From 26 to 28 August 2026, the ESA Research Network 31 – Ethnic Relations, Racism and Antisemitism – will present 17 sessions and 63 presentations at the 17th Conference of the European Sociological Association in Warsaw. The Research Network is coordinated by Dr. Kim Robin Stoller (IIBSA) and Dr. Elke Rajal (University of Passau).
The 17th Conference of the European Sociological Association will take place in Warsaw from 25 to 28 August 2026 under the theme “Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity and Sustainable Futures”. The sessions of Research Network 31 – Ethnic Relations, Racism and Antisemitism run from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28 August, on Wednesday and Thursday at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) and on Friday at the University of Warsaw.
This year’s programme comprises 17 sessions with 63 presentations by colleagues from institutions across Europe as well as from Israel and North America. Our sessions cover conceptual and analytical frameworks for the study of antisemitism, antigypsyism and anti-Roma racism, the (new) far right, Israel-related antisemitism after October 7, the left and Antizionism, conspiracy narratives and gender, Holocaust memory and education, antisemitism in academia, and the measurement of antisemitic attitudes.
The Research Network is coordinated by Dr. Kim Robin Stoller of the International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA) and Dr. Elke Rajal of the University of Passau. IIBSA has supported the work of the network throughout the current term, including the mid-term conference “Hate in Transition and the Aftermath of 7 October: Antisemitism and Racism in Times of Political Crisis” held at the University of Passau in 2025.
You can find the Conference Programme here:
RESEARCH NETWORK 31
Ethnic Relations, Racism and Antisemitism
Conference Programme
17th Conference of the European Sociological Association
“Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity and Sustainable Futures”
Warsaw, 25–28 August 2026
17 sessions · 63 papers · 26–28 August 2026
Wednesday and Thursday: Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Friday: University of Warsaw (UW)
RESEARCH NETWORK COORDINATORS
Dr. Kim Robin Stoller · International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA)
Dr. Elke Rajal · University of Passau
Programme Overview
Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
| TIME | SESSION | SESSION CHAIR |
| 11:00am – 12:30pm | RN31_T01_01 Conceptualising Antisemitism: Theory, the Field and Analytical Frameworks | Elke Rajal University of Passau |
| RN31_T01_02 Antigypsyism and Anti-Roma Racism | Markus End Technical University Berlin | |
| 2:30pm – 4:00pm | RN31_T02_01 Antisemitism and the (New) Far Right | Alejandro Baer Spanish National Research Council |
| RN31_T02_02 Quantifying Discrimination and Integration | Niklas Herrberg Austrian Academy of Sciences | |
| 4:30pm – 6:00pm | RN31_T03_01 Israel-Related Antisemitism after October 7 | Zbyněk Tarant University of West Bohemia |
| RN31_T03_02 Ethnic Identity, Boundaries and Belonging | Christine Achinger University of Warwick |
Thursday, 27 August 2026
Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
| TIME | SESSION | SESSION CHAIR |
| 11:00am – 12:30pm | RN31_T04_01 The Left, Anti-Zionism and October 7 | David Hirsh Goldsmiths, University of London |
| RN31_T04_02 Space, Housing and Social Cohesion | Marta Simó Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona | |
| 1:00pm – 2:00pm | RN31 Business Meeting Room to be announced | Kim Robin StollerElke Rajal RN31 Coordinators |
| 2:30pm – 4:00pm | RN31_T05_01 Conspiracy, Gender and Antisemitism | Anna Zawadzka Polish Academy of Sciences |
| RN31_T05_02 Antiracism, Indigeneity and Intervention | Sina Arnold Technical University Berlin / Research Institute Social Cohesion | |
| 4:30pm – 6:00pm | RN31_T06_01 Cold War and (Post)Colonial Legacies of Antisemitism | Ireneusz Krzeminski Warsaw University |
| RN31_T06_02 Antisemitism and Racism: Online, Extremism and Everyday Life | Nikolai Schreiter University of Passau |
Friday, 28 August 2026
University of Warsaw (UW)
| TIME | SESSION | SESSION CHAIR |
| 11:00am – 12:30pm | RN31_T07_01 Antisemitic Meaning-Making, Holocaust Memory and Education | Kim Robin Stoller International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA) |
| RN31_T07_02 Antisemitism in Academia and Higher Education | David Hirsh Goldsmiths, University of London | |
| RN31_T07_03 Race, Work and the History of Racial Knowledge | t.b.a. | |
| 2:30pm – 4:00pm | RN31_T08_01 Measuring Antisemitism: Surveys and Attitudes | Ildiko Barna Eotvos Lorand University |
| RN31_T08_02 Culture, Heritage and Critical Perspectives on Antisemitism and Racism | Zbyněk Tarant University of West Bohemia |
Sessions in Detail
Each presentation is allocated 20 minutes in total: 15 minutes for the presentation and 5 minutes for discussion. All presentations are in English.
WEDNESDAY, 26 AUGUST 2026
RN31_T01_01
Conceptualising Antisemitism: Theory, the Field and Analytical Frameworks
11:00am – 12:30pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Elke Rajal, University of Passau
1. Is There a Field of Antisemitism Studies?
David Hirsh, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom
2. The Architecture Of Meaning: Antisemitism As An Interpretive System
Joanne Strasser1,2, 1: Gratz College; 2: The London Centre for Contemporary Antisemitism, UK, United States of America
3. Migrants, Muslims, Soviets. Comforting narratives on contemporary antisemitism
Anna Zawadzka, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
4. Analytical Framework: Analyzing Antisemitism and Israel-Hatred after October 7
Kim Robin Stoller, International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA), Germany
RN31_T01_02
Antigypsyism and Anti-Roma Racism
11:00am – 12:30pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Markus End, Technical University Berlin
1. Segmented Acceptance of Interethnic Contact with Roma in the Czech Republic
Laura Fónadová1, Tomáš Katrňák2, Dan Ryšavý3, 1: Masaryk University Brno, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Czech Republic (Czechia); 2: Masaryk University Brno, Faculty of Social Studies, Czech Republic (Czechia); 3: Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic (Czechia)
2. Antigypsyism, Exclusion and Diversity in Portugal: preliminary results from the National Study of Roma Communities
Inês Barbosa1, Manuela Mendes2, Pedro Candeias3, 1: Institute of Sociology of the University of Porto, Portugal; 2: Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology – ISCTE, Lisbon, Portugal; 3: Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology – ISCTE, Lisbon, Portugal
3. Ruptures of Solidarity: Antigypsyism, Racialised Protection, and Roma Transnational Mobilization After 2022
Elżbieta Mirga-Wójtowicz, Tetiana Storozhko, University of Warsaw Poland
4. Producing the “Problem”: Police Knowledge and Antigypsyism in Lithuania
Agnieška Avin-Ileri, Lithuanian Center for Social Sciences, Institute of Sociology, Lithuania
RN31_T02_01
Antisemitism and the (New) Far Right
2:30pm – 4:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Alejandro Baer, Spanish National Research Council
1. “They/them“ vs. „Us“: Antisemitism and Transphobia in the Contemporary American Far Right
Sina Arnold, Technical University Berlin / Research Institute Social Cohesion, Germany
2. The Post-Migrant Far Right: The Case of Germany
Matheus Hagedorny, Katholische Hochschule NRW, Center for Antisemitism and Racism Studies, Germany
3. Conspiracist Far-Right Media Making Sense of the Middle East Conflict: A Comparison of the German Compact Magazine and the Austrian ‘Alternative TV Station” AUF1 after October 7
Nikolai Schreiter, University of Passau, Germany
RN31_T02_02
Quantifying Discrimination and Integration
2:30pm – 4:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Niklas Herrberg, Austrian Academy of Sciences
1. The Integration Paradox Unpacked: How Position In The Job Hierarchy And Immigrant Generation Shapes Perceptions Of Ethnic Discrimination
Marjan Nadim, Julia Orupabo, Institute for Social Research, Norway
2. Deconstructing “Imported Antisemitism”: An Empirical Analysis of Ideological and Religious Determinants of Antisemitism among Muslims in Germany
Jannik Fischer1, Cemal Öztürk2, 1: University of Hamburg, Germany; 2: University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
3. Attitudes Toward the Acculturation of Immigrants – Attitudinal Disparities Among Majority and Minority Adolescents
Anna Berthold, Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Germany
4. Beyond Labels: How Categorization Affects the Statistical Identification of Racism and Discrimination
Leonie Fuchs, Kien Tran, DeZIM, Germany
RN31_T03_01
Israel-Related Antisemitism after October 7
4:30pm – 6:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Zbyněk Tarant, University of West Bohemia
1. Tracing Israel Discourse in Western Media: A Comparative Analysis of Press Coverage Since October 7, 2023
Moritz Golombek, Jonas Hessenauer, Tikvah Institut, Germany
2. The Impact of October the 7th Attacks on Jewish-Arab Relations in Israeli Higher Education: A Before-After Analysis
Lior Yohanani1, Lars Leszczensky2, Uri Shwed3, Yossi Shavit1, 1: Tel Aviv University, Israel; 2: Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany; 3: Ben Gurion University, Israel
3. “Then the Most Beautiful Songs Are Becoming Meaningless” – the Boycott of Israel as a Promise for Authenticity
Elias Berner, Niklas Herrberg, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
RN31_T03_02
Ethnic Identity, Boundaries and Belonging
4:30pm – 6:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Christine Achinger, University of Warwick
1. Religious Affiliation as an Ethnic Boundary: Second-Generation Armenians in Post-1990 Poland
Lidia Shahbazyan, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland
2. Is Mono-Ethnicity of Polish Society Over? Changes in Declarations of National and Ethnic Identity and Home Language In The 2011 and 2021 Population Censuses in Poland
Sławomir Łodziński, Warsaw University, Poland
3. Between Passing and Exile: Wartime Russian Migration to Imperial Peripheries
Mariana Peixoto Irby, University of Warsaw, Poland
THURSDAY, 27 AUGUST 2026
RN31_T04_01
The Left, Anti-Zionism and October 7
11:00am – 12:30pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: David Hirsh, Goldsmiths, University of London
1. Marea Rosa and 7 October: Antisemitic Continuities in the Latin American Left in the 21st Century
Sebastian Draxl, University of Vienna, Austria
2. Anti-Zionism as a Left-Populist Field of Mobilisation After October 7: The Case of Germany’s Die Linke
Marc Seul1,2, 1: Initiative for Interdisciplinary Antisemitism Research (IIA), Trier University, Germany; 2: University of Passau, Germany
3. From Human Rights Concerns to Territorial Maximalism – Tracing the Shift of Pro-Palestine Protests in the Czech Republic between 2023 and 2026.
Zbyněk Tarant, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic (Czechia)
4. Antisemitism As Protest-Logic: A Socio-Psychological Analysis Of Anti-Israeli Feminist Mobilizations In Berlin
Debora Justin Eller, University of Bonn, Germany
RN31_T04_02
Space, Housing and Social Cohesion
11:00am – 12:30pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW), Session Chair: Marta Simó, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
1. Structural Racism in the Mediterranean Housing System: Youth, Migration, and Collective Action in Barcelona
Mireia Pont Soler, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
2. Ethnographing Racialised Populations in Situations of Socio-housing Vulnerability
Agostina Nievas1, Maia Souza2, Maria Manuela Mendes2, Ines Barbosa3, Sandra Pinheiro2, 1: ICS University of Lisbon; 2: ISCTE University of Lisbon; 3: University of Porto
3. Post-Mining Landscapes and Uneven Environmental Justice
Daniel Škobla1, Richard Filčák2, 1: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Republic; 2: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Slovak Republic
4. Challenging Concentration Myths: Ethnic Diversity, Social Cohesion and Dialogic Practices
Ana Burgues-Freitas1, Lena de Botton2, Roger Campdepadros3, 1: University of Granada, Spain; 2: Universitat de Barcelona, Spain; 3: Universitat de Girona, Spain
RN31 Business Meeting
1:00pm – 2:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW) · Room to be announced
Chaired by the Research Network Coordinators: Kim Robin Stoller, Elke Rajal
RN31_T05_01
Conspiracy, Gender and Antisemitism
2:30pm – 4:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Anna Zawadzka, Polish Academy of Sciences
1. Antisemitism and Misogyny: Constructions of the ‘Jew’ and Femininity Within the Discourse of Masculinity Influencers in the Manosphere.
Thomas Stavrinos, University of Passau, Germany
2. Intersections And Paths To Hate: How Conspiracy Worldviews And Ideologies Of Inequality Drive Authoritarian Radicalization
Stefanie Mayer1, Karin Liebhart1, Philipp Pflegerl2, 1: Institute of Conflict Research (IKF), Austria; 2: University of Innsbruck/Department of Applied Sociology of Law and Criminology (IRKS), Austria
3. Islamist Propaganda between Change and Persistence: Intersections of Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Militarised Masculinity in ISIS’s Dabiq and Rumiyah
Georg Tiroch1, Lars Wiegold2, 1: Universität Augsburg; 2: PRIF – Leibniz-Institut für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung
RN31_T05_02
Antiracism, Indigeneity and Intervention
2:30pm – 4:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Sina Arnold, Technical University Berlin / Research Institute Social Cohesion
1. Anti-racism Practice: Interventions, Effectiveness and Possible Backlash
Jehonathan Ben, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Spain
2. Extending Boundaries, Pan Ethnic Categorization and Antiracism
Brett St Louis, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
3. Comparing Ethical Guidelines For Research Involving the Sámi People in Cross-Nordic Context
Mari Annika Viinikainen, Lapin yliopisto, Finland
4. How Ancestral Bonding Heals Contemporary Antisemitism: Findings of a Community Pilot Study
Chaya Abrams, Sandra Mann, Gitit Kaufman, University of Colorado-Denver, United States of America
RN31_T06_01
Cold War and (Post)Colonial Legacies of Antisemitism
4:30pm – 6:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Ireneusz Krzeminski, Warsaw University
1. The Political Turn: Cold War Legacies and Contemporary Antisemitism in Argentina
Marcos Fabián Mosenson, Ostfold University College, Norway
2. The Return of the “Cursed Soldiers” – Antisemitism and Anticommunism in Poland
Katarzyna Chmielewska, Polish Academy of Science, Poland
3. Bandung, Havanna and October 7th: The Universalization of Antizionism on the Left
Christoph Joppich, University of Passau, Germany
4. Antisemitic Epistemicide
Marc Neugröschel, London Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism
RN31_T06_02
Antisemitism and Racism: Online, Extremism and Everyday Life
4:30pm – 6:00pm · Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW)
Session Chair: Nikolai Schreiter, University of Passau
1. Divergent Framings: Persona-Dependent LLM Responses on Antisemitism-Adjacent Issues
Ildiko Barna, Marton Gosztonyi, Renata Nemeth, Haseeb Raza, Eotvos Lorand University, Research Center for Computational Social Science, Hungary
2. Between Dog Whistles and Open Hostility: Measuring Explicit and Implicit Antisemitism in Online Discourse
Wyn Brodersen, The Institute for Democracy and Civil Society, Germany
3. Negotiating Concealable Stigmatized Identity in a Hostile Environment: The experience of Israelis in Catalonia amid Heightened Anti-Israel Mobilization
Marta Simó, Avi Astor, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
4. On the Relationship between Racism and Antisemitism in Germany: A Qualitative Study of the “National Socialist Underground”
Charlie Kaufhold, International Psychoanalytic University Berlin, Germany
FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST 2026
RN31_T07_01
Antisemitic Meaning-Making, Holocaust Memory and Education
11:00am – 12:30pm · University of Warsaw (UW)
Session Chair: Kim Robin Stoller, International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (IIBSA)
1. Symbolic Inversions and Multidirectional Memory: Reframing Holocaust Commemoration in Spain after October 7th”
Alejandro Baer1, Marta Simó2, 1: Spanish National Research Council, CSIC, Spain; 2: Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona
2. Longing For The Unrecognisable: Antisemitism As An Ideology In The Context Of Remembrance And Working Through The Past After Auschwitz
Pina Heinen, Jüdische Volkshochschule Frankfurt am Main, Germany
3. “The Innocent Child” as an Antisemitic Cipher: Connecting Narratives between “Corona Protests” and University “Pro-Palestine Solidarity”
Carl Dewald1, Cordula Trunk2, 1: Europa-Universität Flensburg, Germany; 2: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, Austria
4. Antisemitic Meaning-Making in Times of Crisis and the Shifting Boundaries of the Sayable: German COVID Protest Actors’ Responses to 7 October and the War in Gaza
Elke Rajal, University of Passau, Germany
RN31_T07_02
Antisemitism in Academia and Higher Education
11:00am – 12:30pm · University of Warsaw (UW)
Session Chair: David Hirsh, Goldsmiths, University of London
1. Making Informal Academic Exclusion Visible: A Case Study from the Israel-Hamas War
Anna Smoliarova, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
2. Cultural Exclusion as a Contemporary Form of Israel-Related Antisemitism
Kate Finkelshtein1, Anna Smoliarova2, Vera Gailis3, 1: Bar Ilan University, Israel, Phd student; 2: Hebrew University, Israel, researcher; 3: Independent researcher and artist
3. Beyond Incidents: Antisemitism in German Higher Education after 7 October 2023
Sophie Brüss, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
4. Israel/Palestine in the discourse of Native American Studies
Salome Richter, Trier University, Germany (Initiative Interdisziplinäre Antisemitismusforschung)
RN31_T07_03
Race, Work and the History of Racial Knowledge
11:00am – 12:30pm · University of Warsaw (UW)
Session Chair: t.b.a.
1. Adaptation Through Defense, Defense Through Adaptation – On the Damaged Subjectivity of Migrant Workers and the Reproduction of Racism
Yannic Wexenberger1,2, 1: University of Vienna; 2: University of Passau
2. Life Courses of Physicians with Turkish or Post-Soviet Migrant Backgrounds in the German Healthcare System: First Insights from a Mixed-Methods Study
Natalia Bekassow, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
3. Racism through Ages and Regimes. Polish Anthropology, Racist and Antisemitic Traditions, and Polish Public Imaginary
Claudia Snochowska Gonzalez, Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland
RN31_T08_01
Measuring Antisemitism: Surveys and Attitudes
2:30pm – 4:00pm · University of Warsaw (UW)
Session Chair: Ildiko Barna, Eotvos Lorand University
1. «Impossible To Answer»? Antisemitism And Social Desirability Bias In Norway: Evidence From Four Population Surveys (2011-2024)
Vibeke Moe Bjørnbekk1, Johannes Due Enstad2, 1: Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies; 2: Institute for Social Research
2. Contested Sources of Antisemitic Attitudes in Austria: Religion, Far-Right Voting, and Authoritarian Dispositions
Niklas Herrberg, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
3. Same Same but Different – An Experimental Study about the Different Explanatory Mechanisms of Antisemitism and Anti-Black Racism in Germany
Carina Schulz, Heiko Beyer, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Germany
4. Waving or unstable anti-Semitism and the Public Hate.
Ireneusz Krzeminski, Warsaw University, Poland
RN31_T08_02
Culture, Heritage and Critical Perspectives on Antisemitism and Racism
2:30pm – 4:00pm · University of Warsaw (UW)
Session Chair: Zbyněk Tarant, University of West Bohemia
1. The Continued Importance of Music in English and Swedish-language Far-Right Spaces Online
Sam de Boise, Örebro university, Sweden
2. Universalism And Difference – New Debates And Their Significance For The Struggle Against Antisemitism And Racism
Christine Achinger, University of Warwick, UK
3. ‚Gypsy‘ Child Thieves And ‚Jew‘-like Conspirators: Antigypsyist And Antisemitic Tropes In Contemporary German Children‘s Films
Markus End, Center for Research on Antisemitism, TU Berlin, Germany
4. Antisemitism, Cultural Heritage, and the Destabilisation of Democracy After 7 October
Omar Mohammed, Margareta Wetchy, The George Washington University, France