Despite the international regulatory mechanisms developed in the last 20 years, kin-state engagement has remained a source of security concerns worldwide. In particular, the recent scholarly attention to the shift away from minority protection to an instrumentalisation of transborder ethnic kinship for economic, political and geopolitical gains in Central and Eastern Europe turned the spotlight on the relationship between kin-state politics and the securitisation of its ethnic kin abroad. The contributions to this panel organised by the KINPOL Observatory on Kin-state Policies (University of Glasgow) address the following questions: [1] Under which conditions do transborder kinship ties become securitised?; [2] What are the implications of these securitising processes for the transborder kinship communities that are targeted?; and [3] How might we explain variation in securitisation processes and outcomes in different regions?

CHAIR: Levente Salat (Babeş-Bolyai University)

DISCUSSANT: Myra Waterbury (Ohio University)


PARTICIPANTS: David Smith (University of Glasgow); Andreea Udrea (Royal Holloway, University of London and University of Glasgow); Zsuzsa Csergő (Queen’s University, Canada); Tamás Kiss (The Romanian Institute for Research on National Minorities); Kristina Kallas (University of Tartu); Sergiu Constantin (Eurac Research); Andrea Carlà (Eurac Research); Erin Jenne (Central European University); Beáta Huszka (UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies) and Nassim AbiGhanem (Bard College Berlin). 

The full programme is available to view. 

First published: 3 July 2023

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