Interpreting Human Rights Narratives from Asylum Centers in Greece and Philosophical Values

Introduction  PART 1 Methodology  1. Human rights and local level  2. Empirical research: methodology and theoretical framework  PART 2 Legal framework and the emergence of hotspots  3. EU and national legal provisions about asylum seekers  4. Hotspots mandate and the role of the EU  PART 3 Empirical research: narratives of local actors  5. Chios, Vial  6. Cos, Pyli  7. Leros, Lepida  8. Lesvos, Moria until September 2020 and Mavrovouni or Kara Tepe  9. Samos, Vathy  PART 4 Local narratives and political attitudes  10. Partiality: communitarianism and conservatism  11. Impartiality: global liberalism and egalitarian liberalism  PART 5 Glocalisation of human rights  12. Limiting the interpretation of human rights  13. Pushbacks  14. Portraying the relationship between human rights and Reception and Identification Centers (RICs) in Chios, Cos, Leros, Lesvos, Samos  15. Human rights fulfillment at the local level: glocalisation and vernacularization of human rights through social justice and solidarity  Conclusion  Bibliography  Appendix  Index

Biography

Maria‑Artemis Kolliniati is an adjunct lecturer of Human Rights, Political Theory and Forced Migration in the MA collaborative programs at TU Darmstadt and Goethe University Frankfurt. She teaches Human Rights at the Hellenic Open University and ‘Ethics, Politics, Law’ at the University of Athens School of Philosophy. Previously, she taught Jurisprudence at the University of Glasgow Law School. She was awarded a scholarship from the State Scholarships Foundation (I.K.Y.) for her postdoctoral research, which she pursued and completed at the University of Athens School of Political Science. She holds a PhD in Political Science with a focus on Political Theory (2018) from the Ruprecht‑Karl‑University of Heidelberg.

"For anyone interested in the role of human rights in current-day Europe, the Aegean islands are a good place to start looking. They stand for some of the most flagrant human rights violations of our times, but also show the continued relevance of ‘rights talk’. This book, based on thorough empirical and comparative research, contains insights on the localization of human rights with a relevance that reaches far beyond this case study. Highly recommended for policy makers and scholars alike!"

Barbara Oomen, Professor of Sociology of Human Rights at Utrecht University and President of HZ University of Applied Sciences in Zeeland.

"Kolliniati’s book creates a fruitful encounter between empirical research, political theory and jurisprudence. It shows that local actors are not passive recipients of European asylum policy, but make their voices heard in a language of rights. An extremely valuable contribution to understanding the making of human rights."

Jürgen Bast, Professor of Public Law and European Law at Justus Liebig University Giessen, Research Group "Human Rights Discourse in Migration Societies" (MeDiMi)

"The practical application of political philosophy is becoming increasingly important. The combination of narratives regarding human rights and asylum centers with contemporary political philosophy principles stands out as a notable innovation. Kolliniati's outstanding book adeptly navigates readers through the main arguments in the field, conducting interdisciplinary research. This is a compelling read for scholars and students interested in the subject."

George Ν. Politis, Professor of Social Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

"Kollinati’s fascinating interdisciplinary work is a prime example of how to gain insight into complex phenomena like migration and asylum politics through a micro-oriented perspective on narratives and local actors’ practices. By drawing on interviews and fieldwork in Greece, she demonstrates how human rights work in and through practices on the ground and are negotiated by various political actors using competing narratives. A must-read for students and scholars interested in narrative research, in political theory and local perspectives in IR!"

Frank Gadinger, Professor for International Relations, University of Münster

"A landmark contribution to both the literature on the practice of human rights and to wider debates about the future of human rights in a time of crisis, uncertainty, but also of possibility. As her beautifully written book shows, the future of human rights—as idea, as law, as politics—is in the hands of those whose lives depend upon it."

Mark Goodale, Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor, University of Oxford, author of Reinventing Human Rights