Field Station 5 – Migration: Perspectives on Displacement in the Anthropocene

The transformations wrought by the Anthropocene amplify inequalities around the world. The methods and practices that have allowed so-called developed countries to industrialize and accrue wealth continue to produce emissions that are contributing to climate changes that disproportionately harm those who do not benefit from this industrialization. While most future climate migrants are likely headed to Europe, the EU still lacks an adequate migrant policy.

A podcast by curator Abbéy Odunlami brings together researchers, politicians and activists to grasp the role of Europe as a political agent and a geographical destination in future climates.

Friday, Oct 30, 6 pm & 10 pm
#2: “Refugees Welcome”: The Commodification of Political Status and Perspectives from the Cultural Industry
With Clementine Ewokolo Burnley, Isaiah Lopaz

In this episode, Clementine Ewokolo Burnley, a former policy advisor in the European Commission’s Division of Disaster and Crisis Management, talks about her work serving at the International and External Relations Directorate, where she managed an area of policy dealing with climate migration. Burnley then discusses her current role as a cultural worker interrogating the buzzword “refugees welcome,” how arts, culture and symbolic gestures are practiced and whether they contribute to significant change or merely apathetic participation.

Thursday, Nov 5, 6 pm
#3: Migration from the Perspective of Data and Evidence-Based Policy
With Roberto Forin, Diana Ihring, Sabine Minninger

For this episode, Odunlami sits down with policy advisor Sabine Minninger and data researcher Roberto Forin, both of whom are researching migration patterns and advocating for climate policies that incorporate migration. What do we understand about migration from a policy and data perspective? What does the data say? How are evidence-based policies being drafted?

Thursday, Nov 26, 6 pm
#4: Migration from the Outside Looking In
With Fawad Durrani

This episode with Fawad Durrani looks at the experiences, opinions, and emotional responses of those labeled as having a “migration background.” Those not born in Germany or in Europe have had to intimately engage with this euphemism and can offer a nuanced perspective on the question: Who gets to be an “expat,” and who is an “immigrant”?