Individual contributions 

Pr. Scheer Monique,  University of Tübingen, Tübingen (Germany)

Affective Dimensions of Co-Existence in Multicultural Cities

Launched by cultural studies scholar Paul Gilroy in 2004 and taken up by a group of Francophone sociologists and writers ten years later, the concept of ‘conviviality’ has been fruitful for analyzing histories of living together in difference, not overlooking economic inequity and power asymmetries, but at the same time finding commonalities and cooperations. With its echoes of the premodern Spanish concept of Convivencia, conviviality is also reminiscent of German conceptions of Geselligkeit as the basis of democracy in civil society. From these examples, it is clear that vivre ensemble involves various emotional practices, which will be the focus of this talk, based on recent research in ‘everyday multiculturalism’ in anthropology and cultural studies and linking up with Dorothee Kimmich’s talk on ‘critical proximities’. Only when we take the affective dimension of co-existence into account can we fully understand what kinds of solutions will work well. Challenging the notion that cultural and religious diversity itself presents a problem for social cohesion, causing fragmentation and conflict, the aim of this paper is to promote a new perspective on heterogeneous societies by highlighting the significance of proximity over difference. What needs to come into focus are the relational, affective practices that set the terms of co-existence.

Pr. Kimmich Dorothee,  University of Tübingen, Tübingen (Germany)

Similarity and proximity in cultural theory and research on conviviality 

We have a right to be different but must also realize that antidemocratic and racist practices flourish under the mantel of the right to diversity and segregation. Samir Amin thus correctly demands that the right to diversity and alterity must be coupled with the ‘right to be similar’. Similarity is different from the demand for generic sameness. It is the process towards equality. In this sense pluricultural and heterogeneous societies can be viewed as complex webs and palimpsests of overlapping similarities and a specific form of critical proximity. It is based on solidarity which ignores particularist bondings in order to project a pluricultural society of communication characterized by fuzzy borders and transcended boundaries. We could indeed see the signature of the pluricultural form of life in the affirmation of similarity in diversity (and not unity in diversity) as against the absolutization through homogenization. 
 This perspective makes clear that similarity-oriented thinking has an inherent ethical aspect adn requires perspectives and judgement. To not recognize similarities also often means that they are quite consciously denied. Therefore, similarity-oriented thinking requires not only analytic ability, but also the ability to judge. When similarities are disregarded in favor of differences and oppositions—which often leads to the dominance of a single group—it is not only an epistemological issue but also a political one: If religious and/or racist fanaticism is driving a campaign to divide society into categories of identity and difference, then what is necessary are alliances and thinking in similarities. 
 Similarity, however, is not a cure-all for the problems found within cultural theory and its corresponding political issues. Assimulation and forced proximity can even provoke oppression and cause conflicts. Nevertheless, similarity as a fundamental epistemological category and proximity as action guiding orientation is one of the most important tools of cultural-theoretical reflection.

Dr. Ait Mouss Fadma, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Casablanca (Morocco) 

Dr. Kheirallah Mouni, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Casablanca (Morocco)

Beyond the 'Vulnerable': Re-shaping Disability Narratives through Emancipatory Research in Moroccan Contexts

This presentation critically interrogates the dominant use of “vulnerability” in policy, development, and academic discourses on disability, arguing that the label obscures structural violence by framing disadvantage as inherent rather than socially produced. Drawing on critical disability studies and an emancipatory research paradigm, the study re-frames disability in Marrakech as a socio-political construct sustained by institutional practices and normative assumptions. Based on 39 narrative interviews, the analysis demonstrates how disablement is systematically manufactured across education, labor, and technology. Inclusive education often reproduces normalization by requiring individuals to adapt to rigid systems; labor markets channel disabled bodies into informality or symbolic public employment; and digital technologies function as a double-edged tool, constrained by stigma and material inequality. The paper concludes that meaningful inclusion requires dismantling the structural “fabric of normality,” not merely expanding legal or technical interventions.

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Dr. Martins Mabasso Quitéria, - Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo (Mozambic) -  
Eduardo Mondlane University main campus: my space.

Maputo is the capital of Mozambique and a fast growing city. This growth challenges Eduardo Mondlane University, the oldest and largest public higher education institution in Mozambique, to consider the role it plays in the development of the city. The university geographic location puts it at the intersection of urban development, social justice and community. In order to understand the pressing and complex process of urban development and gentrification the university, in collaboration with some CIVIS partners, is conducting a study that aims to examine the complexities the Eduardo Mondlane University campus faces as a boundary between districts in the city of Maputo with very different socio-economic realities. Through interviews including geographical mapping and other collaborative tools, we will examine how adolescents from poorer districts make use of the campus and the tensions and the contradictions it generates in the local community. The project will co-design with participating youth an expressive/artistic intervention in the campus aimed at making visible these practices and appropriations and to start a discussion between the different social groups that in practice inhabit the EMU campus.

Dr.  Poveda David - Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid (Spain)
Arts-based collaborative devices with at-risk youth: An example from an OL Project in Madrid.

This presentation focuses on the methodological opportunities and practical challenges of using sensorial and arts-based collaborative research methods with young people at´-social-risk. We draw on the experieneces of an ongoing CIVIS Open Lab project in Madrid centered in understanding processes of urban inclusion/exclusion of youth at-social-risk in a heavily gentrified neighborhood of central Madrid. During several months we have worked with youth in a documentation and intervention process drawing on performative devices, plastic arts, visuTal methods, walking methodologies and soundscaping techniques. We discuss the uptake and affordances of various techniques and highlight issues of use and implementation that might be revelant to projects across contexts wth similar populations.  

Dr. Louriz Nabila, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Casablanca (Morocco) 

Phd Student Fatima Zahra El Balrhi, Hassan II University of Casablanca, Casablanca (Morocco) 

Heritage languages of Sub-Saharan migrant children in Morocco

​Migration within Africa is a widespread phenomenon driven by social, economic, and political factors, with effects that extend across multiple domains, one of which is lqnguqge development. The increase in Sub-Saharan migration to Morocco leads to new and interesting language contact situation. This research explores the dynamics of heritage language maintenance among migrant children, specifically focusing on South-to-South flow toward Morocco. The study examines how children of Sub-Saharan migrants navigate the intersection of their mother tongues, such as Wolof, Lingala, Kikongo, or Bambara, with Moroccan Arabic as the dominant language. By examining the status of the mother tongue in the diaspora, the research sheds light on how migration acts as a driver for linguistic change. It investigates the factors that support or hinder the transmission of heritage languages across generations, which results in language maintenance or attrition. Understanding these dynamics is crucial, as the maintenance of a heritage language plays a pivotal role in a child’s cognitive development and their ability to navigate a complex, multi-layered linguistic identity.

Collective contributions 

This roundtable session we showcase ongoing research projects that build on a collaborative and participatory perspective to address the needs of social groups and individuals often categorized as "vulnerable" within existing policies and discussions of social needs. 
Collaborative projects may work with migrant populations, the elderly, individuals with special needs and/or children, youth and families at-social-risk, among other target populations.

The sessions adopts an intercontinental perspective and gathers work conducted within European and African CIVIS universities. 
The goals of the roundtable are threefold: 

• Present and discuss the collaborative research infrastructures and resources developed by different research teams within the CIVIS alliance in Europe and Africa.

• Critically examine the collaborative research devices deployed in different contexts, reflexively discussing challenges and opportunities in their implementation under various material conditions. 

• Critically discuss "vulnerability" as a socio-political construct and the role of participatory research in re-shaping underlying assumptions in the constellation of labels and concepts that surround "vulnerability".