Project description
A legal response to political discrimination in Europe
Ensuring protection from political discrimination while respecting the constitutional rights of free speech and association remains a fundamental challenge for contemporary society. Supported by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions programme, the POLARIS project aims to examine and classify political discrimination through the intersectional approach, studying the legal approaches to addressing political discrimination in Europe. Furthermore, it will formulate legislative proposals for the European Union and target countries (Belgium, North Macedonia and Northern Ireland) to construct interdisciplinary taxonomy based on empirical data.
Objective
With the core research question “How can laws in Europe more effectively address political discrimination while balancing it with other fundamental rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of association?” POLARIS responds to the urgent yet underexplored contemporary societal challenge in Europe that is the unequal treatment based on political opinion. It pursues three specific research objectives:
SO1 (theoretical): To develop a theoretical and conceptual framework for defining and typologising political discrimination, drawing on socio-legal, political science, psychology, and intersectional scholarship, using an intersectional lens.
SO2 (empirical): To map and critically analyse the current legal, judicial and quasi-judicial responses to political discrimination in Europe, while applying an intersectional lens.
SO3 (policy): To develop and impart legislative and policy recommendations for effectively addressing political discrimination to legislative decision-making authorities in the EU and at the three countries in focus.
POLARIS develops a novel interdisciplinary typology of political discrimination to ground both legal and policy responses in lived realities. The project combines doctrinal analysis and socio-legal research with insights from other disciplines to better understand and respond to real-life manifestations of political discrimination and its systemic consequences. Its comparative component focuses on three polities marred by societal divisions: Belgium, North Macedonia and Northern Ireland. All three are bound by EU non-discrimination law as current, prospective and past EU members, offering an ideal base for a critical evaluation of the EU’s non-discrimination regime and optimal conditions to identify viable windows for policy reform. POLARIS will not only advance legal scholarship, but also support the EU founding values of equality and gender equality, the implementation of key EU directives, and contribute to global goals SDG 10 and 5.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology social issues social inequalities
- social sciences psychology
- social sciences law
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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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.
4 Dublin
Ireland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.