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Conceptualization and operationalization of minorities in the practice of UN treaty bodies

Project description

Traditional minority protection under universal international law

International law frequently employs the concept of ‘minority’ when establishing standards for group-specific rights and protection from discrimination. However, it often lacks clear definitions or membership criteria for these groups, resulting in practical deficiencies that are crucial to protecting minorities. This ambiguity hampers policy goals and can lead to further discrimination and marginalisation. In this context, the EU-funded MINCOOP project aims to enhance the legal protection of traditional minorities (national, ethnic, religious, linguistic) and their members under universal international law. It involves comprehensive analysis using a mixed-method research design in Slovenia to inform the theoretical debate on minority rights, provide policy recommendations, and raise public awareness of pressing issues facing traditional minorities.

Objective

MINCOOP is an interdisciplinary and intersectoral project that focuses on the conceptualization and operationalization of minorities under universal international law, with the ultimate purpose to improve the legal protection of traditional (national, ethnic, religious, linguistic) minorities and persons belonging to them. The project contributes to a growing area of minority studies, setting out from the recognition that international law routinely operates with the concept of minority when providing standards for the recognition of group-specific rights or protection from discrimination, without actually offering definitions on the protected groups (conceptualization) or membership criteria therein (operationalization). This in not merely an unresolved theoretical issue, but a practical deficiency with crucial importance for the protection of minorities. Namely, ambiguity in the relevant terms hampers the achievement of policy goals, and the potential for abuse easily leads to further discrimination and marginalization. In order to give definite answers to the problems of conceptualization and operationalization, the project proposes to carry out an up-to-date, systematic and comparative analysis of the monitoring materials of the ten UN human rights treaty bodies thus filling an important gap in scholarship. The project follows a mixed-method research design including quantitative, computer-assisted content analysis and qualitative legal analysis, as well as case studies and field research (interviews) conducted in Slovenia. The research project will not only inform the theoretical debate on minority rights and provide recommendations for policy-making, but also intends to raise awareness of the pressing issues of traditional minorities among the general public, promoting more tolerant, inclusive societies.

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-TALENTS-02

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Coordinator

INSTITUT ZA NARODNOSTNA VPRASANJA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 171 399,36
Address
ERJAVCEVA 26
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia

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Region
Slovenija Zahodna Slovenija Osrednjeslovenska
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

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