The interdisciplinary Human Rights Colloquium of the FAU Research Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU CHREN) brings together scholars from a range of disciplines to discuss pressing issues in human rights research. The summer term 2025 opened with insights from Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia’s research on migration policy in Brazil.
Event recap
The first Human Rights Colloquium of the semester took place on 21 May at Schillerstraße in Erlangen. Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia, postdoctoral researcher at FAU CHREN, opened the series with her lecture: “Migration at the Intersection of Politics and Law: An Empirical Analysis of Brazil from 1889 to 2023.”
Her talk focused on whether Brazil’s shifting migration policies reveal a correlation between autocratic lawmaking and illiberal attitudes toward migration. Drawing on empirical data and nuanced analysis, Dr. Garcia Maia highlighted how persistent social bias and racist attitudes are instrumentalized by populist political actors.
Context: Migration and Political Transformation in Brazil
From the proclamation of the Republic in 1889 to 2023, Brazil underwent intense political and social transformations. The country went through de facto oligarchical rule, two dictatorships, and, more recently, the establishment of a democracy still undergoing consolidation. This study analyses whether these shifts were accompanied by significant changes in the State’s migration policies and in the tools used for their implementation. In doing so, it identifies persistent tensions between democratic aspirations and authoritarian legacies.
About Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia
Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia. Kolloquium, 21.05.25 (Bild: Eva Pils).
Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia is a postdoctoral researcher at the FAU Research Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg. She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Münster and the Federal University of Minas Gerais and an MPhil in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Oslo. She was a visiting professional at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court.
About the FAU CHREN Human Rights Colloquium
The series provides a space for scholarly exchange on current human rights issues and is held in Erlangen.
The interdisciplinary Human Rights Colloquium of the FAU Research Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU CHREN) brings together scholars from a range of disciplines to discuss pressing issues in human rights research. The summer term 2025 opened with insights from Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia’s research on migration policy in Brazil.
Event recap
The first Human Rights Colloquium of the semester took place on 21 May at Schillerstraße in Erlangen. Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia, postdoctoral researcher at FAU CHREN, opened the series with her lecture: “Migration at the Intersection of Politics and Law: An Empirical Analysis of Brazil from 1889 to 2023.”
Her talk focused on whether Brazil’s shifting migration policies reveal a correlation between autocratic lawmaking and illiberal attitudes toward migration. Drawing on empirical data and nuanced analysis, Dr. Garcia Maia highlighted how persistent social bias and racist attitudes are instrumentalized by populist political actors.
Context: Migration and Political Transformation in Brazil
From the proclamation of the Republic in 1889 to 2023, Brazil underwent intense political and social transformations. The country went through de facto oligarchical rule, two dictatorships, and, more recently, the establishment of a democracy still undergoing consolidation. This study analyses whether these shifts were accompanied by significant changes in the State’s migration policies and in the tools used for their implementation. In doing so, it identifies persistent tensions between democratic aspirations and authoritarian legacies.
About Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia
Dr. Tainá Garcia Maia is a postdoctoral researcher at the FAU Research Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg. She holds a PhD in Law from the University of Münster and the Federal University of Minas Gerais and an MPhil in the Theory and Practice of Human Rights from the University of Oslo. She was a visiting professional at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court.
About the FAU CHREN Human Rights Colloquium
The series provides a space for scholarly exchange on current human rights issues and is held in Erlangen.
The colloquium is chaired by FAU CHREN board members Prof. Dr. Eva Pils and Dr. Janina Heaphy.