Us and Others - Alterity, Public Policies and La

Anabela Costa Leão, Jorge Garcia Ibáñez, Luísa Neto

Keywords

Identity, alterity; diversity; discrimination.

Abstract

Proceedings of the Seminar Us and the Others - Alterity, Public Policies and Law, which took place on April 5, 2019 at the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto, organised by the project Vulnerability and diversity: fundamental rights in context of Law, Person and Power CIJ Research Line.

INTRODUCTION
The Seminar Us and Others - Alterity, Public Policies and Law took place last April 5, 2019, at the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto, a meeting organized by the project Vulnerability and diversity: fundamental rights in context of Law, Person and Power CIJ Research Line. It took place within the scope of the aforementioned project, financed by FCT (Project FCT UID 443_CIJ). In summary, the project aims to reflect on fundamental rights in a context of diversity. Starting from a pluralist understanding of Constitutional Law that will help to strengthen an inclusive society, today's protection of fundamental rights faces challenges arising from tensions between unity and diversity and from the demands for increased protection in the case of multiple and often crossed vulnerabilities. In fact, these tensions (in terms of prediction and enforcement, e.g. judicial) reveal themselves not only within the socially and culturally diversified State, but also beyond its borders, given the complex network of internormativity and the reality of multilevel Law production. It is a question of discussing and analysing the specific problems of vulnerable groups that demand the specific consideration of the principle of equality and the consideration of a - possibly generic - duty of care of the State, pointing out three basic assumptions of the reflection:

• Consideration of the protection of vulnerability and duty of “care” as State tasks;
• Discussion of the relationship between vulnerability and stereotype, with regard to the prediction and enforcement of State rules;
• Relevance of discrimination, namely multiple/intersectional.

The Project is developed in 3 specific axes, that are connected:

1. Axis 1 - Autonomy and empowerment: disability and the elderly, within the scope of which a Seminar was held in April 2018;
2. Axis 2 - minorities, migrants and refugees;
3. Axis 3 - identity and gender. 

The April 5 Seminar aims to present and discuss research results within the scope of axis 2, with the collaboration of NEDH - Nucleus for Human Rights Education, University of Minho.

Taking advantage of the current context, the structure in question was addressed, as well as the perspective of supported practice, and in particular:

• Alterity: who are the Others? Identity and alterity, vulnerability and equality, religious and cultural diversity, vulnerability and stereotyping in border control activities;
• Public policies: how to include Others? Regulation as a form of emancipation; the role of jurisprudential discussion in framing acts of violence against women in the context of the Istanbul Convention; “Escolhas” programme; multiple discrimination in transactional business contexts: public policies on female labor migration;
• Right(s): How to protect Others? Protection of the migrant victim; migration and migrant rights; the best interest of the migrant child and the parameterization of State management of immigration; the susceptibility of using metadata for border control; brief reflections on the collection and processing of data regarding ethnic and racial origin.

The Seminar gave another perspective to the previously established discussion network between academics with various affiliations (Portuguese and foreign), bringing together fifteen researchers from the High Commission for Migration, Centre of Philosophy of the University of Lisbon, Commission for Citizenship and for Gender Equality, School of Criminology of the Faculty of Law of the University of Porto, School of Law of the University of Minho, Faculty of Law of the University of Porto, Nova School of Law, Treatment Action Group, Judiciary of the Public Ministry, Nucleus for Human Rights Education of the University of Minho, Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality, Support Unit for Migrant and Discrimination Victims of the Portuguese Association for Victim Support, University of Buenos Aires and University of Vigo. This publication is the first step for this path, gathering the doctrinal works that aim to allow the dissemination of this knowledge.