In the controversy about the blackfaced figure of Zwarte Piet, defenders of the tradition often try to downplay accusations of racism. A very common argument has it that Zwarte Piet is black because he climbs down chimneys. This argument, it turns out, is not in line with the tradition. Zwarte Piet was never quite white. […]

“Our culture is under threat. They want to abolish the Sinterklaas celebration and erect slavery monuments everywhere.” With those words the Dutch right-wing politician Rita Verdonk launched her 2006 election campaign. It sums up pretty much all of the sentiment of those defending the controversial tradition of Zwarte Piet. Each year, Saint Nicholas enters Dutch […]

We are happy to announce that in its last Departmental Meeting, the Law Department approved of our initiative. In its call for applications for the new Chair in Constitutional and/or Public Law, the department will thus particularly welcome candidates interested in theoretical dimensions of gender, sexuality, and race. Big thank you to everyone who signed! […]

“Having at least one faculty member with expertise in gender, race and sexuality law is not merely a luxury anymore – it is a necessity. … Since the EUI aims at being at the forefront of academic discourse in Europe, it needs to pay attention to these developments in order to preserve its distinguished reputation and to ensure the intellectual competitiveness of its graduates. We believe that someone with a clear expertise on race and gender will attract a wider range of forward-looking applicants to the PhD programme of the EUI Law Department.”

If you want to sign the letter, please send an email (including name, department/affiliation, year) to: [email protected] by Tuesday, 11 November 2014, 10 pm.

YES, WOMEN (CAN) COUNT: FEMINIST ENGAGEMENTS WITH ECONOMY. Debating feminist critiques of neoliberalism in the context of austerity with Lina Gálvez Muñoz. Taking advantage of the presence of the feminist economist Lina Gálvez Muñoz at the EUI, GRaSe wishes to invite you to engage in a collective discussion with her where we will widely consider […]