Research

ABOUT: This is a qualitative research project, whose theoretical framework is based on Multicultural Feminism and Critical Race Theory. This innovative perspective is applied to the empirical analyses conducted by the research team: a socio-demographic study, a sociological analysis of supremacist ideologies, and a discourse analysis of specific social media. Also, given its applied character, this project has reached a solid compilation of concrete proposals and policy recommendations for the regional government of Aragón, which is working towards a more efficient management of multi-origin diversity in the region.

Our research digs into collective processes such as the emergence and consolidation of systemic discrimination. Those discriminatory processes are normalized, and without generating controversies, they naturalize a series of discourses and practices of exclusion, segregation, contempt, and even abuse, from a given “we” towards a given “others”. These practices take place in everyday basis within institutional settings (laws, police and security forces, administration), as well as within the labor market, access to housing or educational experience. Therefore, our gaze identifies social tendencies unveiling socio-economic, political and cultural structures key to the hierarchization and segregation among populations. Those processes are not so apparent, but at times, rise to the surface as “hate speech.” Those discursive instances represent the tip of the large iceberg which constitutes systemic discrimination with concerning dimensions.

An approach exclusively focused on the discursive level will not be sufficient to address the iceberg of systemic discrimination. In order to navigate and surf the waters of a growing diverse society, it is imperative to recognize the presence os systemic discrimination and identify how it works. By putting structural racism at the center, is possible to reach proposals for public policy interventions to prevent or mitigate the impact of the systemic discrimination iceberg.

• Casas-Cortés, M., Minguijón, J., Moya, L., Gracia, A., Gómez-Quintero J.D. y Cobarrubias, S. (2021): Estudio de percepción social de la inmigración en Aragón y creación de procesos de radicalización e ideologías de odio. Informe Final. Zaragoza, Gobierno de Aragón. Disponible en: https://www.aragon.es/ (cuando se sepa exactamente cuál es el enlace definitivo, se comunicará).

Since Richard Florida presented his work (The Rise of Creative Class) in 2002, the notion of Creative Class has become very popular in the social sciences and has stimulated countless investigations. The research we conducted was intended to contribute to this effort from two points of view. On the one hand, in ethical terms, we tried to observe the importance and weight of the so-called “creative economy” in Spain based on a few macroeconomic indicators. We also analyze the composition of creative socio-professional groups in the Spanish social structure. This allowed us to see the structural features that creativity adds to a post-industrial social structure. On the other hand, in emic terms, we try to analyze the creative process that professionals framed in such groups lead to change. For this we will carry out 14 life stories of characters that represented the peculiarities of the creative class in Spain. Our intention here was to observe how family, cultural, social, and creative capitals are combined in the training of these professionals. Finally, we also observed in vivo the creative way of working in 4 intentionally selected centers where the presence of these professionals was important. In this case, our objective was to use the notion of the imaginary to analyze this process. Finally, we held 4 discussion groups to analyze the rationalizations that creatives made of creativity and the role that the imaginary had in it

• Bergua, J. A. (dir.), Carretero, E., Báez, J. M. y Pac, D. (2016): Creatividad. Números e Imaginarios. Madrid, CIS. Reseñas de: Miguel Angel Castro Nogueira en la Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 160, pp. 151-168 (2017), José Francisco Durán Vázquez en RIPS, vol. 16, nº 1, pp. 262-264, (2017), Javier Diz Casal en Imagonautas, núm 10, pp. 145-146 (2017) y de Javier Gallego en Athenea Digital, 17(3), pp. 273-277 (2018)
• Báez, J. M., Bergua, J. A., y Pac, D. (2014): “The creative class and the creative economy in Spain”, Creativity Research Journal, 26(4), pp. 418-426
  DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2014.961769
• Serrano, C. Y Bergua, J. A. (2015 “Los procesos creativos. El caso de un centro de diseño web”, Gráfica, vol. 3, núm 5, pp. 13-27
  DOI: 10.5565/rev/grafica.22
• Bergua, J. A. (2015): “Creatividad. Mucho más allá de las clases y de la economía”, Lavboratorio, Revista de Estudios sobre cambio estructural y desigualdad social, 26
• Bergua, J. A., Pac, J. M. Báez y Serrano, C. (2016): “La clase creativa. Una aproximación a la realidad española”, Revista Internacional de Sociología, vol. 74 (2) e032
  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/ ris.2016.74.2.032
• Bergua, J. A., Carretero, E., Pac, D., Báez, J. M. Y Serrano, C. (2017): “Creatividad, tolerancia, heterogeneidad e imaginario”, Lavboratorio, Revista de Estudios sobre cambio estructural y desigualdad social, 27
• Bergua, J. A. (2017): “Trabajo y ocio en las vidas de los profesionales creativos”, Revista Internacional de Organizaciones, núm 19, pp. 19-54.
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.17345/rio19.29-54