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This article investigates the responses of intersectional activists to the political opportunity spaces made for them by international organisations at the European transnational level. To do so, it uses Romani women's activism and the Council of Europe as case studies, and develops a heuristic tool – the (Un)Safeness Response Line – that builds on five categories of analysis: compliance, compromise, contestation from within, opposition and denial. Mostly based on semi-structured and unstructured expert interviews conducted in 2016 and 2017, this study observes that Romnja activists have been mostly compliant with the political agendas of international organisations. Yet, they have not always perceived the opportunity spaces created for them as safe spaces. This has manifested in negotiating safeness and accepting compromises, as well as in strong opposition. This article shows that opportunity spaces for intersectional activisms are not enough, and that the quality of such spaces matters. Thus, it fosters a more critical approach to the study of contemporary social movements.

Inspired by existing literature on the Europeanization of social movements, this study asks whether, and to what extent, the political opportunity structures (POS) for collective action created by the European Union contribute to intersectional mobilization. In particular, it investigates whether the EU integration process determines (political) advantages for domestic (intersectional) political actors, or rather facilitates their marginalization from mainstream political agendas. Do emerging forms of activism at intersections have access to a broader or a more limited range of EU-driven opportunities? To answer this question, this work uses Romani women's activism in Romania as a case-study. Specifically, it identifies a set of EU-driven POS for Romani women advocates and uses (political) intersectionality as an innovative analytical tool to explore them. Empirical analysis employs data collected through semi-structured interviews with Romanian institutional and non-institutional political actors carried out in 2015. Findings show that although the EU contributes to produce an intersectional political advantage for Romani women activists (e.g. by facilitating their access to the resources available under different policy regimes), it nonetheless hinders the development of their intersectional political agenda by fostering single-strand policies and discouraging grassroots political action.

While Belgium is viewed as one of the most LGBTQ-friendly countries in Europe, its asylum system operates on problematic assumptions, compelling forced queer migrants to be out in a particular way and rejecting those who do not conform. By applying a qualitative case-study and intersectionality-informed methodology, this study investigates the key factors that influence queer asylum seekers and refugees' decision to come out (or not), and how they negotiate the closet within an environment that is often experienced as hostile. In doing so, this article shows that to both stay safe and receive protection, queer asylum seekers in reception centers in Belgium have to navigate a complex context where they need to constantly balance between their hypervisibility at the very individual level – as 'queer' – and their invisibility at the more structural level – within the asylum system itself.

"Migration, Equality and Racism trigger ever more salient societal debates. More than 80 VUB academics and co-authors joined forces for this book. Philosophers, lawyers, psychologists, health scientists, sociologists, geographers, criminologists, communication and political scientists … look at migration, equality and racism from different disciplinary angles.

Together they aim to contribute to an exercise of humanism as a praxis of criticism or a 'technique of trouble-making', in the words of Edward Said. Through 44 thought-provoking and informed opinion pieces, they question widespread beliefs on migration, equality and racism and propose solutions that might disturb.

Let this book be a source of inspiration for those who want to spark an informed debate on the ever more salient issues of migration, equality and racism, for those who want to learn more on how and why humanism has often remained an empty box for migrants and racialized groups. Or for those who are in search of inspiration for a just future for all.

Migration, Equality and Racism is the work of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) think tank POINcaré and was created under the direction of Ilke Adam, Tundé Adefioye, Serena D'Agostino, Nick Schuermans and Florian Trauner."

"Migration, Equality and Racism trigger ever more salient societal debates. More than 80 VUB academics and co-authors joined forces for this book. Philosophers, lawyers, psychologists, health scientists, sociologists, geographers, criminologists, communication and political scientists … look at migration, equality and racism from different disciplinary angles.

Together they aim to contribute to an exercise of humanism as a praxis of criticism or a 'technique of trouble-making', in the words of Edward Said. Through 44 thought-provoking and informed opinion pieces, they question widespread beliefs on migration, equality and racism and propose solutions that might disturb.

Let this book be a source of inspiration for those who want to spark an informed debate on the ever more salient issues of migration, equality and racism, for those who want to learn more on how and why humanism has often remained an empty box for migrants and racialized groups. Or for those who are in search of inspiration for a just future for all.

Migration, Equality and Racism is the work of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) think tank POINcaré and was created under the direction of Ilke Adam, Tundé Adefioye, Serena D'Agostino, Nick Schuermans and Florian Trauner."