Research Imane Kostet

Abstract

Recent events such as the Covid19-pandemic and controversy around Muslim cemeteries have revealed the important and increasingly complicated task of the funeral sector in Belgium. The funeral sector is a relatively small yet important societal sector where every member of society at one point or another passes through. Major societal changes (like climatechange induced catastrophes, growing cultural diversity, secularisation) affect the decisions and services that funeral undertakers have to take and provide, and reveal the shortcomings in education, in deontological codes, and in legal frameworks. The diversification of funeral preferences combined with heightened awareness of the vulnerability of the sector during public health catastrophes leads to a sense of urgency in the funeral sector (in Belgium). This proposal identifies four sources of challenges: sociological changes, environmental concerns, public health crises and juridical gaps. With a comprehensive, interactive and multi-disciplinary approach the proposal aims to contribute to the professionalisation of the funeral sector through a more accurate juridical framework, policy protocols for future pandemics, the design of an ethical committee for the sector, the juridical and sociological accommodation of funeral needs of minorities (with a special focus on the Muslim community which is an important minority in Belgium), a collective ethical reflection on the environmental impact of our funeral choices, an action plan to making the funeral industry conform with climate neutral European regulation and a transferral of gained insights through education modules (tailored at the funeral industry) and a podcast (on the ethics of funeral practices in a superdiverse sustainable society) and a broadcast (on changing funeral preferences and societal problems) on national newssite +radio (for the wide audience).

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Schaubroeck Katrien
• Co-promoter: Bellinkx Vincent
• Co-promoter: Hens Kristien
• Co-promoter: Kostet Imane
• Co-promoter: Van Assche Kristof
• Co-promoter: Van de Velde Sarah
• Co-promoter: Vansweevelt Thierry
• Co-promoter: Verschraegen Gert

Research team(s)

• Center for Ethics

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

This project is one of the first in-depth cultural sociological explorations into autism's ethnic and racial inequalities. It critically examines how ethnicity and race become (in)visible in how autism is constructed and represented as both a medical category and an identity. While we know from gender studies that autism has been strongly shaped and represented as masculine, resulting in gender disparities in autism rates, constructions and representations of autism in relation to ethnicity and race remain relatively underexplored. Using qualitative methods and employing the concept of symbolic boundaries, this project seeks to understand the ways in which autism becomes 'ethnicised' or 'racialised' through 1) the communications of major autism organisations, autobiographical books, blogs, and vlogs about autism; 2) the perspectives, experiences, and practices of diagnosticians; and 3) the perceptions and lived experiences of ethnic and racial minority autistic adults. These issues are specifically addressed in the context of Western Europe, where ethnic and racial disparities in the prevalence of autism exist but have received little empirical attention in their own socio-cultural contexts. In doing so, this study ties in with broader calls to rethink academic and lay knowledge about disabilities such as autism as deeply embedded in socio-culturally situated processes of meaning-making, and to examine how this knowledge is influenced by the rhetorical aspects of disability.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Verschraegen Gert
• Co-promoter: Hens Kristien
• Fellow: Kostet Imane

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

Research shows that ethnic minority groups are less likely to be diagnosed with autism and are generally diagnosed at a later age, often after several misdiagnoses. Moreover, compared to their ethnic majority peers, minority children who are diagnosed have a more severe clinical profile (e.g., higher rates of intellectual disabilities), experience worse trajectories and outcomes, and make less use of social services. While this inequality is evident, little is known about the causes. Drawing on a cultural sociological approach, this study unpacks the cultural factors that explain these autism disparities. I propose to examine how the social categories "autistic people" and "racial/ethnic minorities" are publicly imagined in relation to each other, how people on the spectrum themselves reproduce narratives on autism and its supposed intersection with ethnicity/race; hence, how autism functions as a cultural category in everyday life. Put differently, I will analyze how an "autistic identity" and "autistic culture" is shaped and how these constructions include or exclude minority groups' intersectional experiences.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Kostet Imane

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The central aim of this research is to examine how children with diverse backgrounds construct personal and collective identities in the super-diverse city of Antwerp. How do children describe their differential identities? How do they develop (or not) a sense of belonging in a society that to a large extent seems to reproduce inequalities between different groups? How do these senses of belonging affect their well-being and aspirations? To answer these questions, and to highlight the hardly heard experiences of children themselves, I aim to conduct a qualitative longitudinal analysis of children's identity formation during the age of eleven and thirteen. Employing a cultural-sociological approach - inspired by, among others, Bourdieu's work - I will track the heterogeneous group of children during their transition from primary to secondary education. Three rounds of in-depth interviews and class observations will be held over this period of more than two years. In addition, I will conduct interviews with parents and focus groups with teachers and peers, in order to gain insight into their stimulating or restricting role in the children's differential identity formation.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Verschraegen Gert
• Co-promoter: Clycq Noel
• Fellow: Kostet Imane

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project

Abstract

The central aim of this research is to examine how children with diverse backgrounds construct personal and collective identities in the super-diverse city of Antwerp. How do children describe their differential identities? How do they develop (or not) a sense of belonging in a society that to a large extent seems to reproduce inequalities between different groups? How do these senses of belonging affect their well-being and aspirations? To answer these questions, and to highlight the hardly heard experiences of children themselves, I aim to conduct a qualitative longitudinal analysis of children's identity formation during the age of eleven and thirteen. Employing a cultural-sociological approach - inspired by, among others, Bourdieu's work - I will track the heterogeneous group of children during their transition from primary to secondary education. Three rounds of in-depth interviews and class observations will be held over this period of more than two years. In addition, I will conduct interviews with parents and focus groups with teachers and peers, in order to gain insight into their stimulating or restricting role in the children's differential identity formation.

Researcher(s)

• Promoter: Verschraegen Gert
• Co-promoter: Clycq Noel
• Fellow: Kostet Imane

Research team(s)

• Centre for Research on Environmental and Social Change

Project type(s)

• Research Project