Michele Grigolo

Introduction: how does Race 'count' in fighting discrimination in Europe?

Abstract As opposed to the American and British reality, most European countries have adopted a position towards ethno-racial discrimination which could be summarized as attempting to fight ‘racism without races’. This piece outlines the consequences of such a position from the normative, legal and political sciences points of view against the backdrop of an increasingly multi-ethnic continental Europe. Using the US as a comparator, the special issue summarizes a range of specific problems that race and ethnicity raise in the European context, such as categorization and discrimination against the Roma. In particular, we analyse whether and how race and ethnicity ‘count’ in legislation, jurisprudence and policies from the supranational to the local, and in the work of agencies entrusted with implementing anti-discrimination provisions.

Human rights and cities: the Barcelona Office for Non-Discrimination and its work for migrants

This contribution addresses human rights in the city of Barcelona, analysing the treatment and outcome of migration-related complaints to the Office for Non-Discrimination (OND), a municipal service in Barcelona. The city provides both the level and the unit of analysis of the complaints to the OND. The OND has dealt with a variety of migration-related legal issues by using the human rights framework flexibly and providing different types of solutions in relation to two main constraints: the status of the migrants and the systemic and hidden nature of discrimination affecting them. The contribution suggests ways beyond those provided for by the law in which cities can support (migrant) human rights through an institution like the OND.

Towards the "Fifth Freedom": Increasing the Mobility of Researchers in the European Union.

Many researchers trained in Europe leave to work abroad, namely in the USA. This brain‐drain phenomenon is the result of a lack of openness and competition in European academic systems. Some aspects relating to the mobility of academic careers could make a difference in attracting – and maintaining – researchers, aside to serious structural reform. This article explains how, in terms of mobility, it is possible to distinguish four different higher education models in Europe, showing persistent heterogeneity in the tenth anniversary of the Bologna Declaration.

Incorporating cities into the EU anti-discrimination policy: between race discrimination and migrant rights

Abstract This contribution elaborates on the role of local governments in the implementation of EU anti-discrimination policy by taking as an example the work of Barcelonas Office for Non-Discrimination (OND) and its practice in dealing with issues of race and ethnic origin. First, the OND is presented as a local counterpart of state equality bodies. Second, in order to make a more solid argument around the incorporation of cities into EU anti-racial discrimination policy, the ONDs broad and intersectional approach to race discrimination as part of migrant human rights is discussed, as well as the way in which the OND performs legal assistance. Based on these findings and drawing on concepts of governance and subsidiarity, the last part of the article reflects more generally on the position and added value of cities in a multi-level system of implementation of the EU racial anti-discrimination policy.

In a state of becoming a human rights city: the case of Eugene, Oregon

The United States is characterized as ‘exceptionalist’ when it comes to the implementation of international human rights principles and standards (Shulz 2009). The United States has been slow to ratify more than a handful of UN-sanctioned human rights treaties. Moreover, the United States has attached significant ‘reservations, understandings, and declarations’ to those treaties it has signed and ratified which limit the extent to which these treaties are allowed to apply to the United States (Venetis 2011).