Heleen Touquet guest professor

Research Heleen Touquet

Research team

Changing MEP Behaviour Towards EU enlargement with the Western Balkans: the Implications of the Russian Invasion in Ukraine (2019-2024). 01/11/2024 - 31/10/2026

Abstract

This project focuses on the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on MEP behaviour towards the Western Balkan countries. Since 24 February 2022, the so-called 'geostrategic awakening' of the European Union (EU) has triggered, among other things, a new focus on the enlargement with the countries of the Western Balkans, particularly visible in the recent decision to grant EU-candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Compared to other EU institutions, the European Parliament has always been a front-runner in support for enlargement. The question is therefore in which way its position has changed. By combining the perspective of parliamentary diplomacy and MEP behavior, this project wants to explain the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Parliament's stance vis-à-vis enlargement with the Western Balkans. Enlargement is back. But how does this relate to the potential intensification of European parliamentary diplomacy towards the region?

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  • Research Project

Rethinking Citizenship Education in Times of (Un)Belonging: The Role of Emotions in Finding a Balance Between Unity and Diversity; 01/11/2021 - 31/10/2025

Abstract

Over the past decades, European societies are characterized by increasing ethno-cultural diversification and debates on social cohesion, national identities, and citizenship are prominent in contemporary society. Education plays a key role in promoting a shared sense of belonging and emerging interest in citizenship education is, therefore, perceptible in research, policy and practice. Substantial literature has explored the normative, 'fact-based' nature of citizenship education. Yet, previous research has shown that ethnic minority students in Europe construct different collective identities than ethnic majority students and (sub)national identities appear to be less attractive to ethnic minority youth. These results imply that civic knowledge and attitudes are not able to bind ethnic minority students emotionally to an 'imagined national community'. This research aims to understand how young people perform their belonging and how education affects these processes of belonging. This study specifically focuses on the emotional processes related to issues of belonging and citizenship in education, without ignoring power relations and the social and political context involved. With the use of an ethnographic and narrative approach, this study aims to gain a nuanced understanding of how belonging and citizenship are understood, enacted, and experienced by young people attending secondary education.

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  • Research Project

Emotions, Belonging and Collective Identity Formation in Education: Balancing Between Unity and Diversity in Flanders 01/11/2020 - 31/10/2021

Abstract

Debates on social cohesion, (sub)national identities, and citizenship are prominent in contemporary society. This research aims to understand the influence of education in the making of (collective) identities, by studying the role of emotions in the construction of feelings of belonging. Education has a key role in promoting a shared sense of belonging to strengthen social cohesion. Emerging interest in citizenship education is perceptible in research, policy and practice, and substantial literature explored the normative, 'fact-based' nature of citizenship education. Yet, previous research has shown that ethnic minority students in Europe construct different collective identities than ethnic majority students and that (sub)national identities are less attractive for minority youth. This implies that civic knowledge and attitudes are not able to emotionally bind minority students to an 'imagined national community'. Emotional investments of citizenship and belonging in education have gone relatively understudied. Hence, this study focuses on the emotional processes related to issues of belonging and citizenship in education, without ignoring power relations and the social and political context involved. With the use of a sequential mixed-methods design, this study aims to explore how (collective) identities are constructed by young people and how belonging and citizenship are understood, enacted, and experienced in schools in Flanders.

Researcher(s)

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Project type(s)

  • Research Project