Dr. Valeria Pulignano gives a presentation for the International Migration Institute Trinity Term 2017 seminar series.

International Migration Institute

Trade unions, agency (migrant) workers and the insiders/outsiders debate: Germany and Belgium compared

Ibrahim Sirkeci explores integration patterns of English-speaking movers in Turkey and those of Turkish-speaking movers in Britain International migration studies have largely focused on movers from the developing countries, or the South. Nevertheless, about one third of the global human mobility happens within the North and from North to South. Hence there is a need for reconsidering our understanding of global human mobility. Despite the hierarchy in the language used in describing these two categories of movers, there are similarities in causes, mechanisms and lived experiences. In this study, integration patterns of English-speaking movers in Turkey and those of Turkish-speaking movers in Britain have been contrasted. Particular attention has been paid to the perceived discrimination and integration outcomes. Drawing on analyses of census data from both Turkey and the UK, labour force survey data and the findings of a survey conducted from 2014 to 2016, patterns of integration are discussed.

Integration of Brits in Turkey and Turks in Britain

In the context of Ghanaians in the UK, Geraldine Adiku explores how migrant remittance practices are not only from 'developed' to 'developing' country; many are sent in the reverse direction, a fact largely ignored by scholarship on the topic Remittances have acquired considerable significance on the agendas of development establishments, especially the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the turn of the century. The widespread attention that remittances sent from ‘developed’ to ‘developing’ countries have received has, however, ignored the fact that many remittances are sent in the opposite, or reverse, direction. Such reverse remittances can be conceptualised as transfers, which move from poor migrant origin areas to migrants in wealthy destination areas. This practice has been largely under-represented in what is now an extensive remittance literature. I investigate the other side of transnational economic exchanges between migrants and their relatives. Using a matched sampling methodological approach, I interviewed 70 Ghanaian migrants in the UK and 51 of their relatives in Ghana who come from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. This research finds that transnational economic transactions between migrants and their relatives are driven by their differential access to various forms of capital and their motivation for migration. These factors influence whether a migrant will send remittances or receive reverse remittances instead.

'All the money I raised, I raised from Ghana': Understanding reverse remittance practice among Ghanaian migrants in the UK and their relatives in Ghana

Antony Otieno Ong'ayo presents an alternative approach to the management of migration in the context of EU–Africa migration relations The effects of contemporary migration dynamics within and from Africa to Europe increasingly translate into cross border challenges facing the European Union. The socio-economic and political factors shaped by the processes of globalisation continue to generate different dimensions of migration in Africa. These dynamics have become major policy challenges in the management of migration and leveraging migration of development. Current policy initiatives are informed by top-down approaches that attach different opportunities and restrictions to them through categorisations such as irregular migrants, asylum seekers, failed asylum seekers, illegal migrants, skilled migrants, highly-skilled migrants, second generation and return migrants. However, these approaches do not take into account the agentic responsibility of African migrants and the communities that they have established in the respective destinations countries to manage themselves. Moreover, they fail to address return decisions and constraints to circularity as experienced by African migrants who may consider going back. Drawing on the experience of sub-Saharan African migrants in the Netherlands, this paper presents an alternative approach to the management of migration in the context of EU–Africa migration relations. It starts from the premise that the experiences and leadership of migrant communities in host countries are vital for a bottom-up driven approach to ‘managed migration’. Tapping into diaspora agency, structures of leadership, consultation and decision-making within the African communities provides new approaches to circular migration that translates into a triple-win situation.

African migration to and from Europe: Rethinking circular migration

Olivette Otele explores how histories of transatlantic slavery impact on contemporary questions of migration Transatlantic slavery is a complex history of encounters between people of African and European descent. It is also a history of migrations, trade and subjugation. In this presentation, I look into the displacement of people from West Africa from the 17th to the 19th centuries. I ultimately aim at understanding how historians measure the impact of transatlantic slavery in Africa and its economic, social and cultural legacies. The presentation will consequently delve into Eltis’ and Lovejoy’s income per capita theories and explore Manning’s loss of workforce simulation model. It will then turn to histories of the territories from which Africans were captured by looking at the relationships amongst French and British traders, colonial administrators and local populations.

Migratory flows, colonial encounters and the histories of transatlantic slavery

Examining the ways in which gender has been used as a category of analysis in the current refugee 'crisis', and whether in effect international organisations, NGOs, and EU governments have really offered any protection to victims of gender violence For many years gender was not taken into account in asylum and refugee policies and legislation. More recently, following pressure from women’s groups, UNHCR, followed by various regional and national authorities, have introduced measures on protection of victims of gender-based violence into their asylum and refugee policies and legislation. However, as the experience of the current refugee 'crisis' illustrates, these policies are not always adequate in guaranteeing real protection to those who may be victims of this type of violence. In this seminar I will examine the current 'crisis' from a gendered perspective, to discuss the ways in which gender has been used as a category of analysis, and to analyse whether in effect international organisations, NGOs, and EU governments have really offered any protection to victims of gender-violence. Moreover, I will discuss the ways in which the use of categories of 'vulnerability' may not in fact offer real protection to these refugees, but may instead act to fix categories of 'gender' and create dichotomies between male and female refugees which are not helpful to understanding the real experiences and needs of refugees.

Gender, violence and vulnerability: Examining the politics of protection in the current refugee 'crisis'

Lisa Åkesson unsettles the image of migrants’ border crossing as solely taking place in South–North direction by looking at the contemporary postcolonial Portuguese labour migration to Angola Global discourses as well as migration regimes often build on and reinforce the image of migrants’ border crossing as solely taking place in South–North direction. This paper unsettles this idea by looking at the contemporary postcolonial Portuguese labour migration to Angola. In particular it focuses on the Portuguese migrants’ relation to the Angolan party-state, and the ensuing (re-) articulation of Portuguese and Angolan postcolonial identities. The paper demonstrates that while the most influential Portuguese are closely allied with the Angolan political elite, other Portuguese migrants are in a vulnerable position in relation to the Angolan party-state, and many struggle to secure immigration documents. The vulnerability of the non-elite Portuguese brings about feelings of postcolonial score-setting among some Angolans. These feelings are still a part of the colonial legacy, but they also reflect a new turn in Angolan-Portuguese relations. Thus, in difference to most studies with a postcolonial perspective this paper does not take the continuance of the colonial as a starting point; rather it probes the limit of the colonial.

North–South migration and postcolonial encounters: Portuguese labour migrants in Angola

Vicki Squire examines similarities and differences in practices of ‘governing migration through death’ across the US–Mexico (Sonoran) and in the EU–North African (Mediterranean) contexts Border deaths have become an established feature of contemporary migratory politics in both Europe and the US. This article examines similarities and differences in practices of ‘governing migration through death’ across the US–Mexico (Sonoran) and in the EU–North African (Mediterranean) contexts. Instead of taking a conventional comparative analysis of two distinct sites, I draw on critical scholarship in the field of border studies in order to examine biopolitical, thanatopolitical and necropolitical dynamics of bordering that cross contexts. I argue that these operations of power converge in both European and US bordering practices, specifically through a form of biophysical violence that operates directly on the biological functions of migrating bodies. I further suggest that the establishment of this violence represents a crisis of modern humanism, which becomes implicated in the toleration of such violence through processes of denial, displacement, rejection and compensation. By focusing in particular on the ways that the treatment of the dead functions as a means of compensating for (yet not redressing) biophysical violence, I highlight the deficiencies of contemporary practices of identification and burial, and raise questions about the limitations of contestations that emphasise dignity only to perpetuate a hierarchy of ‘worthy’ and ‘unworthy’ lives. In so doing, I conclude by suggesting that contemporary ‘migration crises’ are better understood in terms of the crisis of modern humanism, grounded in Greco-Roman and Judaeo-Christian traditions, which can no longer deny its implication in practices of governing migration through death.

Governing migration through death in Europe and the US: Identification, burial and the crisis of modern humanism

Podcasts recorded by the International Migration Institute

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International Migration Institute

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