Arrival

Helfried Carl in conversation with Vedran Džihić

Arrival

Will we be there soon?
From refugee to recognised scientist: Vedran Džihić has arrived. But what does it take to make a new start? When do we really feel like we belong to a society?

January 1993, Traiskirchen near Vienna: Vedran Džihić arrives here on his flight from the Bosnian war. He feels safe in Austria, but also experiences indifference and discrimination. Parallel to his remarkable rise in education, populism and nationalism are spreading in Europe. Refugees and migrants are increasingly being stylised as a threat.
Vedran Džihić vividly describes his personal arrival and warns against the rampant politics of fear and marginalisation. How does our society deal with „others“? What does it take for everyone to feel at home?

Verdran Džihić was born in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1976. He completed his doctorate in political science at the University of Vienna in 2009. Today, he is a senior researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Politics (oiip) and teaches at the University of Vienna. Džihić is the initiator of numerous political and civil society initiatives in Austria and Southeast Europe. He is one of the most sought-after Balkan experts in the German-speaking world, commenting in international and national media and regularly publishing essays.

Helfried Carl, Diplomat, since 2019 partner of the company he co-founded Innovation in Politics Institute in Vienna and founder of the initiative European Capital of Democracy. From 2014-2019 he was Austria's ambassador to the Slovak Republic, before that, from 2008-2014, he was head of office and foreign policy advisor to National Council President Barbara Prammer.

Vedran Džihić:
Arrive
Kremayr & Scheriau, September 2024, ISBN: 978-3-218-01442-7; €20.00 incl. VAT.