Although migration and diversity are key factors in some of the most fundamental transformations of society today, there is still widespread unawareness and an abundance of myths around this topic. Moreover, the definition of “migrant” is highly divers and fluid. For example, did you know that in The Netherlands, if your mother or father was born abroad, you are considered an migrant too? And did you know that, depending on the reasons of migration, an immigrant has different rights and obligations? Migration and diversity have become highly politicised issues that play an important role in contemporary politics in many countries. But can we rely on quotas and numbers when it comes to human affairs?


Prof. dr. Tesseltje de Lange specializes in European regulation of economic migration and integration and its implications on the global and local level. She is an expert on migration and entrepreneurship, high-skilled migration, family migration and family member access to work. Additionally, she focuses on the theme around economic integration of refugees.

This Future Based podcast series is hosted by Floris Schleicher and brings you conversations about our political institutions. Topical questions discussed include: How are our political institutions designed? To what extent can they cope with 21st century problems like climate change, inequality, polarization and migration? What do the possible alternatives for our current political institutions look like? And what might be their advantages and drawbacks?

The Categorization Of Migration Reality

Compassion for every sentient being: An unreachable Utopian vision, or practically attainable?

In this second Beyond Human Relations podcast, Annika van den Born goes into conversation with Jamie Woodhouse, the (unwilfully) declared spokesman of Sentientism. Sentientism is a philosophy or worldview – a way of thinking about what to believe and what we should care about. Sentientists use scientific evidence and reason to work out what to believe in, so they reject supernatural beliefs. Sentientists also have compassion for all sentient beings – any being capable of suffering. Usually, this concerns human and nonhuman animals. What are exemplary cases for the broad practice of Sentientism? And what are the difficulties that Sentientists have to cope with in their research?

After a 23-year career as management consultant, Jamie Woodhouse abandoned his role as Managing Director in 2017 to pursue a range of new projects, including the expansion of sentientism research. New suggestions are always welcome.

Sentientism Evidence Based Compassion

Nonhuman Nonsense challenges the consensus with speculative art-sci projects. Trough design and art, they open up the discussion and enable access to underlying layers of politics, ethics and metaphysics. In this third podcast in the series ‘Beyond Human Relations, Annika van den Born goes into conversation about how they transmute our relationship to the non-human, by embracing the contradictory and the paradoxical – telling stories that open the public imaginary to futures that currently seem impossible. Nonhuman Nonsense is founded by Leo Fidjeland and Linnea Våglund, it is based between Berlin and Stockholm.

Nonhuman Nonsense The Paradox Of Anthropomorphism

We are an interdisciplinary philosophy platform, not fettered to time or space.