Our societies are not merely diverse: they are characterized by superdiversity (Vertovec, 2007) — shaped by multiple migrations, intersecting languages, converging or opposing cultures, visible beliefs, and overlapping social trajectories. Within this shifting landscape, the school holds a unique place. Beyond transmitting knowledge, it has become a stage where social tensions around inequality, justice, and recognition are played out (Fraser & Ferrarese, 2011; Taylor & Gutmann, 1994).
The school is thus a site of tension, conflict, and debate (school segregation based on origin and/or residential area, controversies around neutrality/laïcité or multilingualism, institutional resistance to critical approaches, etc.), but also a place for “bottom-up” innovations that struggle to gain visibility.
Since the 1990s, under the impetus of UNESCO (1994, 2005, 2023), the notion of inclusive education has become central. Its purpose is no longer limited to integrating students with so-called “special needs.” It now aims to recognize and welcome the plurality of diversities — cultural, linguistic, religious, gendered, and social (Banks & Banks, 2019). Yet this promise remains fragile.
On the one hand, otherness implies acknowledging the Other as a dignified subject, bearer of history and legitimacy (Levinas, 1971; Ahmed, 2012). On the other hand, othering reduces this Other to a fixed, often stigmatized difference (Slee, 2011; Knight et al., 2022). The gap between the proclaimed ideal of inclusion and the persistence of exclusionary practices endures. This is evident in the difficulty of implementing genuinely intersectional programs and policies that simultaneously and coherently address inequalities related to gender, class, race, or disability.
Meeting these challenges requires an interdisciplinary approach — not a mere juxtaposition of disciplines, but a productive friction between perspectives that sheds new light.
Sociology reminds us of the persistence of reproductive mechanisms (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1970; Dubet, 2010). Anthropology reveals the enduring colonial imprint that shapes pedagogical interactions (Erickson, 1987; Merry, 2014). Educational sciences question so-called inclusive praxeologies, full of promise but also resistance (Florian & Pantić, 2017). Social psychology exposes the invisible wounds of stigma and identity threat (Tajfel & Turner, 2004). Philosophy and political science pose a crucial question: what is recognition worth if it ignores the power relations that shape it? (Levinas, 1971; Fraser & Ferrarese, 2011). Linguistics highlights a daily paradox: schools still valorize monolingualism while society thrives on multilingualism (Cummins, 2001; García & Wei, 2014). Finally, information and communication sciences remind us that inclusion also plays out in public discourses and digital practices that increasingly shape educational life (Williamson, Eynon & Potter, 2020).
This conference takes place within a European context where the fight against racism and discrimination has become a political priority (European Commission, 2025). It is part of the Inclusive Diversity in European Education Systems (IDEES) project, conducted by a consortium of universities (Lorraine, Brussels, León, Calabria). It also broadens the perspective: African and American experiences enrich the debate, challenge assumptions, and invite a comparative and postcolonial reflection on inclusive education.
The organizing committee invites (young) researchers to submit proposals within the thematic areas outlined below and warmly encourages practitioners (educational teams, teachers, social workers, students, etc.) to present their experiences or projects related to innovative or transformative practices.
Axis 1: Othering, Inequalities and Educational Policies
This axis explores the social and institutional mechanisms that continue to produce exclusion. Far from being neutral, schools reproduce social, ethnic, religious, and gender inequalities (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1970; Gillborn, 2023). The objective is to analyze how certain public policies, while claiming to be inclusive, paradoxically perpetuate stigmatization or segregation (Dubet, 2004; Slee, 2011).
Axis 2: Curricula and the Recognition of Cultural and Linguistic Identities
Historically designed as an instrument of national unity, the school curriculum often remains centered on a dominant culture (Apple, 2004). This axis investigates the conditions for epistemic justice: multicultural openness, plurilingual approaches (Cummins, 2001; García & Wei, 2014), and decolonial perspectives (Mignolo, 2011).
Axis 3: Teacher Training and Professional Development
Teacher education is crucial in addressing diversity. This axis examines initial and continuing training programs that promote inclusive practices. Culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogies (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Gaynor & Akay, 2020) provide pathways to articulate academic success, identity recognition, and critical awareness.
Axis 4: Learners’ Experiences and Resistances
Students are not passive: they negotiate, contest, and transform school norms. This axis highlights their linguistic, cultural, and community practices (Valenzuela, 1999; García & Kleyn, 2016) and explores the forms of resistance and empowerment that reshape educational otherness.
Axis 5: Digital and Sociotechnical Environments
Digital environments extend and reconfigure educational relationships. Between cyberbullying (Blaya, 2019) and spaces of solidarity (boyd, 2014), they can be sites of both exclusion and resistance. This axis also considers critical and decolonial approaches (Freire, 1970; hooks, 1994) that frame digital education as a practice of freedom.
Axis 6: Comparative and Postcolonial Perspectives
This final axis broadens the debate beyond Europe: African, American, and Latin American experiences challenge assumptions, question colonial legacies, and offer situated educational alternatives (López & Küper, 2000; Merry, 2014). The aim is to foster genuinely comparative and transnational reflection.
Proposals (title, 300-word abstract, 5 keywords, and indicative bibliography) should be sent by November 30, 2025 to:
Malika Hamidi – malika.hamidi@ulb.be
Corinne Torrekens – corinne.torrekens@ulb.be
Mohamed Sakho Jimbira – mouhamedsakho@yahoo.fr
Piero Galloro – piero.galloro@univ-lorraine.fr
Proposals should specify the objectives, research question, methodology, institutional affiliation, and full contact details of the author(s).
Accepted contributions may take various forms: individual papers, thematic panels, experience reports, or presentations of tools (toolkits, hybrid training, exhibitions, etc.).
Organizing Committee
Malika Hamidi, Postdoctoral Researcher, Université libre de Bruxelles
Corinne Torrekens, Professor of Political Science, Université libre de Bruxelles
Piero Galloro, Professor of Sociology, Université de Lorraine
Mohamed Sakho Jimbira, Associate Professor in Information and Communication Sciences, Université Catholique de l’Ouest
Norman Ajari (Lecturer in Francophone Black Studies, University of Edinburgh)
Roberto Álvarez (Full Professor, Department of General, Specific Didactics and Theory of Education; former Vice-Rector for Internationalization, University of León)
Géraldine André (Professor of Educational Sciences, UCLouvain)
Marie Mc Andrew (Professor Emerita of Educational Sciences, University of Montreal)
Mame-Penda Ba (Professor of Political Science, Université Gaston Berger)
Alessandro Bergamaschi (Professor of Sociology, University of Lorraine)
Sandra Cadiou (Associate Professor of Educational Sciences, Université Catholique de l’Ouest)
Jean-François Côté (Professor of Sociology, Université du Québec à Montréal)
Ana Elia (Professor of Sociology, University of Calabria)
Bernard Delvaux (Senior Researcher, F.R.S.–FNRS, UCLouvain)
Piero Galloro (Professor of Sociology, University of Lorraine)
Estefanía Gómez Muñoz (Professor of Sociology, University of León)
Walter Greco (Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Calabria)
Géraldine Suau (Associate Professor HDR, Educational Sciences and Training, University of Lorraine)
Jean-Michel Perez (Full Professor, Educational Sciences and Training, University of Lorraine)
Mohamed Sakho Jimbira (Associate Professor, Information and Communication Sciences, Université Catholique de l’Ouest)
Corinne Torrekens (Professor of Political Science, Université libre de Bruxelles)