Prof. Małgorzata Bieńkowska from the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Białystok, together with Dr Magda Mogilnicka from the University of Southampton, have been awarded a British Academy grant to carry out the research project entitled “Supporting migrants against the backdrop of hostility – the role of civil society in the ‘border crisis’ in Poland”.
The research team also includes Dr Ewelina Sadanowicz from the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Białystok. The project focuses on analysing the activities of civil society in response to the so-called border crisis on the Polish–Belarusian border. The aim of the research is to understand how civic organisations and grassroots initiatives support migrants in difficult and often dangerous conditions, and how they contribute to shaping more humane migration policies.
The research, based on social media analysis and qualitative interviews, will provide new insights into bottom-up forms of civic engagement in the context of the growing securitisation of the European Union’s borders.