DEMOS AAU

⚡ Who gets to shape the energy transition?

The transition to sustainable energy is not only a technological challenge—it is also a social and democratic one. Research increasingly highlights the importance of involving citizens and communities in decisions that affect their everyday lives.

This infographic series explores why citizen participation matters, how it can improve legitimacy and decision-making, and what makes participation meaningful in practice.

The content draws inspiration from the Workshop on Participatory Processes in Energy Transition hosted by Aalborg University in May 2026, hosted by Antje Gimmler, which brought together researchers from philosophy, sociology, communication, and energy engineering to discuss citizen participation, energy communities, and deliberative processes in the green transition.

Sources and inspiration:

• Workshop on Participatory Processes in Energy Transition, Aalborg University (2026)
• Dr. Martin Kowarsch (Civilog; Aalborg University)
• European Commission – Clean Energy for All Europeans
• International Energy Agency (IEA)
• UNECE – Public Participation in Environmental Decision-Making

Yesterday we had the pleasure of hosting Linus and Marcos (13 years old), two interns from the 7th grade at Mellervangskolen. They got insight into the working life as a researcher, and as part of their tasks they interviewed members of DEMOS to learn more about the research group. Here are their impressions 🧐😎

"DEMOS is a very interesting group where everyone in it feels welcome and comfortable. They are all very passionate about what they do and the group is socially unmatched with everyone having a good experience at their work place. They all enjoy each other's presence, often sharing memes and jokes amongst each other. They often have meetings to discuss their work and to connect their work amongst each other to be able to connect their problems and help each other solve the struggles they might have with their individual projects as well as their projects as a group. They can have a good time while working and all have great individual qualities and work perfectly together as a group. It seems like they are all comfortable and welcoming with each other. They are all a kind and friendly group and they received us with open arms and answered our questions."

🌍 Global displacement has reached record levels.

Behind every statistic is a person, a family, and a story.

Conflict, climate disasters, persecution, and instability continue to force millions of people from their homes. Displacement is not only a humanitarian challenge—it affects education, healthcare, livelihoods, and long-term social stability.

📊 Key facts:
• 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2024.
• Most refugees remain in countries neighbouring their country of origin.
• 48.8 million children were displaced globally in 2024.
• Displacement levels have reached historic highs.

Understanding displacement means understanding the human realities behind global trends.

Sources:
• UNHCR – Global Trends Report 2025
• IOM – World Migration Report 2024
• UNICEF – Child Displacement Data (2024)
• IDMC – Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025

A seminar on Migration, Labour and Belonging was held last week, organized by Tomislav Pušić, Ferhat Demirag, and Mashudu Salifu as part of the DEMOS research group.

The seminar brought together several distinguished PhD candidates and Postdoctoral researchers.

Carola Vasileiadi (PhD Candidate, Erasmus University Rotterdam) presented her fieldwork in Thessaloniki, focusing on solidarity practices toward people on the move within deteriorating infrastructures.

Hannah Kay (PhD Candidate, Erasmus University Rotterdam) discussed her fieldwork in Trieste, examining intersecting patterns of mobility and immobility by tracing four distinct narratives emerging from urban life.

Carola and Hannah are undertaking a two-week research stay at Aalborg University within the DEMOS research group, where they will further discuss their ongoing projects. Further details about their project can be found at https://urbimm.eu/

Konstantinos Floros (Postdoctoral Researcher, AAU) presented his project on Autonomous Cartographies of Migrant Platform Work in Denmark, highlighting the use of counter-mapping to explore how migrant cleaners collectively document their spatial and social realities in Copenhagen.

Ferhat Demirağ (PhD Student, AAU) presented a thematic literature review addressing forced migration and the fragmentation of belonging in Scandinavia.

Franz Bernhardt (Dr) (Research Assistant, AAU) discussed his research on legal activism as a preventive strategy, with a focus on housing activism and litigation challenging the Danish Ghetto Law.

Gülnur Demirci (PhD Student, Malmö University) addressed the methodological challenges of conducting research in authoritarian contexts, discussing how she navigates boundaries, risks, and ethical dilemmas in her project on the transnational construction of Circassian cultural memory across Turkey, Russia, and Germany.

Professors Martin Bak Jørgensen and Óscar García Agustín offered critical perspectives on migration through the lens of Gramsci and social theory, examining hegemony, solidarity, and the potential for counter-hegemonic movements across borders.

Tomislav Pušić (PhD Fellow, AAU) presented research on the opacity of migration infrastructure along the Balkan route, analysing how smuggling networks, migrants, humanitarian actors, and states produce opacity as an infrastructural tactic to navigate and circumvent surveillance.

Mashudu Salifu (PhD Fellow, AAU) presented a patchwork ethnography on the formation of migration corridors from the ground up, drawing on fieldwork in the Canary Islands to examine how migrants repurpose infrastructures of endurance to sustain movement along the Western Atlantic route.

The two-day seminar concluded with a workshop on fieldwork ethics and methodology, followed by a collective discussion among participants.

🎙️ May the 4th be with you!

Today we’re celebrating Star Wars Day, the fan-created holiday built on the iconic phrase “May the Force be with you” — but also asking what this galaxy far, far away tells us about power much closer to home.

In our latest episode of POP-POL, host Frida Selim Williams is joined by Óscar García Agustín and Martin Bak Jørgensen to unpack Star Wars — from the fall of the Republic to the rise of the Empire, and the everyday realities of resistance in series like Andor.

We talk about authoritarian drift, rebellion, and why staying out of politics is rarely an option — because as the episode title suggests:
if you don’t do politics, politics will do you.

So whether you’re rewatching the originals, diving into Andor, or just here for the memes — today’s a reminder that even in fiction, power, fear, and resistance are never just fantasy.

🎧 Listen now: https://open.spotify.com/episode/30CnWLWXVsUdWL3a4oPbXt?si=f6eefccaa94e4055

POP-POL — where pop culture meets politics, no jargon needed.

‼ Democracy is under pressure worldwide. ‼

Understanding the signs is the first step to protecting it.

Sources:

Freedom House — Freedom in the World 2025

V-Dem Institute — Democracy Report 2024

Reporters Without Borders — World Press Freedom Index 2025

World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators

Transparency International — Corruption Perceptions Index 2024

OECD — Trust in Government (2025)

What can international policy spaces tell us about the current state of gender equality?

At the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, DEMOS student assistant Frida Selim Williams represented the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), engaging in global discussions on rights, representation, and inequality.

In a new article, she reflects on her experience at CSW70 — highlighting key themes such as shifting global dynamics, uneven representation, and the challenges of translating commitments into practice. The piece also raises critical questions about whose voices are present in these spaces, and whose remain underrepresented.

From a DEMOS perspective, the article underscores the importance of connecting academic research with real-world policy processes, and the continued relevance of studying democracy, inequality, and social justice in a global context.

🔗 Read the full article here

DEMOS Student Assistant at CSW70: Reflections from the United Nations At the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, DEMOS student assistant Frida Selim Williams represented the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), contributing to ongoing global discussions on gender equality, rights, ...

🎙️ New episode alert!

What if belonging came with a cost?

We’re back with another episode of POP-POL — where pop culture meets real politics.

This time, host Frida Selim Williams is joined by Óscar García Agustín and Martin Bak Jørgensen to unpack Sinners — the genre-bending film that blends horror and music to explore identity, culture, and power.

We talk about assimilation and what it means to “fit in,” the role of the blues as cultural memory and resistance, and how visibility can quickly turn into erasure. We also dive into who gets labeled a “sinner,” and how race, gender, and power shape those judgments.

From seductive promises of unity to the loss of identity, Sinners asks a simple but uncomfortable question: what do you have to give up to belong?

🎧 Listen now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Nipw0I4ERqxprKDMIclwj?si=4Sn-oWllR0egfC8-eVDL-Q

POP-POL — where pop culture meets politics, no jargon needed.