This special section builds on previous scholarship on geographies of ageing, and on relational a... more This special section builds on previous scholarship on geographies of ageing, and on relational and transnational approaches to age and migration, to assert the significance of the ageing–migration nexus in human geography. Our primary goal is to examine the intricate relationships between ageing, migration, space and place. By bringing empirical research on ageing and migration into dialogue with existing conceptual work within Geography, we also aim to critically contribute to current debates in both areas. The contributors explore a wide range of migration processes and experiences through an intersectional lens, and demonstrate the importance of a diverse set of epistemological and methodological approaches to explore the spatialities of the ageing–migration nexus. Key dimensions examined include, but are not limited to, the spaces and places of ageing and migration, the multi‐scalar nature of the geographies of the ageing–migration nexus, their (im)mobilities, fluid boundaries,...
This paper uses the metaphor of diasporic hubs and hinterlands to document and analyse the variou... more This paper uses the metaphor of diasporic hubs and hinterlands to document and analyse the various diasporic formations that overlap and encounter each other on the divided island of Cyprus. After a review of the various ways that islands interface with migration processes and some essential historical and statistical background on Cyprus and its population, the paper considers a number of migrations/diasporas that are based on or affect the island. They include the emigration from the diasporic hub of Cyprus during the 1950s-1970s; return migration, both of the original emigrants and their descendants; the British military/colonial settlement of Cyprus; retirees and ‘lifestyle migrants’; and various categories of recent immigrants, for whom Cyprus is a diasporic hinterland. We draw both similarities and differences between migratory dynamics in the northern, Turkish Cypriot part of the island and the southern, Greek Cypriot part. In the final part of the paper we describe recent fi...
This paper breaks new ground in two respects. First, it is comparative. Most studies of internati... more This paper breaks new ground in two respects. First, it is comparative. Most studies of international student migration (ISM) that go beyond mere statistical comparison are based on single case-studies. We compare two ISM streams which have very different positionalities within the global system of international student movements: the UK and India. Results from online surveys show that, despite obvious differences between the two countries, students' motivations for studying abroad are quite similar. The second innovative feature of the paper is its introduction of a gender perspective into the study of ISM. Based on interviews with Indian and UK students studying in North America and elsewhere, we look for commonalities and differences in the lived experiences of social interaction within and outside the academic environment. We find that gendered differences feature quite prominently in the narratives of Indian students, but not in the UK sample.
This paper takes as its main focus the intersection of young people’s international mobility with... more This paper takes as its main focus the intersection of young people’s international mobility within Europe with a number of youth life transitions – from education to work, from unemployment to employment, and, more widely, from ‘youth’ to ‘adulthood’. It surveys both the extensive empirical literature on European youth migrations and a number of theoretical approaches which help to conceptualise and understand this youth-mobility phenomenon. Three categories of young intra-EU migrants are identified: students who are studying abroad, graduates who are working or seeking work abroad (the ‘higher-skilled’), and non-graduates working or looking for work abroad (the ‘lower-skilled’). The age-band is 16-35 years, although we acknowledge that ‘youth’ and ‘young adults’ are flexible categories. We also problematise the notion of skill and its various levels. Amongst the theoretical lenses we deploy to frame youth mobility are economic theory (neoclassical and ‘new economics’), social netw...
It is very clear – as many journalists covering the unfolding migration and refugee crisis have p... more It is very clear – as many journalists covering the unfolding migration and refugee crisis have pointed out – that geography lies at the heart of the events taking place in Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a story of borders and routes, of distance and proximity, and of location and accessibility. The role of (re-) bordering has been fundamental in states’ attempts to ‘manage’ and ‘control’ the refugee and migrant flows and, in this respect, we observe a return to the more traditional practices of bordering – physical barriers and personnel-heavy security controls – rather than the previous processes of ‘externalizing’ and ‘internalizing’ border management. In the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans the external border of the European ‘fortress’ has been prised open, whilst the free-movement ethos of the Schengen area has been compromized by EU states’ reactions to the large-scale movement of migrants and refugees and recent acts of terrorism. In this introductory paper we brin...
This paper examines the pre‐ and post‐Brexit experiences and perspectives of migrants from three ... more This paper examines the pre‐ and post‐Brexit experiences and perspectives of migrants from three “new” European Union (EU) countries—Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia—who are living and working or studying in the London area. Deploying the key concepts of power‐geometry and relational space, the analysis explores the way that Brexit impacted the migrants' connections to the U.K. “bounded space” and their ongoing mobility behaviour and plans. Empirical evidence comes from 35 in‐depth interviews with migrants, most of whom were interviewed both before and after the referendum of June 23, 2016. We find that migrants are unequally positioned socio‐spatially to deal with the new power‐geometries resulting from Brexit, and we detect diverging trajectories between the more highly skilled and high‐achieving EU citizens and the more disadvantaged low‐skilled labour migrants. First, we probe the uncertainties brought about by juridical status, related to the length of stay in Britain. Second, ...
Despite the mainstreaming of gender perspectives into migration research, very few attempts have ... more Despite the mainstreaming of gender perspectives into migration research, very few attempts have been made to gender international student migration. This paper poses three questions about Indian students who study abroad. Are there gender differences in their motivations? How do they negotiate their gendered everyday lives when abroad? Is the return to India shaped by gender relations? An online survey of Indian study-abroad students (n=157), and in-depth interviews with Indian students in Toronto (n=22), returned students in New Delhi (n=21), and with parents of students abroad (n=22) help to provide answers. Conceptually, the paper draws on a 'gendered geographies of power' framework and on student migration as an embodied process subject to 'matrices of (un)intelligibility'. We find minimal genderrelated differences in motivations to study abroad, except that male students are drawn from a wider social background. However, whilst abroad, both male and female Indian students face challenges in performing their gendered identities. The Indian patrifocal family puts greater pressure on males to return; females face greater challenges upon return.
Young, tertiary-educated emigrants see themselves, and are seen by their home country's gover... more Young, tertiary-educated emigrants see themselves, and are seen by their home country's government, as agents of economic and social change, especially if they can be incentivized to return home. In this paper we examine the barriers that prevent this positive impact from being fully realized, taking the case of Latvia, formerly part of the Soviet Union but since 2004 a member state of the European Union. We build our analysis on data from an online questionnaire (N = 307) and from narrative interviews (N = 30) with foreign-educated Latvian students and graduates. In moving beyond remittances, we examine knowledge transfer to the home country as a form of “social remittance” and break down knowledge into two types—that which can be transferred fully and that which can be transferred only partially. We find that students and graduates do indeed see themselves as agents of change in their home country, but that the changes they want to make, and the broader imaginaries of developm...
Family Life in an Age of Migration and Mobility, 2016
INTRODUCTION This chapter comparatively examines the experiences of older migrants from two Easte... more INTRODUCTION This chapter comparatively examines the experiences of older migrants from two Eastern European post-socialist countries which have been deeply impacted by emigration: Albania and Latvia. We explore migrants' ageing and agency relationally within the transnational family spaces spanning out from their origin countriesfrom Albanian mainly to Italy and Greece, from Latvia mainly to the UK. Different geopolitical trajectories frame the emigrations from these two source countries. Located at the southern, Mediterranean limit of the Eastern bloc, Albania witnessed extreme poverty and isolation under the dictational regime of Enver Hoxha. When communism finally fell in 1991, a mass exodus ensued. Much of this migration was initially irregular and comprised young men, but regularizations in the destination countries led to the sedimentation of the migrants, based on nuclear families with children and, subsequently, the follow-on migration of the migrants' older-age parents. Latvia's main migration flow is more recent: some emigrated in the 1990s following independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but a more intense outflow occurred after EU accession in 2004. Most emigration has been to the UK and Ireland, and economically driven: young men and women seeking better-paid but often low-status jobs. In contrast to the Albanian case where, reflecting strong norms of Balkan patriarchy, it was almost impossible for young single women to migrate on their own, in the Latvian case there has been much independent female migration, including older women who are often separated, widowed or divorced. Our objectives in this chapter are as follows. First, we draw attention to the neglected role of older people in studies of transnational family life. Walsh and Näre (2015), in the introduction to their recent book on ageing, migration and 'home', write that the current literatures on globalization and transnational migration are age-blind, thereby marginalizing the experiences and narratives of older people. This immediately raises the question of how to define an older person. We have no easy answer. Rather than nominate a chronological threshold, we prefer to focus on ageing as a socially and culturally constructed process and therefore also as locationally and situationally emplaced according to the spatial relocations of older migrants and their various family members.
Human mobility, whatever its scale, is often controversial. Hence it carries with it the potentia... more Human mobility, whatever its scale, is often controversial. Hence it carries with it the potential for politics. A core feature of mobility politics is the tension between the desire to maximise the social and economic benefi ts of migration and pressures to restrict movement. Transnational communities, global instability, advances in transportation and communication, and concepts of 'smart borders' and 'migration management' are just a few of the phenomena transforming the landscape of migration today. The tension between openness and restriction raises important questions about how different types of policy and politics come to life and infl uence mobility.
This paper compares the motivations and characteristics of the recent migration to London of youn... more This paper compares the motivations and characteristics of the recent migration to London of young-adult graduates from Germany, Italy and Latvia. Conceptually the paper links three domains: the theory of core-periphery structures within Europe; the notion of London as both a global city and a 'Eurocity'; and the trope of 'crisis'. The dataset analysed consists of 95 in-depth biographical interviews and the paper's main objective is to tease out the narrative similarities and differences between the three groups interviewed. Each of the three nationalities represents a different geo-economic positioning within Europe. German graduates move from one economically prosperous country to another; they traverse shallow economic and cultural boundaries. Italian graduates migrate from a relatively peripheral Southern European country where, especially in Southern Italy, employment and career prospects have long been difficult, and have become more so in the wake of the financial crisis. They find employment opportunities in London which are unavailable to them in Italy. Latvian graduates are from a different European periphery, the Eastern one, postsocialist and post-Soviet. Like the Italians, their moves are economically driven whereas, for the Germans, migration is more related to lifestyle and life-stage. For all three groups, the chance to live in a large, multicultural, cosmopolitan city is a great attraction. And for all groups, thoughts about the future are marked by uncertainty and ambiguity.
Few accounts exist of the nature of everyday rural life in communist societies, such as those whi... more Few accounts exist of the nature of everyday rural life in communist societies, such as those which existed in Eastern Europe between the end of World War Two and circa 1990. In this paper we use oral-history testimonies from older people to reconstruct an 'historical ethnography' of rural life in Albania, the most isolated and repressive of the East European socialist regimes. We build our analysis around the dialectical relationship between the 'shortage economy', which was all-pervasive and derived from the Albanian regime's Stalinist policy of prioritising mining and heavy industry over consumer goods and agriculture, and the 'second economy' which developed as a bottom-up strategy to overcome some of the imbalances and blockages in the official or 'first' economy. Fieldwork was carried out in clusters of villages and settlements corresponding to cooperatives and a state farm in four locations in different parts of Albania. Within the symbiotic or 'lubricating' relationship between the shortage economy and the second economy, we examine the 'institutionalised hierarchy of access' that gave some people and groups privileged access to scarce goods, whilst others remained in a marginalised and partially excluded state.
Our purpose in this paper is to explore the various types of interrelationship between two mobili... more Our purpose in this paper is to explore the various types of interrelationship between two mobility forms-migration on the one hand, and visiting friends and relatives 'back home' (and maybe elsewhere) on the other. The link between visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and migration has until recently been overlooked by migration scholars. It was essentially the 1990s 'transnational turn' in migration studies which highlighted more explicitly the to-and-fro mobilities that migrants engaged in with their homelands. Fast and cheap air travel has facilitated this intense VFR mobility. Taking a wider view, we argue that VFR travel is not a marginal aspect of migrants' lives but is in fact constitutive of contemporary migration and diaspora dynamics. The first part of the paper maps out a typology of the multiple linkages between VFR travel and international migration; this is a complex task given the variety both of forms of migration and of types of VFR mobility. From this we aim to reconceptualise VFR travel as an essential element of most migration, and to draw out some of the economic and personal power geometries implicated in diverse forms of VFR travel and capability. We then examine three contrasting case-studies of VFR patterns amongst three different migrant groups in the United Kingdom: young Germans who are back-and-forth 'free movers' traversing shallow cultural and economic barriers to enjoy what they perceive as an exciting and cosmopolitan life in London; Kosovan refugees whose return visits were initially constrained by their exile status but whose VFR travels have since taken on a touristic aspect; and Latvian labour migrants in Guernsey whose to-and-fro mobility is partly driven by family ties and partly constrained by economic factors and the residence and housing restrictions on this Channel Island.
Set within the growing literature on migration and development, this paper has two interlinked ob... more Set within the growing literature on migration and development, this paper has two interlinked objectives. First, it examines remittances, a key element of the migration-development nexus, from a gendered perspective. Second it does so in a comparative empirical perspective, focusing on remittance behaviour in two contrasting settings, Albania and Ecuador. Both countries have experienced mass emigration in recent decades. Research is based on household surveys with remittance receivers in selected rural areas of both countries, supplemented by in-depth interviews with both senders and receivers of remittances. By using the concept of 'remittance dyads'-person-to-person transfers of money and gifts-we examine the gendered mechanics of conveying and managing remittances to see if they have the potential to reshape gender relations in these migrant households. They do, but the effects are limited.
Abstract Research on the links of the second generation to their parental homeland, and return vi... more Abstract Research on the links of the second generation to their parental homeland, and return visits in particular, is largely lacking. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 75 Albanian teenagers in London, Thessaloniki and Florence, this paper brings a multi-sited ...
This special section builds on previous scholarship on geographies of ageing, and on relational a... more This special section builds on previous scholarship on geographies of ageing, and on relational and transnational approaches to age and migration, to assert the significance of the ageing–migration nexus in human geography. Our primary goal is to examine the intricate relationships between ageing, migration, space and place. By bringing empirical research on ageing and migration into dialogue with existing conceptual work within Geography, we also aim to critically contribute to current debates in both areas. The contributors explore a wide range of migration processes and experiences through an intersectional lens, and demonstrate the importance of a diverse set of epistemological and methodological approaches to explore the spatialities of the ageing–migration nexus. Key dimensions examined include, but are not limited to, the spaces and places of ageing and migration, the multi‐scalar nature of the geographies of the ageing–migration nexus, their (im)mobilities, fluid boundaries,...
This paper uses the metaphor of diasporic hubs and hinterlands to document and analyse the variou... more This paper uses the metaphor of diasporic hubs and hinterlands to document and analyse the various diasporic formations that overlap and encounter each other on the divided island of Cyprus. After a review of the various ways that islands interface with migration processes and some essential historical and statistical background on Cyprus and its population, the paper considers a number of migrations/diasporas that are based on or affect the island. They include the emigration from the diasporic hub of Cyprus during the 1950s-1970s; return migration, both of the original emigrants and their descendants; the British military/colonial settlement of Cyprus; retirees and ‘lifestyle migrants’; and various categories of recent immigrants, for whom Cyprus is a diasporic hinterland. We draw both similarities and differences between migratory dynamics in the northern, Turkish Cypriot part of the island and the southern, Greek Cypriot part. In the final part of the paper we describe recent fi...
This paper breaks new ground in two respects. First, it is comparative. Most studies of internati... more This paper breaks new ground in two respects. First, it is comparative. Most studies of international student migration (ISM) that go beyond mere statistical comparison are based on single case-studies. We compare two ISM streams which have very different positionalities within the global system of international student movements: the UK and India. Results from online surveys show that, despite obvious differences between the two countries, students' motivations for studying abroad are quite similar. The second innovative feature of the paper is its introduction of a gender perspective into the study of ISM. Based on interviews with Indian and UK students studying in North America and elsewhere, we look for commonalities and differences in the lived experiences of social interaction within and outside the academic environment. We find that gendered differences feature quite prominently in the narratives of Indian students, but not in the UK sample.
This paper takes as its main focus the intersection of young people’s international mobility with... more This paper takes as its main focus the intersection of young people’s international mobility within Europe with a number of youth life transitions – from education to work, from unemployment to employment, and, more widely, from ‘youth’ to ‘adulthood’. It surveys both the extensive empirical literature on European youth migrations and a number of theoretical approaches which help to conceptualise and understand this youth-mobility phenomenon. Three categories of young intra-EU migrants are identified: students who are studying abroad, graduates who are working or seeking work abroad (the ‘higher-skilled’), and non-graduates working or looking for work abroad (the ‘lower-skilled’). The age-band is 16-35 years, although we acknowledge that ‘youth’ and ‘young adults’ are flexible categories. We also problematise the notion of skill and its various levels. Amongst the theoretical lenses we deploy to frame youth mobility are economic theory (neoclassical and ‘new economics’), social netw...
It is very clear – as many journalists covering the unfolding migration and refugee crisis have p... more It is very clear – as many journalists covering the unfolding migration and refugee crisis have pointed out – that geography lies at the heart of the events taking place in Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a story of borders and routes, of distance and proximity, and of location and accessibility. The role of (re-) bordering has been fundamental in states’ attempts to ‘manage’ and ‘control’ the refugee and migrant flows and, in this respect, we observe a return to the more traditional practices of bordering – physical barriers and personnel-heavy security controls – rather than the previous processes of ‘externalizing’ and ‘internalizing’ border management. In the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans the external border of the European ‘fortress’ has been prised open, whilst the free-movement ethos of the Schengen area has been compromized by EU states’ reactions to the large-scale movement of migrants and refugees and recent acts of terrorism. In this introductory paper we brin...
This paper examines the pre‐ and post‐Brexit experiences and perspectives of migrants from three ... more This paper examines the pre‐ and post‐Brexit experiences and perspectives of migrants from three “new” European Union (EU) countries—Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia—who are living and working or studying in the London area. Deploying the key concepts of power‐geometry and relational space, the analysis explores the way that Brexit impacted the migrants' connections to the U.K. “bounded space” and their ongoing mobility behaviour and plans. Empirical evidence comes from 35 in‐depth interviews with migrants, most of whom were interviewed both before and after the referendum of June 23, 2016. We find that migrants are unequally positioned socio‐spatially to deal with the new power‐geometries resulting from Brexit, and we detect diverging trajectories between the more highly skilled and high‐achieving EU citizens and the more disadvantaged low‐skilled labour migrants. First, we probe the uncertainties brought about by juridical status, related to the length of stay in Britain. Second, ...
Despite the mainstreaming of gender perspectives into migration research, very few attempts have ... more Despite the mainstreaming of gender perspectives into migration research, very few attempts have been made to gender international student migration. This paper poses three questions about Indian students who study abroad. Are there gender differences in their motivations? How do they negotiate their gendered everyday lives when abroad? Is the return to India shaped by gender relations? An online survey of Indian study-abroad students (n=157), and in-depth interviews with Indian students in Toronto (n=22), returned students in New Delhi (n=21), and with parents of students abroad (n=22) help to provide answers. Conceptually, the paper draws on a 'gendered geographies of power' framework and on student migration as an embodied process subject to 'matrices of (un)intelligibility'. We find minimal genderrelated differences in motivations to study abroad, except that male students are drawn from a wider social background. However, whilst abroad, both male and female Indian students face challenges in performing their gendered identities. The Indian patrifocal family puts greater pressure on males to return; females face greater challenges upon return.
Young, tertiary-educated emigrants see themselves, and are seen by their home country's gover... more Young, tertiary-educated emigrants see themselves, and are seen by their home country's government, as agents of economic and social change, especially if they can be incentivized to return home. In this paper we examine the barriers that prevent this positive impact from being fully realized, taking the case of Latvia, formerly part of the Soviet Union but since 2004 a member state of the European Union. We build our analysis on data from an online questionnaire (N = 307) and from narrative interviews (N = 30) with foreign-educated Latvian students and graduates. In moving beyond remittances, we examine knowledge transfer to the home country as a form of “social remittance” and break down knowledge into two types—that which can be transferred fully and that which can be transferred only partially. We find that students and graduates do indeed see themselves as agents of change in their home country, but that the changes they want to make, and the broader imaginaries of developm...
Family Life in an Age of Migration and Mobility, 2016
INTRODUCTION This chapter comparatively examines the experiences of older migrants from two Easte... more INTRODUCTION This chapter comparatively examines the experiences of older migrants from two Eastern European post-socialist countries which have been deeply impacted by emigration: Albania and Latvia. We explore migrants' ageing and agency relationally within the transnational family spaces spanning out from their origin countriesfrom Albanian mainly to Italy and Greece, from Latvia mainly to the UK. Different geopolitical trajectories frame the emigrations from these two source countries. Located at the southern, Mediterranean limit of the Eastern bloc, Albania witnessed extreme poverty and isolation under the dictational regime of Enver Hoxha. When communism finally fell in 1991, a mass exodus ensued. Much of this migration was initially irregular and comprised young men, but regularizations in the destination countries led to the sedimentation of the migrants, based on nuclear families with children and, subsequently, the follow-on migration of the migrants' older-age parents. Latvia's main migration flow is more recent: some emigrated in the 1990s following independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but a more intense outflow occurred after EU accession in 2004. Most emigration has been to the UK and Ireland, and economically driven: young men and women seeking better-paid but often low-status jobs. In contrast to the Albanian case where, reflecting strong norms of Balkan patriarchy, it was almost impossible for young single women to migrate on their own, in the Latvian case there has been much independent female migration, including older women who are often separated, widowed or divorced. Our objectives in this chapter are as follows. First, we draw attention to the neglected role of older people in studies of transnational family life. Walsh and Näre (2015), in the introduction to their recent book on ageing, migration and 'home', write that the current literatures on globalization and transnational migration are age-blind, thereby marginalizing the experiences and narratives of older people. This immediately raises the question of how to define an older person. We have no easy answer. Rather than nominate a chronological threshold, we prefer to focus on ageing as a socially and culturally constructed process and therefore also as locationally and situationally emplaced according to the spatial relocations of older migrants and their various family members.
Human mobility, whatever its scale, is often controversial. Hence it carries with it the potentia... more Human mobility, whatever its scale, is often controversial. Hence it carries with it the potential for politics. A core feature of mobility politics is the tension between the desire to maximise the social and economic benefi ts of migration and pressures to restrict movement. Transnational communities, global instability, advances in transportation and communication, and concepts of 'smart borders' and 'migration management' are just a few of the phenomena transforming the landscape of migration today. The tension between openness and restriction raises important questions about how different types of policy and politics come to life and infl uence mobility.
This paper compares the motivations and characteristics of the recent migration to London of youn... more This paper compares the motivations and characteristics of the recent migration to London of young-adult graduates from Germany, Italy and Latvia. Conceptually the paper links three domains: the theory of core-periphery structures within Europe; the notion of London as both a global city and a 'Eurocity'; and the trope of 'crisis'. The dataset analysed consists of 95 in-depth biographical interviews and the paper's main objective is to tease out the narrative similarities and differences between the three groups interviewed. Each of the three nationalities represents a different geo-economic positioning within Europe. German graduates move from one economically prosperous country to another; they traverse shallow economic and cultural boundaries. Italian graduates migrate from a relatively peripheral Southern European country where, especially in Southern Italy, employment and career prospects have long been difficult, and have become more so in the wake of the financial crisis. They find employment opportunities in London which are unavailable to them in Italy. Latvian graduates are from a different European periphery, the Eastern one, postsocialist and post-Soviet. Like the Italians, their moves are economically driven whereas, for the Germans, migration is more related to lifestyle and life-stage. For all three groups, the chance to live in a large, multicultural, cosmopolitan city is a great attraction. And for all groups, thoughts about the future are marked by uncertainty and ambiguity.
Few accounts exist of the nature of everyday rural life in communist societies, such as those whi... more Few accounts exist of the nature of everyday rural life in communist societies, such as those which existed in Eastern Europe between the end of World War Two and circa 1990. In this paper we use oral-history testimonies from older people to reconstruct an 'historical ethnography' of rural life in Albania, the most isolated and repressive of the East European socialist regimes. We build our analysis around the dialectical relationship between the 'shortage economy', which was all-pervasive and derived from the Albanian regime's Stalinist policy of prioritising mining and heavy industry over consumer goods and agriculture, and the 'second economy' which developed as a bottom-up strategy to overcome some of the imbalances and blockages in the official or 'first' economy. Fieldwork was carried out in clusters of villages and settlements corresponding to cooperatives and a state farm in four locations in different parts of Albania. Within the symbiotic or 'lubricating' relationship between the shortage economy and the second economy, we examine the 'institutionalised hierarchy of access' that gave some people and groups privileged access to scarce goods, whilst others remained in a marginalised and partially excluded state.
Our purpose in this paper is to explore the various types of interrelationship between two mobili... more Our purpose in this paper is to explore the various types of interrelationship between two mobility forms-migration on the one hand, and visiting friends and relatives 'back home' (and maybe elsewhere) on the other. The link between visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and migration has until recently been overlooked by migration scholars. It was essentially the 1990s 'transnational turn' in migration studies which highlighted more explicitly the to-and-fro mobilities that migrants engaged in with their homelands. Fast and cheap air travel has facilitated this intense VFR mobility. Taking a wider view, we argue that VFR travel is not a marginal aspect of migrants' lives but is in fact constitutive of contemporary migration and diaspora dynamics. The first part of the paper maps out a typology of the multiple linkages between VFR travel and international migration; this is a complex task given the variety both of forms of migration and of types of VFR mobility. From this we aim to reconceptualise VFR travel as an essential element of most migration, and to draw out some of the economic and personal power geometries implicated in diverse forms of VFR travel and capability. We then examine three contrasting case-studies of VFR patterns amongst three different migrant groups in the United Kingdom: young Germans who are back-and-forth 'free movers' traversing shallow cultural and economic barriers to enjoy what they perceive as an exciting and cosmopolitan life in London; Kosovan refugees whose return visits were initially constrained by their exile status but whose VFR travels have since taken on a touristic aspect; and Latvian labour migrants in Guernsey whose to-and-fro mobility is partly driven by family ties and partly constrained by economic factors and the residence and housing restrictions on this Channel Island.
Set within the growing literature on migration and development, this paper has two interlinked ob... more Set within the growing literature on migration and development, this paper has two interlinked objectives. First, it examines remittances, a key element of the migration-development nexus, from a gendered perspective. Second it does so in a comparative empirical perspective, focusing on remittance behaviour in two contrasting settings, Albania and Ecuador. Both countries have experienced mass emigration in recent decades. Research is based on household surveys with remittance receivers in selected rural areas of both countries, supplemented by in-depth interviews with both senders and receivers of remittances. By using the concept of 'remittance dyads'-person-to-person transfers of money and gifts-we examine the gendered mechanics of conveying and managing remittances to see if they have the potential to reshape gender relations in these migrant households. They do, but the effects are limited.
Abstract Research on the links of the second generation to their parental homeland, and return vi... more Abstract Research on the links of the second generation to their parental homeland, and return visits in particular, is largely lacking. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 75 Albanian teenagers in London, Thessaloniki and Florence, this paper brings a multi-sited ...
The report brings together recent literature and data on student mobility. It looks at the trends... more The report brings together recent literature and data on student mobility. It looks at the trends in UK international students' mobility and compares these internationally. It also considers the causal factors for students' choice to spend time abroad, the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of mobile students, and the impact that time abroad has on their employability; and it highlights policy and practice in HEIs in respect of student mobility.
Executive Summary:
International student mobility, especially diploma mobility (students takin... more Executive Summary:
International student mobility, especially diploma mobility (students taking their entire degree outside the UK), has received little attention from researchers. This report summarises the findings of research funded by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills aimed at improving understanding of the motivations behind the international diploma mobility of UK students. It also seeks to evaluate the scale and significance of UK international diploma mobility.
The research was undertaken by a collaborative team from the Universities of Dundee and Sussex during 2008 and 2009 led by Professors Findlay and King. It involved three key elements
• a metadata analysis of sources providing statistics on international student mobility,
• a survey of the application intentions of 1400 final-year pupils from schools in two regions of England, and
• a survey of 560 UK students currently enrolled for study at universities in the USA, Ireland, Australia, the Czech Republic, France and Germany.
In addition to the two questionnaire surveys, interviews were conducted with UK international students, international recruitment officers in 16 higher education institutions from around the world, as well as with school careers guidance teachers.
According to the OECD the number of UK students studying abroad has risen from 16,866 in 1975 to 22,405 in 2005. This growth is less than that for most OECD countries. Metadata analysis reveals many problems with using international agency datasets to evaluate trends in diploma mobility. Careful examination of national datasets suggests that OECD statistics may over-estimate the true figure for UK international diploma-mobile students by more than 10 per cent. Best estimates produced by the researchers nevertheless point to UK diploma-mobile students accounting for the equivalent of about 1.7% of all UK domiciled students enrolled in higher education and over the last two decades the number has been growing
Responses to the researchers’ English school questionnaire survey indicate that, amongst UK-nationals, some 2.8 per cent of state sector pupils and 5.5 per cent of independent sector pupils apply to universities outside the UK. Only a proportion of these are offered places to study abroad and choose finally to enrol. The survey revealed that many more pupils consider applying abroad, but in the end do not do so. The USA is by far the most popular destination for pupils considering studying abroad. It is particularly significant that it is the academically most gifted pupils who are the most likely to apply to foreign universities.
The international student survey identified a diverse range of motivations driving international student mobility.
• The dominant influence was the desire to attend a world-class institution (55% said this was important and 89% said it was important or very important). The significance of this driver of UK student mobility may be interpreted in several different ways as discussed in the main report. For some, failure to gain a place at their desired UK university was a trigger to mobility.
• Other motivations that were seen as very important included the opportunity for adventure (50%) and the desire to take the first step towards an international career (34%)
The report provides an analysis of which students were most likely to be driven by the desire to attend what they perceived to be the best universities in the world. It also considers whether this group of students was significantly different from those going abroad in search of adventure, or as a first step towards permanent emigration, or because of a desire to gain a place to study a particular discipline (where the opportunity to do so did not exist in the UK Higher Education system).
Amongst students in our survey, UK international diploma mobility is shown to be a selective process influenced by class and parental educational background. For example:
• Students who had attended independent schools were much more likely than those from the state sector to claim that their mobility was triggered by the search for a world class university
• Students from families where one or both parents had higher education were much more likely to go abroad in search of a world class university than those from other backgrounds.
The student survey suggested that it was not only students from fee-paying schools that succeeded in gaining a place to study abroad. Almost 30 per cent of respondents had attended a UK state comprehensive and 54 per cent of respondents had received state schooling. Nevertheless, the independent sector was much more strongly represented in the sample of UK international students than one would expect relative to the size of this sector in the UK education system.
Another key finding is that international diploma-mobility is highly differentiated by destination.
• UK students enrolled at US universities are often from more privileged backgrounds. They often claimed that their move was in search of an elite university and many were seeking to enter an international career.
• UK students in Australia were likely to be interested in permanent emigration.
• UK students in Ireland were much more likely to report that they would consider returning to the UK after graduation.
Another important issue addressed by the report is the relationship between international student mobility and intentions to return to the UK. Some 24 per cent of students in the survey claimed that they had no intention of ever returning to the UK once their studies were complete. The vast majority did, however, plan to return, although many wanted to work abroad before coming back to the UK. Significantly, the survey results point to the students with the strongest A level results being more likely to want to return to the UK at some point after their studies. International student mobility should not therefore be interpreted as a brain drain of the UK’s best and brightest young people.
"Twelve years ago, the British educational press, and indeed the mainstream media, were consumed ... more "Twelve years ago, the British educational press, and indeed the mainstream media, were consumed by the story of Laura Spence, a super-bright pupil from a Newcastle comprehensive school who, despite having five straight-As at ‘A level’ (the final secondary school exams), had been refused a place to read Medicine at Oxford after an interview there. General outrage at Oxford’s snobbishness ensued, with politician Gordon Brown, amongst others, weighing in with the criticism that Oxford favored applicants from the UK’s fee-paying independent schools (which include the elite but perversely named ‘public schools’), thereby excluding excellent applicants from state schools like Laura – especially if they come from deprived parts of the country with strong local accents. Laura instead went to the US to Harvard on a funded scholarship, completed her biochemistry degree there and returned to do postgraduate medical training at Cambridge – the other UK university which constitutes the top duo known collectively as ‘Oxbridge’.
How typical is Laura’s story? Are there many British students who, as Oxbridge ‘rejects’, or fearful of being turned down for a place at the UK’s two most ancient and prestigious universities, apply abroad to widen their chances of success at other globally recognized institutions? Brooks and Waters (2009a) argue that there are indeed those like Laura who apply to US universities as a ‘second chance at success’; but our research suggests that there are many other explanations of the upward trend in favor of international study. Since the US is the most important destination for people from the UK studying abroad, the findings of this chapter are particularly important in producing a more robust understanding of the key drivers of international student mobility between one advanced economy and another. We suggest that there are some movers for whom study abroad is part of a carefully strategized plan of international career enhancement, while for others it is a product of their class habitus and family networks (see Bourdieu 1977). We would also argue that there are those who are looking for ‘something different’ yet, at the same time, desire a ‘knowable’ destination, familiar to them for example from film and television and without any great linguistic challenge.
In the next section we describe our research project and its aims and methods. The main body of the chapter is made up of three sections which correspond to our three key research questions: about motivations for study in the US, about experiences there, and about future career plans. The conclusion emphasises the motivational and strategic nature of UK student migration to the US, targeted especially at universities perceived to be of high international standing. In terms of the link between study abroad and future career plans, fears about a putative British ‘brain drain’ are shown to be largely unfounded, since most students plan to return to the UK.
This paper reports on research into the ways that schools engage in university application proces... more This paper reports on research into the ways that schools engage in university application processes. Questionnaire and interview data were collected from 1400 Year 13 students from 18 independent and state schools in England and 15 in-depth interviews were carried out with school teacher higher education (HE) advisors. The analysis compares independent and state schools with respect to: the types of higher education institutions (HEIs) that students applied for; the way the HE application process was managed in their schools; and how teacher advisors explained and managed the processes and outcomes for their students. Informed by Bourdieu’s relational sociology, our discussion focuses on how schools in the two sectors mobilise different forms of capital in the competitive processes of university application. We also use the notion of doxa to explore how these micro-institutional processes and teacher advice relate to observed differences between state and independent sector students’ HE destinations.
"Studies on migration and integration in Britain have noted the paucity of research on ‘new’ migr... more "Studies on migration and integration in Britain have noted the paucity of research on ‘new’ migrants, especially ‘illegal’ migrants and asylum seekers. This paper focuses on one understudied group - Albanian immigrants and their children - and looks at their migration and settlement, based on sixty interviews conducted in two phases either side of a 2003 mini-amnesty that gave many indefinite leave to remain. This regularization is the fulcrum around which our analytical narrative is built. Focusing on the interaction of migrants’ agency with host-country structure, the paper shows that an unsettled asylum policy and delays in implementation have had deleterious effects on migrants’ integration and sense of belonging, even after citizenship acquisition. As they search for a social and ethnic positioning within a multi-ethnic host society, the eventual realization of Albanians’ migration project is accompanied by culture shock, intergenerational difference and ambivalence towards integration."
"Research on the links of the second generation to their parental homeland, and return visits in ... more "Research on the links of the second generation to their parental homeland, and return visits in particular, is largely lacking. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 75 Albanian teenagers in London, Thessaloniki and Florence, this paper brings a multi-sited perspective on attitudes towards and experiences of homeland visits. Contrasts are drawn between positive themes emerging from the narratives, which are about belonging, family
and nature in Albania, and negative impressions which relate to poverty and traditionalism, and a developing sense of boredom as teenagers get older. We then relate some of these contrasting
experiences to differences in social integration in the three different host-society contexts. The conclusion elaborates the uniqueness and significance of this case, both in terms of this being the first exploration of the transnational orientations of one of Europe’s newest second generations, and in relation to the home-country context of a liberalising excommunist
country still in a state of economic backwardness."
This paper takes as its main focus the intersection of young people’s international mobility with... more This paper takes as its main focus the intersection of young people’s international mobility within Europe with a number of youth life transitions –from education to work, from unemployment to employment, and, more widely, from ‘youth’ to ‘adulthood’. It surveys both the extensive empirical literature on European youth migrations and a number of theoretical approaches which help to conceptualise and understand this youth-mobility phenomenon. Three categories of young intra-EU migrants are identified: students who are studying abroad, graduates who are working or seeking work abroad (the ‘higher-skilled’), and non-graduates working or looking for work abroad (the ‘lower-skilled’). The age-band is 16-35 years, although we acknowledge that ‘youth’ and ‘young adults’ are flexible categories. We also problematise the notion of skill and its various levels. Amongst the theoretical lenses we deploy to frame youth mobility are economic theory (neoclassical and ‘new economics’), social networks, life-course studies, temporal conjunctures (EU enlargement, the 2008 ‘crisis’), and core-periphery dynamics. The three longest sections of the paper review the empirical and theoretical literatures on mobile students and higher- and lower-skilled workers. The concluding discussion reviews policy measures taken at EU, national and local levels.
Willy Brandt Series of Working Papers in International Migration and Ethnic Relations 4/13, Dec 2013
""Our purpose in this paper is to explore the various types of interrelationship between two mobi... more ""Our purpose in this paper is to explore the various types of interrelationship between two mobility forms – migration on the one hand, and visiting friends and relatives ‘back home’ (and maybe elsewhere) on the other. The link between visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and migration has until recently been overlooked by migration scholars. It was essentially the 1990s ‘transnational turn’ in migration studies which highlighted more explicitly the to-and-fro mobilities that migrants engaged in with their homelands. Fast and cheap air travel has facilitated this intense VFR mobility. Taking a wider view, we argue that VFR travel is not a marginal aspect of migrants’ lives but is in fact constitutive of contemporary migration and diaspora dynamics. The first part of the paper maps out a typology of the multiple linkages between VFR travel and international migration; this is a complex task given the variety both of forms of migration and of types of VFR mobility. From this we aim to reconceptualise VFR travel as an essential element of most migration, and to draw out some of the economic and personal power geometries implicated in diverse forms of VFR travel and capability. We then examine three contrasting case-studies of VFR patterns amongst three different migrant groups in the United Kingdom: young Germans who are back-and-forth ‘free movers’ traversing shallow cultural and economic barriers to enjoy what they perceive as an exciting and cosmopolitan life in London; Kosovan refugees whose return visits were initially constrained by their exile status but whose VFR travels have since taken on a touristic aspect; and Latvian labour migrants in Guernsey whose to-and-fro mobility is partly driven by family ties and partly constrained by economic factors and the
residence and housing restrictions on this Channel Island.""
There are abundant literatures on linkages between migration, remittances and development, betwee... more There are abundant literatures on linkages between migration, remittances and development, between gender and migration, and between gender and development. The missing link in this set of overlapping literatures is gender and remittances. Thus far, some studies have tried to determine whether female migrants are ‘better’ remitters than men: results are mixed. But this is not the right question. It is more important to explore how gender relations shape the sending, receipt and utilisation of remittances; and how, in turn, the remittance process reshapes gender relations. This paper takes the case of recent Albanian migration to neighbouring Greece – one of post-communist Europe’s largest cross-border migrations – to illustrate how the patriarchal nature of the sending society, Albania, fundamentally shapes both the gendered pattern of migration and its equally gendered corollary, remittances. Based on questionnaire survey (n=350) and in-depth interview (n=45) data from fieldwork in rural south-east Albania and the Greek city of Thessaloniki, it is shown that the male-structured process of migration hardly allows women to remit, even when they are earning in Greece. Typologies of household-to-household remittances are developed. Interview data reveals that migration to Greece, and its attendant remittance flows, does give, within limits, increased agency to women within both the migrant and residual households, but things are on the whole slow to change.
The interdisciplinary field of migration studies is riven with binaries, one of the most fundamen... more The interdisciplinary field of migration studies is riven with binaries, one of the most fundamental of which is its split into internal and international migration, characterised by different literatures, concepts, methods and policy agendas. Most migration scholars nowadays
are researching international migration, even though, quantitatively, internal migration is more important. Yet the distinction between internal and international moves becomes increasingly blurred, not only because of geopolitical events and the changing nature and configuration of borders, but also because migrants’ journeys are becoming increasingly multiple, complex and fragmented. Nevertheless, there remain both many similarities and many differences between these two ‘migration traditions’.
The paper is in three main sections. First we present a schematic model which sets out 10 migration pathways which combine internal and international migration, and return migration, in various sequenced relationships. Second, we survey the limited literature which attempts to compare and integrate internal and international migration within the same theoretical framework – both general models and some case-study literature from Mexico. We consider three approaches where theoretical transfer seems to hold potential – systems analysis, studies of migrant integration, and the migration-development nexus. The final part of the
paper looks in more detail at the case of Albania where since 1990 there has been contemporaneous mass emigration and internal migration. We deploy both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the links between the two forms of migration in the Albanian context, demonstrating how closely they are entwined both in the macro-dynamics of regional
population change and in individual and family biographies of mobility.
In conclusion, we argue that there is considerable potential for integrating the study of internal and international migration, both at the theoretical and the empirical level. Too often one is studied without reference to the other, yielding a partial analysis. However, we baulk at attempting any ‘grand theory’ of migration which incorporates all types of migration, in all places and at all times.
In this chapter, we interpret and compare memories of life, landscape and kinship-based socialiti... more In this chapter, we interpret and compare memories of life, landscape and kinship-based socialities in Bangladesh on the part of two generations of British Bangladeshis, namely first-generation immigrants born in Bangladesh but now living in London, and their British-born children. The research material was collected via in-depth interviews with members of the Bangladeshi immigrant community in East London, the major concentration of Bangladeshis in the UK, and in Sylhet, the peripheral, north-eastern region of Bangladesh, from where most of these immigrants originate. We propose the notion of ‘memoryscapes’ to connote the real and tangible, but often nostalgic and idealised, recollections of places, landscapes and people remembered from the distant past of childhood, or from more recent experiences of visits. Beyond the addition of memoryscape to Appadurai’s (1990, 1996) exploration of the various ‘scapes’ which represent contemporary global cultural exchange, other innovative features of this chapter are its cross-generational and gendered comparisons, and its multi-sited fieldwork in London and Bangladesh. We therefore analyse two ‘memoryscapes’ associated with this long-distance migration and the visits back and forth. The first, for the first generation only, is about memories of their early lives in Bangladesh. For most, this entails nostalgic recollections of childhood in rural Sylhet, but also, for some, more harrowing memories of political struggle and economic hardship which led to the decision to leave. The second memoryscape refers to visits ‘home’, both of the first and the second generation. https://www.routledge.com/Memory-Migration-and-Travel/Marschall/p/book/9781138746442
This book explores how the real conditions and subjective conceptions of ageing and well-being ar... more This book explores how the real conditions and subjective conceptions of ageing and well-being are transformed when people move from one country to another. Focusing on ageing female migrants from Latvia in the UK and other European countries, this book is based on fifty life-history interviews with women aged 40s-60s. Empirical chapters concentrate on functional well-being in migration, which includes access to the economic citizenship of work, income, pensions, and accommodation, and on psychosocial well-being, and explores Latvian women’s experiences of intimate citizenship in migration. In addition, the authors’ research challenges the trope of vulnerability which generally surrounds the framing of older migrants’ lives. The study’s findings offer policy-makers insights into the realities of ageing working migrants and advocates for a more inclusive transnational citizenship, better working conditions, and ongoing care arrangements for older migrants post-retirement, either abroad or back home.
Migration in the modern world, rather than being seen as a symptom or result of underdevelopment,... more Migration in the modern world, rather than being seen as a symptom or result of underdevelopment, is now understood more as a route towards development and a strategy for alleviating poverty. This study of Albania is particularly significant in this new debate on migration and development as, since the fall of communism, remittances have been a major supporter of the Albanian economy, sustaining many Albanian families, especially in rural areas. The authors thus focus on the socio-cultural context of remittances, and explore how gender emerges as a powerful facet in the processes of development. It will therefore be of interest to scholars and students in Migration Studies, Development Studies, Gender Studies, Geography and Anthropology, as well as offering vital analysis for policy-makers, donors and civil society activists engaged in development planning and migration management.
We examine the comparative “return” experiences of second-generation Greek-Americans and British-... more We examine the comparative “return” experiences of second-generation Greek-Americans and British-born Greek Cypriots who have relocated to their respective parental homelands of Greece and Cyprus. Sixty individuals, born in the United States or the United Kingdom yet now living in Greece or Cyprus, were interviewed and detailed life narratives recorded. We find both similarities and differences between the two groups. While the broad narrative themes “explaining” their returns are similar—a search for a “place to belong” in the ancestral homeland linked to what is, or was, perceived to be a more relaxed and genuine way of life—the post-return outcomes vary. In Greece there is disappointment, even profound disillusionment, whereas in Cyprus the return is generally viewed with satisfaction. For Greek-Americans, negative experiences include difficulty in accessing employment, frustration with bureaucracy and a culture of corruption, struggles with the chaos and stress of life in Athens, and pessimism about the future for their children in Greece. As a result, some Greek-Americans contemplate a second return, back to the United States. For the returnee British Cypriots, these problems are far less evident; they generally rationalize their relocation to Cyprus as the “right decision,” both for themselves and for their children. Greek-Americans tend to withdraw into a social circle of their own kind, whereas British-born returnee Cypriots adopt a more cosmopolitan or “third-space” cultural identity related, arguably, to the small scale and intimate spaces of social exchange in an island setting, and to the colonial and postcolonial history of Cyprus and its diaspora.
This paper uses the metaphor of diasporic hubs and hinterlands to document and analyse the variou... more This paper uses the metaphor of diasporic hubs and hinterlands to document and analyse the various diasporic formations that overlap and encounter each other on the divided island of Cyprus. After a review of the various ways that islands interface with migration processes and some essential historical and statistical background on Cyprus and its population, the paper considers a number of migrations/diasporas that are based on or affect the island. They include the emigration from the diasporic hub of Cyprus during the 1950s-1970s; return migration, both of the original emigrants and their descendants; the British military/colonial settlement of Cyprus; retirees and 'lifestyle migrants'; and various categories of recent immigrants, for whom Cyprus is a diasporic hinterland. We draw both similarities and differences between migratory dynamics in the northern, Turkish Cypriot part of the island and the southern, Greek Cypriot part. In the final part of the paper we describe recent fieldwork on various spaces of inter-diasporic encounter in Cyprus.
This paper presents a detailed overview of migratory phenomena as they affect the island of Cypru... more This paper presents a detailed overview of migratory phenomena as they affect the island of Cyprus. There are several distinct yet overlapping migrations away from, into, and within the 'divided island', making it a multi-diasporic island space. We demonstrate how islands such as Cyprus can be used as 'spatial laboratories' for the intensive study of migratory and diasporic phenomena. The relative scale of migration is one of the highest in the EU-27: an 'emigrant stock' of 150,000, equivalent to 17 per cent of the island's population, and an immigrant stock of 154,000, out of a total island population of 900,000. The paper reviews the various 'migration realities' of Cyprus: emigration during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, largely to the UK but also to North America, Australia and South Africa; return migration, both of the firstgeneration emigrants as 'retirees' and of the second generation as well-educated professionals wishing to relocate to their parental homeland; the British (post-)colonial migrants, who are soldiers connected to the military bases on the island and largely retired 'expats'; and 'new immigrants' from a wide diversity of origins, including East European labour migrants and sex workers, Russian businessmen, Palestinian refugees, and Sri Lankan and Filipino domestic workers. A separate set of migration dynamics -both internal and external -has resulted from the 1974 partition of the island and more recent moves to open up the Green Line dividing the Turkish and Greek sectors. In the final sections of the paper we re-examine the concept of Cyprus as a multi-diasporic island space of inter-migrant and inter-cultural encounter, drawing on some specific examples.
17th IMISCOE Annual Conference, Luxembourg, 30 June – 2 July 2020
Research on transnationalism aims to understand the connections and practices of individuals, com... more Research on transnationalism aims to understand the connections and practices of individuals, communities and institutions that transcend the boundaries of the nation-state. Thus far, empirical research on transnationalism has usually focused on the cross-border practices, identifications and networks that encompass one origin country and a particular destination country. Yet, there has been a growing awareness that migrant trajectories can be more complex and fragmented-spanning multiple countries, regions and places. Seasonal workers engage in multi-directional moves to sustain their livelihoods. Refugees can traverse and settle in numerous countries in their search for protection. Highly-paid professionals are encouraged to move across several countries to advance their careers. Migrant families often establish multi-sited households and their geographical constellation can evolve over time.
This panel therefore aims to examine the connections between onward migration and transnationalism. We use the category of 'onward migrant' to refer not only to those who have moved across borders regularly, but also migrants who moved semi-legally or irregularly. We encourage the submission of papers by scholars from different disciplines and career stages employing a variety of methods. Papers can explore, but are not limited to, the following questions:
• How does transnationalism shape onward migration intentions and experiences? • How does onward migration affect transnational practices? • How do the transnational lives of onward migrants differ depending on gender, age, class, 'race', legal status, educational attainment, etc.? • What is distinctive about the transnational lives of onward migrants? • How do transnational ties and practices of onward migrants compare with those of one-step migrants or non-migrants? • What are the methodological implications of onward migration in terms of multi-sited transnationalism?
Please send your abstract of up to 250 words, a title and institutional affiliation to: [email protected]
Deadline for submission: 26 November 2019 Notification of acceptance: 29 November 2019
TRAFIG: Transnational Figurations of Displacement, Working Paper no.1, 2019
TRAFIG aims to contribute to the development of alternative solutions to protracted displacement ... more TRAFIG aims to contribute to the development of alternative solutions to protracted displacement that are tailored to the needs and capacities of displaced persons. This working paper contains our central concepts and key terms. We make use of the concept of social figurations as the theoretical foundation for our research. We understand figurations as dynamic social constellations between interdependent individuals that are produced in and through interactions and transactions. On this basis, we redefine protracted displacement as a figuration, in which displaced people's capabilities and opportunities are severely limited for prolonged periods of time. Multiple structural forces constrain them from using their capacities and making free choices: enduring displacing forces hinder return; marginalising forces prevent local integration; immobi-lising forces block chances to seek a future elsewhere. Protracted displacement is, however, much less static and fixed than commonly perceived. Displaced persons do have agency. They develop diverse strategies to cope with difficult situations and navigate through governance regimes of aid and asylum-and thereby change them. To comprehend the dynamics of protracted displacement a deeper understanding of displaced people's perspectives, capacities and practices and an acknowledgement of their everyday lives that often transgress places and territories is necessary. Translocal connectivity and human mobility can serve as resources to cope with and move out of protracted displacement. Developing new approaches to protracted displacement requires a move beyond the narrow frame of the conventional durable solutions (return, local integration , resettlement). A first step towards formulating alternatives, we suggest, is to recognise and effectively build upon displaced people's own preferences as well as their local and translocal networks. A key question then is how they use multiple interconnected pathways to enhance their protection and livelihood security.
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Papers by Russell King
International student mobility, especially diploma mobility (students taking their entire degree outside the UK), has received little attention from researchers. This report summarises the findings of research funded by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills aimed at improving understanding of the motivations behind the international diploma mobility of UK students. It also seeks to evaluate the scale and significance of UK international diploma mobility.
The research was undertaken by a collaborative team from the Universities of Dundee and Sussex during 2008 and 2009 led by Professors Findlay and King. It involved three key elements
• a metadata analysis of sources providing statistics on international student mobility,
• a survey of the application intentions of 1400 final-year pupils from schools in two regions of England, and
• a survey of 560 UK students currently enrolled for study at universities in the USA, Ireland, Australia, the Czech Republic, France and Germany.
In addition to the two questionnaire surveys, interviews were conducted with UK international students, international recruitment officers in 16 higher education institutions from around the world, as well as with school careers guidance teachers.
According to the OECD the number of UK students studying abroad has risen from 16,866 in 1975 to 22,405 in 2005. This growth is less than that for most OECD countries. Metadata analysis reveals many problems with using international agency datasets to evaluate trends in diploma mobility. Careful examination of national datasets suggests that OECD statistics may over-estimate the true figure for UK international diploma-mobile students by more than 10 per cent. Best estimates produced by the researchers nevertheless point to UK diploma-mobile students accounting for the equivalent of about 1.7% of all UK domiciled students enrolled in higher education and over the last two decades the number has been growing
Responses to the researchers’ English school questionnaire survey indicate that, amongst UK-nationals, some 2.8 per cent of state sector pupils and 5.5 per cent of independent sector pupils apply to universities outside the UK. Only a proportion of these are offered places to study abroad and choose finally to enrol. The survey revealed that many more pupils consider applying abroad, but in the end do not do so. The USA is by far the most popular destination for pupils considering studying abroad. It is particularly significant that it is the academically most gifted pupils who are the most likely to apply to foreign universities.
The international student survey identified a diverse range of motivations driving international student mobility.
• The dominant influence was the desire to attend a world-class institution (55% said this was important and 89% said it was important or very important). The significance of this driver of UK student mobility may be interpreted in several different ways as discussed in the main report. For some, failure to gain a place at their desired UK university was a trigger to mobility.
• Other motivations that were seen as very important included the opportunity for adventure (50%) and the desire to take the first step towards an international career (34%)
The report provides an analysis of which students were most likely to be driven by the desire to attend what they perceived to be the best universities in the world. It also considers whether this group of students was significantly different from those going abroad in search of adventure, or as a first step towards permanent emigration, or because of a desire to gain a place to study a particular discipline (where the opportunity to do so did not exist in the UK Higher Education system).
Amongst students in our survey, UK international diploma mobility is shown to be a selective process influenced by class and parental educational background. For example:
• Students who had attended independent schools were much more likely than those from the state sector to claim that their mobility was triggered by the search for a world class university
• Students from families where one or both parents had higher education were much more likely to go abroad in search of a world class university than those from other backgrounds.
The student survey suggested that it was not only students from fee-paying schools that succeeded in gaining a place to study abroad. Almost 30 per cent of respondents had attended a UK state comprehensive and 54 per cent of respondents had received state schooling. Nevertheless, the independent sector was much more strongly represented in the sample of UK international students than one would expect relative to the size of this sector in the UK education system.
Another key finding is that international diploma-mobility is highly differentiated by destination.
• UK students enrolled at US universities are often from more privileged backgrounds. They often claimed that their move was in search of an elite university and many were seeking to enter an international career.
• UK students in Australia were likely to be interested in permanent emigration.
• UK students in Ireland were much more likely to report that they would consider returning to the UK after graduation.
Another important issue addressed by the report is the relationship between international student mobility and intentions to return to the UK. Some 24 per cent of students in the survey claimed that they had no intention of ever returning to the UK once their studies were complete. The vast majority did, however, plan to return, although many wanted to work abroad before coming back to the UK. Significantly, the survey results point to the students with the strongest A level results being more likely to want to return to the UK at some point after their studies. International student mobility should not therefore be interpreted as a brain drain of the UK’s best and brightest young people.
How typical is Laura’s story? Are there many British students who, as Oxbridge ‘rejects’, or fearful of being turned down for a place at the UK’s two most ancient and prestigious universities, apply abroad to widen their chances of success at other globally recognized institutions? Brooks and Waters (2009a) argue that there are indeed those like Laura who apply to US universities as a ‘second chance at success’; but our research suggests that there are many other explanations of the upward trend in favor of international study. Since the US is the most important destination for people from the UK studying abroad, the findings of this chapter are particularly important in producing a more robust understanding of the key drivers of international student mobility between one advanced economy and another. We suggest that there are some movers for whom study abroad is part of a carefully strategized plan of international career enhancement, while for others it is a product of their class habitus and family networks (see Bourdieu 1977). We would also argue that there are those who are looking for ‘something different’ yet, at the same time, desire a ‘knowable’ destination, familiar to them for example from film and television and without any great linguistic challenge.
In the next section we describe our research project and its aims and methods. The main body of the chapter is made up of three sections which correspond to our three key research questions: about motivations for study in the US, about experiences there, and about future career plans. The conclusion emphasises the motivational and strategic nature of UK student migration to the US, targeted especially at universities perceived to be of high international standing. In terms of the link between study abroad and future career plans, fears about a putative British ‘brain drain’ are shown to be largely unfounded, since most students plan to return to the UK.
and nature in Albania, and negative impressions which relate to poverty and traditionalism, and a developing sense of boredom as teenagers get older. We then relate some of these contrasting
experiences to differences in social integration in the three different host-society contexts. The conclusion elaborates the uniqueness and significance of this case, both in terms of this being the first exploration of the transnational orientations of one of Europe’s newest second generations, and in relation to the home-country context of a liberalising excommunist
country still in a state of economic backwardness."
residence and housing restrictions on this Channel Island.""
are researching international migration, even though, quantitatively, internal migration is more important. Yet the distinction between internal and international moves becomes increasingly blurred, not only because of geopolitical events and the changing nature and configuration of borders, but also because migrants’ journeys are becoming increasingly multiple, complex and fragmented. Nevertheless, there remain both many similarities and many differences between these two ‘migration traditions’.
The paper is in three main sections. First we present a schematic model which sets out 10 migration pathways which combine internal and international migration, and return migration, in various sequenced relationships. Second, we survey the limited literature which attempts to compare and integrate internal and international migration within the same theoretical framework – both general models and some case-study literature from Mexico. We consider three approaches where theoretical transfer seems to hold potential – systems analysis, studies of migrant integration, and the migration-development nexus. The final part of the
paper looks in more detail at the case of Albania where since 1990 there has been contemporaneous mass emigration and internal migration. We deploy both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the links between the two forms of migration in the Albanian context, demonstrating how closely they are entwined both in the macro-dynamics of regional
population change and in individual and family biographies of mobility.
In conclusion, we argue that there is considerable potential for integrating the study of internal and international migration, both at the theoretical and the empirical level. Too often one is studied without reference to the other, yielding a partial analysis. However, we baulk at attempting any ‘grand theory’ of migration which incorporates all types of migration, in all places and at all times.
https://www.routledge.com/Memory-Migration-and-Travel/Marschall/p/book/9781138746442
This panel therefore aims to examine the connections between onward migration and transnationalism. We use the category of 'onward migrant' to refer not only to those who have moved across borders regularly, but also migrants who moved semi-legally or irregularly. We encourage the submission of papers by scholars from different disciplines and career stages employing a variety of methods. Papers can explore, but are not limited to, the following questions:
• How does transnationalism shape onward migration intentions and experiences?
• How does onward migration affect transnational practices?
• How do the transnational lives of onward migrants differ depending on gender, age, class, 'race', legal status, educational attainment, etc.?
• What is distinctive about the transnational lives of onward migrants?
• How do transnational ties and practices of onward migrants compare with those of one-step migrants or non-migrants?
• What are the methodological implications of onward migration in terms of multi-sited transnationalism?
Please send your abstract of up to 250 words, a title and institutional affiliation to: [email protected]
Deadline for submission: 26 November 2019
Notification of acceptance: 29 November 2019
More info about the 17th IMISCOE Annual Conference: https://www.imiscoe.org/news/network-news/924-cfp-imiscoe-17th-annual-conference-crossing-borders-connecting-cultures-luxembourg