UNDETERRED project, the holistic model developed provides a comprehensive analytical and holistic framework granting access to the processes that generate discrimination, and not solely to their observable outcomes.
The second version of the exploitation and dissemination plan is currently being finalised (December 2025). To date, approximately forty journals for potential publications have been identified by the research teams. In accordance with the Consortium Agreement, submissions will be made once the deliverables have been validated by the EU.
Regarding the development of a MOOC dedicated to understanding systemic discrimination and producing a comprehensive classification of institutional best practices across the various research sectors, the first phase of its development will take place during the early months of 2026. A company will work in close collaboration with the UNDETERRED consortium to formalise this dissemination framework for the project results.
Moreover, the Undeterred consortium is developing a scientific and public dissemination plan for its research results based on several pillars:
1.The organization of symposia, conferences, and presentations at study days, national and international colloquia and congresses;
2.Publications in Q1/Q2 indexed journals in international database, as well as books published by nationally and internationally recognized publishing houses.
The second pillar focuses on outreach activities in various formats at the European level:
1.Museum-based formats;
2.Artistic formats;
3.Literary formats;
4.Cinematographic formats.
The first year achieved two results
R1 - A comparative analysis of anti-discrimination policies in the 4 fields and 4 areas. This is coupled with an analysis of the legal arsenal in the fight against discrimination in these same areas in comparison with the Canadian arsenal. The latter will enable us to propose legal recommendations for achieving systemic equality.
R2 - A database for describing vulnerability profiles based not on criteria for perceiving discrimination but on the notion of "experience of unequal treatment".
These two results will make it possible to continue the research by feeding into the design of methodological survey tools in WP2 in connection with an Undeterred definition of systemic discrimination. By specifying in a comparative way the local contexts of socio-ethnic segregation and the profiles of vulnerability, they will provide the political decision-makers of the cities and universities surveyed with a diagnosis of the target public that will be particularly useful for pursuing their institutional commitment in phase 2 (qualitative survey) and phase 3 (experimentation) of the project.
R1 - A comparative analysis of anti-discrimination policies in the 4 fields and 4 areas. This is coupled with an analysis of the legal arsenal in the fight against discrimination in these same areas in comparison with the Canadian arsenal. The latter will enable us to propose legal recommendations for achieving systemic equality.
R2 - A database for describing vulnerability profiles based not on criteria for perceiving discrimination but on the notion of "experience of unequal treatment".
These two results will make it possible to continue the research by feeding into the design of methodological survey tools in WP2 in connection with an Undeterred definition of systemic discrimination. By specifying in a comparative way the local contexts of socio-ethnic segregation and the profiles of vulnerability, they will provide the political decision-makers of the cities and universities surveyed with a diagnosis of the target public that will be particularly useful for pursuing their institutional commitment in phase 2 (qualitative survey) and phase 3 (experimentation) of the project.