GRITIM-UPF Seminars 2015-2016
Research Methods and Methodologies in Immigration Studies
This academic year the GRITIM-UPF Seminars Series will be focused on Research Methods and Methodologies in Immigration Studies.
Place/Time:
UPF/15:00 to 18:00: room 20.191. Jaume I Building. Campus Ciutadella. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
CIDOB/18.00-20:00: carrer Elisabets, 12, Barcelona
IEMed /18.00-20:00: carrer Girona, 20, Barcelona
Note: those interested are requested to check the GRITIM-UPF webpage or to contact Gema Rubio ([log in to unmask]) in advance, since there can be unexpected modifications.
Lectures
1. Sergio Carrera (CEPS Brussels, Belgium).
Place: at IEMed (carrer Girona, 20, Barcelona)
Date: 18th of November, 2015
Title: The Challenges of EU Migration and Border Policies in the Mediterranean: A Critical Sociology of Post-Lisbon Treaty Institutional Setting
Abstract :
What are the challenges affecting the EU institutional frameworks as regards migration and border management in the Mediterranean? The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has fundamentally altered the set of institutional actors and agencies involved in migration and border controls, as well as their relations and struggles of authority. This Lecture will examine the main innovations brought by the Lisbon Treaty to the management of human mobility in the Mediterranean, in particular when it comes to the internal and external facets of EU migration, asylum and border policies and maritime surveillance technologies. Particular attention will be paid to the dilemmas that the practical implementation of these innovations by current EU institutional actors pose to rule of law and fundamental human rights of persons on the move. This will be taken as the basis for a critical assessment of the European Agenda on Migration and current EU responses to the challenges of migration in the Mediterranean.
2. Paul Statham (Director of Sussex Centre for Migration Research).
Date: 2nd of December, 2015
Place: at CIDOB (carrer Elisabets, 12, Barcelona)
Title: Public Controversies over Group Rights for Muslims in the UK, NL, F and D: Gaps between Majorities and Muslims
Abstract:
Taking four countries -UK, NL, F, D- that have distinct policy traditions for granting recognition to ethnic and religious minorities, this article examines the opinions of ordinary people from the non-Muslim majority and Muslim minorities over religious group rights issues. Cross-national variations in context are studied by looking at policy approaches and public debates over the accommodation of Islam. Then original survey data is used to examine to what degree and how these 'official' stances over the accommodation of Islam are reflected in the 'gaps' between majorities and Muslims over the issues.
3. Adrian Favell (Professor of Sociology at Sciences Po-Paris and Chair of Sociology and Social Theory at the University of Leeds).
Date: 14th of January 2016
Place: UPF Jaume I Building. Campus Ciutadella (Room will be confirmed)
Title: Immigration, Integration and Mobility: New Agendas for Migration Studies in Britain and Europe
Abstract :
Presenting the core of his new book, Immigration, Integration and Mobility: New Agendas in Migration Studies, Adrian Favell will discuss how new internal migrations and mobilties in Europe since the 2000s have messed up traditional nation-state centred conceptions of immigration and integration. These misconceptions lie behind the virulent anti-EU migrant politics driving the British towards an EU membership referendum almost certain now to take place in 2017, and illustrate how much public debate under-appreciates the degree to which British economy and society -- particularly London and the South East -- is intimately embedded in Europe.
4. Rosa Aparicio Gómez (Universidad Pontificia de Comillas, Madrid).
Date: 20th of January, 2016
Place: at UPF, room 20.191, Jaume I Building - Campus Ciutadella, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Title: Some methodological questions in research on the descendants of immigrants
Abstract:
Based on the ILSEG study (Longitudinal Research on the Second Generation), the session will deal with the questions of design and implementation of longitudinal studies in research on the children of immigrants. Connected with this it will address the problems related to the follow-up of the sample and to sample mortality and will particularly look into the opportunities offered by existing social networks to help solve these problems. Others aspects such as why and when it is interesting to carry out a longitudinal study as well as the problems involved in probing into certain dimensions which are important in research on the descendants of immigrants such as identity or discrimination will also be discussed. In connection to research on identity, the approach used in ILSEG will be compared to that used in two qualitative studies in order to show how the different perspectives combine to give a richer and more accurate picture of this matter.
5. Elena Ambrosetti (Università la Sapienza Roma).
Date: 3rd of February, 2016
Place: at IEMed (carrer Girona, 20, Barcelona)
Title: Migration in the Mediterranean across disciplines
Abstract:
The presentation will deal with interdisciplinary research in the field of migration focusing on the Mediterranean region. The main research questions addressed are: What are the main characteristics of migration movements in this region? What are the most important theoretical challenges? What are the perspectives for the future? How interdisciplinary research can contribute to foster social cohesion in the region? If borders and barriers are raised on both sides of the Mediterranean, borders between disciplines need to come down in order to contribute to the understanding of this phenomenon and to address future research and policies
6. Maciej Duszczyk (Deputy Director in the Institute of Social Policy, Centre of Migration Research, University of Warsaw).
Date: 10th of February, 2016
Place: at CIDOB (carrer Elisabets, 12, Barcelona)
Title: Post-accession migrations of the nationals of CEE countries - how to measure the scale of emigration, returns and determine the destination countries?
Abstract:
The European Union enlargements that took place in 2004, 2007 and in 2013 were a logical consequence of the social political transformation that started in Poland in 1989. One of the major topics arousing controversies during negotiations and in the first years of membership was coverage of the nationals of "new" member states with free movement of workers. Also presently the issue of post-accession migrations is one of the main topics of the scientific discourse and political debate (e.g. during the election campaigns in the United Kingdom or the Netherlands). Monitoring of migration flows, i.e. determination of the scale of emigration, returns and migration paths (destination countries), proved to be one of the key challenges in the debate. It turned out the free movement of workers combined with lifting of border checks (the Schengen Agreement), poses a problem for the researchers who monitor migrations flows. It is particularly challenging to develop comparative reports, e.g. ones analysing similarities and differences within the CEE region.
The main problems related to collection of data related to migration flows within the EU will be presented during the classes. Additionally the course will demonstrate the methodology for comparative research based on generally accessible Eurostat data. Limitations related to use of this data for an analysis of migration flows will be discussed. The methodology for comparative research related to the processes of post-accession migrations of the nationals of CEE countries will be presented as an example. The data obtained on this basis will be presented in four areas: the scale of emigration, the scale of returns, destination countries and the impact of emigration on the populations of the sending states. The thread of the analysis of the scale of immigration from third countries will be also addressed. Nevertheless this thread will be a secondary one owing to the possibility to monitor the movements on the borders.
As a result, the course participants should acquire knowledge about the possibility to monitor migration flows on the basis of generally accessible Eurostat data.
7. Shahamak Rezaei (Department of Society & Globalisation, Roskilde University)
Date: 16th of March, 2016
Place: at UPF, room 20.191, Jaume I Building - Campus Ciutadella, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Title: Innovation, Diversity & Transnational Entrepreneurship
Abstract:
Recent studies on transnational entrepreneurship suggest that migrant entrepreneur plays an increasingly significant role as sources of economic activities and especially export revenue. The literature is, however, biased on the US experience, lacks a comparative perspective between migrants and non-migrants and is primarily anecdotal in nature. This session aims to reduce this gap by mapping the recent changes in the role of migrant entrepreneurs as a source of increased economic activity and thereby linking the challenges stemming from the transnational entrepreneurship literature to the immigration and internationalization of entrepreneurship literature. The session material provides insight to the field by using theoretical approaches as well as unique data from different countries allowing for a comparison across migrants and non-migrants, across sectors and across time. The session reveals that migrants as a source for economic activities can play various roles in various countries and this is even true for migrants belonging the same ethnic origin, therefore concepts such as "structural framework" will also be dealt with.
8. Ruben Andersson (London School of Economics)
Date: 6th of April, 2016
Place: at IEMed (carrer Girona, 20, Barcelona)
Title: From radar systems to rickety boats: Borderline ethnography in Europe's 'illegality industry'
Abstract:
In this seminar I will reflect on the challenges of mobile research on a phenomenon characterised by conflictive (im)mobilities - so-called 'illegal' migration between West Africa and southern Europe, and the measures used to control and contain it. Many sectors have become involved in tracking, policing, assisting and informing on irregular migrants as they move, stepwise, towards European shores. The 'illegality industry', as I have called these varied sectors (Andersson 2014), presents several methodological challenges. In short, how to frame a study of this industry, stretching as it does from distant African border posts to European control rooms? How to explore it in movement, since it is characterised not just by the mobility of its migrant targets but also of its workers? While multi-sited research has recently been reassessed in relation to novel conceptualisations of the single field site or forms of 'nonlocal ethnography', I will here suggest another option for ethnographies of complex systems - mobile research across an 'extended field site', inspired by the extended case method of the Manchester School of social anthropology. By repeatedly descending on conflictive interfaces across diverse locales where the 'illegality industry' interacts with its targets, this framing bridges migrants' life-worlds and the 'macro' features of a system. Fieldwork across concatenated interfaces calls for an eclectic approach, drawing upon journalism and border workers' own methods - leading to a form of 'borderline' ethnography situated at the point of creative friction where multiple groups and disciplines meet.
9. Peter Scholten (Associate Professor of Public Policy & Politics, Erasmus University of Rotterdam)
Date: 20th of April, 2016
Place: at CIDOB (carrer Elisabets, 12, Barcelona)
Title: Beyond dialogues of the deaf? Research-policy dialogues on migration and integration in Europe
Abstract:
The nexus between migration research and policy has been shaped in very different ways in different countries. From a theoretical perspective, this raises the question how and why the research-policy nexus in this area develops in specific ways in specific settings. Also, it raises questions about the impact of different types research-policy relations on policymaking, as well as on the development of migration research itself. Under what conditions can research have an impact on policy, and when is research likely to be ignored? And how have research-policy relations shaped the development of the field of migration research itself, for instance by shaping research questions, funding specific institutions, etc.
10. Avi Astor (Ramón y Cajal Researcher, ISOR - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona).
Date: 4th of May, 2016
Place: at UPF, room 20.191, Jaume I Building - Campus Ciutadella, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona
Title: The Advantages and Limitations of Qualitative Methods for the Study of Migration
Abstract:
In this seminar, I outline the methodological advantages and limitations of different qualitative methods, including ethnographic observation and semi-structured interviews, for studying diverse facets of the migration process. In addition to reviewing past qualitative studies of migration, I provide a brief sketch of the methodological tools and concepts that I have employed to conduct research on Chatarras Palace, a boxing club that caters to underserved youth of diverse national and ethnic backgrounds in Barcelona. Drawing on Wacquant's "carnal sociology", I discuss the utility of these tools and concepts for analyzing the social identifications, embodied practices, and personal trajectories of those who train at Chatarras, as well as intra-club dynamics and relations. I also detail the limits of each method when employed in isolation and emphasize the importance of using multiple methods to access data necessary for developing a global and coherent understanding of complex social formations and dynamics.
See the poster
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Best Regards,
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