I am a Senior Lecturer in Politics and Ethnic Conflict. I hold a PhD from Aberdeen and an MA from Phillips University Marburg

Email: t.agarin@qub.ac.uk

QUB Research Portal (Pure)

Research Interests

I am interested in relationships between the state and society, interrelations between the majority and the minority, issues relating to non-discrimination in the wider Europe and the impact of European integration broadly conceived on societal change and dynamics in political institutions. At the heart of it, is the interest in ethnic politics and their impact on transition from communism in Central Eastern European states.

I am particularly interested in the interplay of social and institutional change in postcommunism in issue areas of non-discrimination, minority protection, migration and civil society. In the past I looked at the dynamic relations between national identity, power relations and ethnic conflict across the postcommunist region and particularly at institutions of the nation-state. Using the cases of institutions tasked with minority protection, I investigate how democratising states cooperate with one another as well as with international organisations to reduce ethnic tensions domestically and ensure peace and stability in postcommunist states.

I am currently a principle investigator with Allison McCulloch on the ESRC-funded project "Exclusion Amid Inclusion: Power-Sharing and Non-Dominant Minorities" and welcome research students willing to engage with issues pertaining to the status of non-dominant groups in divided societies managed by consociational political systems.

Further, I am leading the Civil Society in Post-Conflict Societies project funded by the Global Challenge Research Fund which runs from 1 June 2019 to 31 May 2020, I investigate the role of civil society plays in governance of post-conflict societies. Jointly with Drs Zdeb and Mikhael we seek to understand whether, as widely believed, international support for the NGOs "helps people help themselves", or not.

Finally, the project Minority Participation and Representation in National Societies, funded by the International Researcher Mobility Scheme of the Autonomous Province Bolzano – Südtirol for Research Collaboration with the Eurac Research, Bolzano examines the prevailing view in everyday life, politics and science that nation states offer the best forum for negotiating the contradictory claims of majority and minority groups. However, this has so far only partially proven itself useful as such policies tend to focus on groups significant at one point in time, and neglect both the less significant identity communities (e.g. micro minorities) and those that emerge as a result of societal change (e.g. EU citizens benefitting from freedom of movement, migrants as well as new minorities). My research project therefore asks: What are the effects of nation state consolidation on political participation and representation of all affected in the increasingly diverse societies?

Postgraduate Supervision and teaching

Proposals for research projects that deal with aspects of ethnic politics from a comparative perspective are warmly welcomed. I teach on issues related to ethnic and national minorities in European politics, National and Ethnic Conflict Management, and Conflict Resolution.

I am the Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict at the School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy. I am the Chair of the RC14 Politics and Ethnicity of International Political Studies Association and a Convenor of the PSA UK Standing Group Ethnopolitics. I also convene the UK Baltic Study Group, sponsored by the British Association for Slavonic and East European Studies (BASEES). I was the co-founder (with Matthew Kott, Uppsala) of the collaborative research network “Romanis in Europe: Probing the Limits of Integration”, sponsored by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES).

I am a member of University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES), International Political Science Association (IPSA), and Political Studies Association (PSA).  I regularly review papers for Journal of Baltic Studies, Ethnicities, Regional and Federal Studies, Journal of Common Market Studies, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, European Security, Journal of Social Science Education, Journal on Ethnic and Minority Issues in Europe and Journal of Contemporary European Research among others.

Books

• Minority Rights and Minority Protection in Europe (Rowman & Littlefield 2016) with Karl Cordell, ISBN: 9781783481903
• A Cat’s Lick. Democratisation and Minority Communities in the post-Soviet Baltic (Rodopi 2010). ISBN: 9789042029897

Edited books/ journal special issues & symposia

• 'How power-sharing includes and excludes non-dominant communities', International Political Science Review 2020 (1). Guest editor with Allison McCulloch.
• 'Contemporary Challenges of the State-Society Compact in Central Eastern Europe', East European Politics 2020 (3) Guest editor.
• ‘Others in Deeply Divided Societies’, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 2018 (3), Guest editor with Allison McCulloch & Cera Murtagh
• A European Crisis: Perspectives on Refugees, Solidarity, and Europe (Ibidem 2018) with Nevena Nancheva
• ‘Europeanization of the Western Balkan States: Transformative power of Europe no more?’ Südosteuropa 2017, 65 (1) Guest editor
• ‘Citizen Participation in Post-Communist Region after the EU Enlargement,’ Journal of Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2016, 49 (3) Guest editor.
• Extraterritorial Citizenship in Postcommunist Europe (Rowman & Littlefield 2015) with Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski (eds). ISBN: 9781783483648
• Trajectories of Minority Rights Issues in Europe The Implementation Trap? (Routledge 2015) with Malte Brosig (eds), ISBN: 9781138793941, originally appeared as a Special Issue ‘The Implementation Trap? Trajectories of Minority Rights Issues in Europe,’ Perspectives on European Politics and Society 2012, 13 (4).
• When stereotype meets prejudice: Antiziganism in European Societies (Stuttgart: Ibidem 2014) (ed.).ISBN: 9783838205885
• ‘Political and Social Mobilisation: Squaring the Circle of Roma Inclusion,’ Ethnicities, 2014, 14 (6). Guest editor with Annabel Tremlett and Aidan McGarry.
• ‘Citizenship and civic education in postcommunist countries,’ Journal of Social Science Education, 2013 (4), Guest editor with Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski.
• Institutional Legacies of Communism: Change and Continuities in Minority Protection (London: Routledge, 2013) with Karl Cordell and Alexander Osipov (eds). ISBN: 9780415638739
• Minority Integration in Central Eastern Europe: Between Ethnic Diversity and Equality (Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2009) with Malte Brosig (eds). ISBN: 9789042027336

Refereed Journal Articles

• 'The (not so) Surprising Longevity of Identity Politics', 'Contemporary Challenges of the State-Society Compact in Central Eastern Europe', East European Politics 2020 (3)
• 'The Limits of Inclusion: Representation of Minority and Non-Dominant Communities in Consociational and Liberal Democracies', International Political Science Review 2020 (1). https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512119881801
• 'How power-sharing includes and excludes non-dominant communities: Introduction to the special issue International Political Science Review 2020 (1) with Allison McCulloch.
• 'Descriptive Representation and  Political Participation: Exploring Croatia’s Non-Dominant  Groups Electoral Turnout' ANALI HRVATSKOG POLITOLOŠKOG DRUŠTVA 2019 with Petr Čermák https://www.fpzg.unizg.hr/_download/repository/Anali_HPD_2019.pdf
• ‘Others in Deeply Divided Societies: A Research Agenda’. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 2018, 24 (3): 299–310 with Allison McCulloch and Cera Murtagh. https://doi.org/10.1080/13537113.2018.1489488.
• “Nation-States into Nationalising States: The Impact of Transformation on Minority Participation in the Baltic States” Intersections 2017, 3 (4) 41-65 doi.org/10.17356/ieejsp.v3i4.393
• ‘Postsovetskoe pokhmel’e: zashchita pliuralizma identichnostei v stranakh Baltii’ [in Russian: Post-Soviet Hangover: Defense of Pluralism of Identities in the Baltic Countries] with Ivan Kozachenko, Etnograficheskoe obozrenie, 2017, 2
• Introduction to the Special Issue: Changes in the Narratives of Europeanization: Reviewing the Impact of the Union before the Crisis’ Südosteuropa 2017, 65 (1), 1-9
•  ‘European style electoral politics in ethnically divided society: The case of Kosovo’ with Laura Wise, Südosteuropa 2017, 65 (1), 100-124
• ‘Talk the talk, or walk the walk? Changing narratives in Europeanisation research’ with Gözde Yilmaz, Südosteuropa 2017, 65 (1), 150-169
• ‘Expecting too much: European Union’s Minority Protection Hide-And-Seek’, with Dimitry Kochenov Antidiscrimination Review 1, 2017
• ‘Extending the Concept of Ethnocracy: Exploring the Debate in the Baltic Context’, Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2016, 8 (3), pp. 81-99
• ‘Introduction to the special issue: Citizens' participation in post-communist Europe,’ Journal of Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2016, 49 (3), pp. 201-206
• ‘Chasing the green buck? Environmental activism in post-communist Baltic States,’ with Miķelis Grīviņš Journal of Communist and Post-Communist Studies’ 2016, 49 (3), pp. 243-254 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2016.06.001
• ‘Unpacking the Roma Participation Puzzle: Presence, Voice and Influence’, with Aidan McGarry Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2014, 40 (12) pp.1972-1990.
• ‘The Work of Sisyphus: Squaring the Circle of Roma Recognition’ with Annabel Tremlett and Aidan McGarry. Introduction to special issue of Ethnicities, 2014, 14 (6), pp.727-736.
• ‘Travelling without moving? Limits of European governance for Romani inclusion’, Ethnicities, 2014, 14 (6), pp.737-755.
• ‘Angels with dirty faces? European identity, politics of representation and recognition of Romani interests’ Review essay, Ethnicities, 2014, 14 (6), pp.849-860.
• ‘Flawed Premises and Unexpected Consequences: Support of Regional Languages in Europe.’ Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 2014, 20 (3), pp.349-369.
• ‘Citizenship and civic education in postcommunist countries’ Special issue guest editor with Ireneusz Pawel Karolewski, Journal of Social Science Education, 2013 (4), pp.2-5.
• ‘Resident aliens? Explaining Minority Disaffection with Democratic Politics in the Baltic States’, Ethnopolitics 2013, 12 (4), pp.331-351.
• ‘The Implementation Trap? Trajectories of Minority Rights Issues in Europe.’ with Malte Brosig introduction to special Issue of Perspectives on European Politics and Society 2012, 13 (4), pp. 385-389.
• ‘Which Is the Only Game in Town? Minority Rights Issues in Estonia and Slovakia During and After EU Accession’ with Ada-Charlotte Regelmann. Perspectives on European Politics and Society 2012, 13 (4), pp. 443-461.
• ‘The End of Minority Languages? Europe’s Regional Languages in Perspective,’ with Michael Hornsby Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe 2012, 11 (1), pp. 88-116.
• ‘Civil Society versus Nationalizing State? Advocacy of Minority Rights in the post-socialist Baltic States.’ Nationalities Papers 2011, 39 (2), pp. 181-203.
• ‘Status Quo Multiculturalism: The Crux of Minority Policies in Central Eastern Europe’s EU Member-states,’ with Ada-Charlotte Regelmann, Journal of Minority Studies 2011 (5), pp. 69-98.
• ‘Redessiner la frontière: des politiques ethniques cohérentes ou une décentralisation sélective en Estonie, Lituanie et Slovaquie,’ with Ada-Charlotte Regelmann, Informations et commentaires : Le développement en questions 155, avril-juin 2011, pp. 53-60.
• ‘Where Have All the Environmentalists Gone? Baltic Greens in the mid-1990s,’ Journal of Baltic Studies, 2009 (3), pp. 285-305.

Selected Chapters in Edited Volumes

• ‘A European Crisis: Perspectives on Refugees, Europe, and Solidarity’ with Nevena Nancheva in Agarin & Nancheva (eds), A European Crisis: Perspectives on Refugees, Solidarity, and Europe (Ibidem 2018) pp. 3-23
• ‘From Identity to Morality Politics: Croatia’s Nation-State-Building During the Crisis’ with Anja Pećnik in Agarin & Nancheva (eds), A European Crisis: Perspectives on Refugees, Solidarity, and Europe (Ibidem 2018) pp.203-236
• ‘Mothering the modern Mongolians’ with Liga Rudzite in Abel Polese et al (eds) The national in everyday life. Identity and nation­building in post­socialist spaces, Palgrave 2017.
• ‘The Root Cause of Romani Exclusion and the European National Roma Integration Strategies’ In T Agarin (ed.) When stereotype meets prejudice: Antiziganism in European Societies. Stuttgart: Ibidem 2014, pp. 223-247.
• ‘The Dead Weight of the Past? Institutional Change, Policy Dynamics and the Communist Legacy in Minority Protection’. In Karl Cordell, Timofey Agarin, and Alexander Osipov (eds) Institutional Legacies of Communism: Change and Continuities in Minority Protection. London: Routledge 2013, pp. 114-130.
• ‘Identifying the Nature of Legacy: Establishing the Context’ with Karl Cordell. In Karl Cordell, Timofey Agarin, and Alexander Osipov (eds) Institutional Legacies of Communism: Change and Continuities in Minority Protection. London: Routledge 2013, pp. 1-13.
• ‘Conclusion’. with Karl Cordell. In Karl Cordell, Timofey Agarin, and Alexander Osipov (eds) Institutional Legacies of Communism: Change and Continuities in Minority Protection. London: Routledge 2013, pp. 232-239.
• ‘From one union into another: Western scholars on ethnopolitics of Baltic states before 2004,’ in Poleshchuk, V. and Stepanov, V. (eds), Ethnic politics in the Baltic States (in Russian: Ètnopolitika v stranakh Baltii) (Moskva: Nauka, 2013) , pp.258-293.
• ‘Language Sectarianism: Europe’s regional languages and their revival.’ with Michael Hornsby in László Marácz and Mireille Rosello (eds.) Multilingual Europe and Multicultural Europeans(Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2012), pp. 159-187.
• ‘Climate change and Tourism in the Eastern Baltic Sea Region,’ with Jens Jetzkowitz and Andreas Matzarakis in Christian Schott (ed.) Tourism and the Implications of Climate Change: Issues and Actors (Bingley, Emerald, 2010) , pp.261-281.
• ‘Caught in the Middle: Regional Languages Between the National Past and a European Future,’ with Michael Hornsby in Jolan Roka (ed.) Concepts and Consequences of Multilingualism in Europe (Budapest, Budapest College of Communication and Business, 2010) , pp.160-186.
• ‘Where Have All the Environmentalists Gone? Baltic Greens in the mid-1990s,’ in David J. Galbreath (ed.) Contemporary Environmentalism in the Baltic States (Routledge, 2010)
• ‘Cooptation as Integration? National Programme “Integration of Society in Latvia” on Minority Participation’, in Timofey Agarin and Malte Brosig (eds.) Minority Integration in Central Eastern Europe: Between Ethnic Diversity and Equality (Amsterdam, 2009), pp.199-223.