S.P.I.D.E.R. Web founded in Flensburg

The “Social Policy, Integration, Diversity Management and Ethnicity Research Web� network was founded at ECMI in October 2006

FLENSBURG – A social policy network was founded at the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) on 17 October 2006. The network “Social Policy, Integration, Diversity Management and Ethnicity Research Web� (S.P.I.D.E.R. Web) aims at supporting and informing policy making processes and the general political discourse in Europe on the social inclusion of national and ethnic minorities, including Roma/Sinti groups. With the specific purpose of researching social policies on integration, diversity and its management, ethnicity and its cultures, the S.P.I.D.E.R. Web network will pursue a number of objectives related to the understanding of the social exclusion of minorities and the operationalization of social inclusion policies. The S.P.I.D.E.R. Web network consists of scientists in a variety of disciplines, including sociology, political science, political theory, law and economy as well as experts with specific focus on European studies, culture and ethnicity and language. Founding Director is Prof. Antoinette Hetzler of the Department of Sociology at the University of Lund, Sweden, and president of the Swedish Association of Sociologists. The S.P.I.D.E.R. Web network is based at ECMI and is an outcome of a research and evaluation project, “The Aspect of Culture in the Social Inclusion of Ethnic Minorities� jointly funded by ECMI and the European Commission. For more on the members of S.P.I.D.E.R. Web and its activities turn to www.ecmi-eu.org/omc/spiderweb.

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