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07 Apr 2026
Migration in Contentious Times: IMISCOE, Spring 2026
Attending the IMISCOE Spring Conference 2026, which took place from March 16 to 18, 2026, hosted by the Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies (CEDEM) at the 深夜亚洲福利久久 of Li猫ge, Belgium, offered a timely opportunity to reflect on how migration research itself is evolving in response to increasingly polarised political climates, restrictive migration regimes, and rising anti-immigrant discourses.
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10 Feb 2026
MIGMOBS landmark - publishing online of the Global Transnational Mobility Dataset 2.0
MIGMOBS reached a significant landmark in February with the publishing online of the Global Transnational Mobility Dataset 2.0. This Dataset, produced by the Global Mobilities Project team in Florence, is a flagship output of the project.
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26 Jan 2026
Bridging the East Asia-Europe Divide: Insights from the Singapore Workshop on Migration Regimes
Building on our commitment to mapping the complexities of global mobility, our team recently participated in the workshop "New Dynamics in Asia's Migration Regimes" on 15-16 January 2026 at the Asia Research Institute (ARI), National 深夜亚洲福利久久 of Singapore. The event aims to understand how demographic shifts and acute labor shortages in Asia are reconfiguring the way states manage migrant labor.
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鈥淟et No Irishman Throw a Stone at the Foreigner鈥�: Remembering and Forgetting Solidarity in Contemporary Ireland
Walking through the streets of Cork, a recent mural by the artist Claire Coughlan reads: 鈥淟et no Irishman throw a stone at the foreigner; he may hit his own clansman鈥欌�欌�� James Connolly It is a striking reminder of Connolly鈥檚 vision of solidarity 鈥� one that rejects the politics of exclusion and recognises the shared histories of displacement and oppression. Yet, beneath this powerful appeal lies a deeper tension: what does it mean for a postcolonial, now increasingly diverse Ireland, to memorialise Connolly鈥檚 words at a time when the anti-immigration far-right movement is fuelling hostility and discrimination against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland?
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MIGMOBS-related publications
We aim to share MIGMOBS-related publications - browse our publications here.
| Category | Category | Keywords | Year | Title | Abstract | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | Feminism, Middle-class Chinese women, rock music, Censorship | 2025 |
Rocking Boundaries: Made-in-China Feminism and an All-Female Chinese Band in Tokyo by Meiyun Meng |
This essay examines how Iceless, a Tokyo-based band of highly educated, middle-class Chinese women, redefines gender norms through their music, marking a unique evolution in Made-in-China feminism. Traditional band culture in China often celebrates male success stories in which talent wins fame and love, while women鈥檚 bands historically embody ideals of obedience, elegance, and service to male authority. This essay highlights how Chinese women are now resisting these expectations, asserting their agency within the constraints of state and algorithmic censorship. By addressing feminist themes in the diaspora and strategically negotiating boundaries to access the mainland Chinese market, Iceless transforms rock music into a platform for subtle yet impactful grassroots feminist expression. Their journey illuminates how Made-in-China feminism actively shapes gender politics, revealing women鈥檚 rock bands as a transformative force in the broader evolution of gender politics in China. | More details |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Tackling 鈥榮candalous inequalities鈥�: A Global Policy Proposal for a Humanity Identity Card and Basic Income Supplement by Ettore Recchi and Tobias Grohmann |
Food insecurity and the absence of legal identity are the most severe deficiencies in vital and existential human capabilities. These extreme situations expose 鈥榮candalous inequalities鈥� between the haves and have-nots on a global scale. The article proposes addressing these issues simultaneously by introducing a Humanity Identity Card (HIC), coupled with a Basic Income Supplement (BIS) of US$ 1 per day for the most vulnerable half of the world鈥檚 population. This global social policy aims to expedite the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 16.9 and 2.1 of the United Nations. The initial funding for the HIC could be sourced from contributions amounting to 0.66% of the gross domestic product of sovereign states, 0.66% of the market capitalisation of major corporations, and 0.66% of the wealth of billionaire households. The HIC would permanently provide universal recognition of individual identity, while the BIS is designed to be gradually phased out as its benefits take effect. Additionally, implementing this policy worldwide can foster a sense of shared responsibility in addressing the global challenges humanity faces. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Space-Sets: Introducing and Testing a Multi-Dimensional Measure of Individual Transnational Mobility by Ettore Recchi |
Existing research on the transnational mobility of individuals tends to rely on limited and possibly misleading indicators. Arguing that mobility experiences are in fact multidimensional and cumulative over the course of a lifetime, this paper proposes a novel concept called 鈥榮pace-set鈥� and applies it to representative samples of the population in France, Germany and Italy (ELIPSS, GP.pop and Doxa surveys). A space-set is defined as the collection of each person鈥檚 geographical places known through first-hand experience. In a transnational perspective, its key dimensions are Size (the number of countries visited), Width (the farthest distance traveled), and Focus (being emotionally attached or not to more than one country). This new indicator measures individual-level inequalities of geographical mobility. As a proof of concept, the empirical part of the paper uses space-sets to address two research questions that loom large in different strands of the literature on social transnationalism: on the one hand, the social stratification of cross-border travel, on the other the association between transnational mobility and supranational orientations (i.e., cosmopolitan and pro-EU attitudes). Results confirm that space-sets are socially stratified by both class and education, and that larger, wider, and more transnationally oriented space-sets are associated with supranational orientations. Comparatively, all dimensions of space-sets are stronger in the German population than in their French and Italian counterparts. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2026 |
Contemporary genealogy of forced displacement in Africa in the light of border conflicts by Kheira Arrouche |
The causal link between border conflicts in Africa and forced displacements is not always clear in terms of cause and effect. We intend to highlight this contemporary reality through our contribution. Our argument is developed in three stages. First, we will focus on the trends of pacification and conflictualisation of borders at the global and African level; Second, we will return to the historical conditions of formation of African borders and subsequent developments which are certainly determining due to colonial divisions and societal fractures; however, they remain insufficient to explain the perpetuation of forced migrations after independence. Third, we will attempt to estimate the impact of border conflicts in Africa on forced displacements. To do this, we will mobilize a methodology based on documentary and statistical research. The results relativize the dramatization of migrations specific to the continent and the permanent guilt of colonization, confirm that African borders are in a process of appropriation and evolution in conflicts. While establishing the link between forced migrations and border conflicts, other indigenous and exogenous factors would exist. | More details | |
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Conference Paper / Proceedings |
Conference Paper / Proceedings | Migration brokerage, Indonesia, sending region | 2024 |
Exploring the impact of sending companies on Indonesian labor migration trajectories by Gracia Liu-Farrer |
Labor migration from Indonesia relies heavily on intermediaries, particularly migrant sending companies, which constitute a crucial part of the migration infrastructure. While recent research has increasingly focused on the facilitative role of intermediaries in channeling individual migrants' cross-border labor mobility, this study examines these intermediaries as distinct actors who have unique identities, exhibiting diverse resources and practices that significantly influence migrants' migratory trajectories. Based on extensive fieldwork data collected in Indonesia and dozens of interviews with representatives of a diverse sample of sending companies and migrant work seekers across different regions, this presentation sheds light on how sending companies' identities are shaped by their historical backgrounds, cultural values, and organizational history. These distinct identities are manifested in their transnational networks, their relationship with the governing bodies, the types of employment opportunities they offer, and their operational approaches in the migration business. We demonstrate how such varying identities of sending companies play a pivotal role in shaping migrant workers' migration trajectories, particularly in determining the choice of destination country, occupation, and the conditions under which they migrate. The existence of different sending companies creates specific channels that influence divergent migration paths to various countries pursued by migrant workers and their potential wellbeing. | More details |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | migration brokerage, migration industry, labor migration, Indonesia | 2025 |
Building the channels, keeping the gates: The role of intermediaries in shaping differentiated transnational labor mobilities out of Indonesia by Gracia Liu-Farrer |
IDrawing on government statistics and in-depth interviews with owners and directors of 21 migrant worker sending companies in Indonesia, we identify three types of migrant worker sending companies that engage in and facilitate Indonesia鈥檚 overseas labor placement鈥攖he providers, the pioneers, and the protectors. We argue that in a changed labor-sending context, only those sending companies with strong and positively received identities and practices can sustain their businesses and succeed in recruiting workers, indicating a shift in relationships between labor intermediaries and migrant workers, as well as the role of intermediaries in shaping Indonesia鈥檚 labor-sending patterns. | More details |
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Conference Paper / Proceedings |
Conference Paper / Proceedings | women brokers, migration industry | 2025 |
Brokering care: Women migration entrepreneurs in Indonesia by Gracia Liu-Farrer |
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Indonesians migrate for work abroad, and over ninety-five percent of these workers are recruited through private agencies. Among the top 25 agencies, twelve are led by women. These female migration entrepreneurs vary in background and strategy: some specialize in dispatching domestic workers to single destinations, while others eschew care work to pursue placement in formal sectors such as manufacturing and services. Regardless of placement focus, their success鈥攎easured in deployment volume鈥攊s largely built on reputations for low-cost or zero-cost recruitment and placement efficiency. Yet these women are not merely businesspeople; they are entangled in the shifting politics of migration governance and industry competition. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic observations, this paper explores how these women navigate the moral and political terrain of labor brokerage. It highlights how they strive to uphold what they see as ethical recruitment practices, reimagine their work as a form of social service, and pursue a vision of gendered progress and worker dignity. | More details |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | Venezuela | 2025 |
Pour une hospitalit茅 茅largie selon une perspective am茅rindienne by Ana Paula Penchaszadeh |
Vers les ann茅es 1980, au Venezuela, j鈥檃i 茅cout茅 un r茅cit relatif 脿 un peuple originaire qui est rest茅 grav茅 dans ma m茅moire comme quelque chose qui devait 锚tre soigneusement analys茅 et travaill茅 脿 un moment donn茅, car il apportait un 茅clairage sur mes sentiments de l鈥櫭﹑oque, en tant que migrante et, par la suite, 脿 ma pens茅e en tant que migrantologue : lorsque des personnes appartenant 脿 un certain peuple entreprennent des voyages, une fois arriv茅s 脿 leur destination, ils restent immobiles et silencieux pendant plusieurs heures, attendant que leur 芒me arrive et rejoigne leur corps. Ce peuple comprend que le corps se d茅place plus vite que l鈥櫭e et que les mouvements li茅s au voyage et 脿 la migration produisent un d茅calage entre l鈥檕rdre objectif du soma (corps) et l鈥檕rdre subjectif de la psych茅 (芒me). Dans ce texte nous cherchons 脿 comprendre cette sc猫ne 脿 partir d鈥檜ne perspective diff茅rente de l鈥檋ospitalit茅, en tant que moment sp茅cifique et intensif d鈥檜n 锚tre par d茅finition pluriel se tissant dans la Relation, le mouvement, et le devenir. Pour faire jouer diff茅remment la relation espace-temps impliqu茅e dans la migration, le voyage, l鈥檃rriv茅e et l鈥檃ccueil, on abordera dans un premier temps de mani猫re critique la tradition indo-europ茅enne, en montrant comment la probl茅matique g茅n茅rale de l鈥檋ospitalit茅 a 茅t茅 enferm茅e dans les limites du don sacrificiel et de l鈥櫭ヽonomie violente de l鈥檌dentit茅/diff茅rence ; dans un deuxi猫me temps, nous nous tournerons vers une autre fa莽on de penser l鈥檃ccueil, qui suppose l鈥檃lt茅ration et l鈥檌mplication mutuelles de l鈥櫭猼re-avec-autrui du nous-autrui, 脿 partir des sc猫nes am茅rindiennes qui fondent notre fa莽on particuli猫re de consteller le social鈥� | More details |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Normalizing exceptions and accepting differences: Japan鈥檚 pragmatic pathway to becoming an immigrant country by Gracia Liu Farrer |
One of the most captive and resilient notions reified in post-war Japanese society is that Japan is a racially homogeneous island nation. This ethnonationalist ideology has contributed to the Japanese government鈥檚 resistance to immigration for decades. However, confronted with increasing demographic crises and skills shortages, Japan has been opening its door wider toward foreigners, making it a de facto immigrant society. This paper highlights two parallel processes in this development: the normalization of exceptions and the acceptance of differences. The first process is at the national government level, happening in the policy arena, and the second is more localized, involving a wide range of people, organizations, and local governments. Nonetheless, for Japan to transform into an immigrant society, two ideological barriers need to be overcome: One is the discourse of 鈥渘o-immigration鈥�, and the other is the identity-binary of 鈥淛apanese鈥� versus 鈥渇oreigner鈥�. These two discourses exert influences on both policymaking and everyday life. The paper argues that where Japan is heading is very much contingent upon whether, when, and under what conditions such discourses will be abandoned. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Neoliberal humanitarianism: Contradictory policy logics and Syrian refugee experiences in Japan by Gracia Liu-Farrer |
Since the 2011 beginning of the Syrian uprising, more than 800 Syrians have become registered residents of Japan. Japan is an unusual destination for these refugees due not only to its geographical and cultural distance from the Middle East and lack of Arab diasporic communities, but also to what we call neoliberal humanitarianism: an approach by which states adopt policies and programmes to reduce refugees鈥� suffering while also regarding refugees as potentially profitable workers responsible for their own economic survival and social integration. In Japan鈥檚 case, the driver of neoliberal humanitarianism is its interest in keeping par with G7 peers in 鈥榙oing something鈥� in the face of a global 鈥榬efugee crisis鈥� on the one hand, and its lack of political or social will to receive refugees, on the other. The contradictions inherent in these imperatives come to the fore in the 鈥楯apanese Initiative for the future of Syrian Refugees鈥� (JISR), which invites Syrian refugees to pursue graduate degrees at Japanese universities. Japan officially presents JISR participants as refugees, but legally regards them as students, provides limited financial support, and encourages them not to apply for asylum. This article investigates JISR as a case study of neoliberal humanitarianism and examines its contradictory logics and consequences, from the perspective of refugees鈥� experiences. Qualitative analysis of twenty-one original interviews shows that, though Syrians often choose Japan in search of stability after years of precarity in countries on Syria鈥檚 borders, neoliberal humanitarianism in this unusual destination generates a new chapter of uncertainty and disappointment. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Japan鈥檚 Stalled Immigration Experiment: The Uncertain Future of a Promising Approach by Gracia Liu-Farrer |
More details | ||
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Argentina y los venezolanos: Un ejemplo en la materia de regularizaci贸n migratoria by Ana Paula Penchaszadeh |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Balance de la pol铆tica migratoria del gobierno de Alberto Fern谩ndez (2019-2023): El acceso a la documentaci贸n argentina bajo la lupa by Ana Paula Penchaszadeh |
The purpose of this article is to analyze Argentina鈥檚 migrant regularization policy implemented under the administration of Alberto Fern谩ndez, between 2019 and 2023. The proposed theoretical-ethodological approach is based on the analytical distinction of three levels: 1) legal-normative, 2) bureaucratic-administrative and 3) sociodemographic (the effects or impact of the regularization policy on the migrant population). Through a cross-referencing of primary and secondary sources, the analysis also differentiates the policies according to whether they were oriented to manage the urgency, generate compensation mechanisms or normalize and standardize the public agency. Finally, the manuscript includes a specific section that systematizes and addresses key statistical information to longitudinally measure the impact of migration regularization policies in the period under study. In the conclusions, the findings are taken up and the regularization conditions bequeathed to the next government are indicated. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2026 |
Afterlives of decolonisation: the racialisation of West and Central African migrants in contemporary Algeria by Kheira Arrouche |
This article investigates the racialisation of West and Central African migrants in Algeria; a state historically celebrated for its anti-colonial solidarity. Through ethnographic fieldwork in Oran and Algiers, it centers the migrants鈥� lived experiences to reveal a pervasive landscape of everyday racism and dehumanisation. The analysis argues that Algerian racial formations exceed Euro-American binaries, operating through context-specific logics that render Blackness hyper-visible yet structurally excluded. The article traces contemporary anti-Blackness to what I term the afterlives of decolonisation, through which the legacies of slavery, French colonisation, and religious hierarchies continue to shape racial formations in postcolonial Algeria, marginalising and erasing Black histories and presence within dominant Arab-Islamic national imaginaries. Ultimately, the study reveals how a state forged through liberation struggle reproduces colonial structures of negation, casting Blackness as a threatening 鈥渙ther鈥� incompatible with Algerian identity. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2026 |
Counter-trafficking Policies and the Overseas Labour Protection Regime in Indonesia: Between Populism and Securitisation by Pamungkas A. Dewanto |
After the 1990s, in addition to the European cases, scholars working on human trafficking also put major attention to Southeast Asia. This article contributes to the discourse on the nexus between labour migration and human trafficking by analysing the politics surrounding counter-trafficking policymaking in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia. This study investigates two interrelated domestic factors influencing the evolution of the state's counter-trafficking framework: (1) the integration of labour protection within a populist policy agenda and (2) the securitisation of labour migration. Combined with the global discourse on labour trafficking, such intertwining factors have resulted in the counter-trafficking approach which tends to criminalise actors within the labour migration sector. Drawing upon extensive fieldwork conducted between 2022 and 2024 in multiple sites in Indonesia, this research argues that domestic political dynamics, when considered alongside broader global debates on human trafficking, have significantly shaped the government's direction in counter-trafficking policy development. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
La Encuesta de Trayectorias Adolescentes en el AMBA (2023): reflexiones metodol贸gicas y resultados preliminares by Natalia Debandi and Joanna Sander |
Este art铆culo presenta los aspectos metodol贸gicos del desarrollo y la aplicaci贸n de la Encuesta de Trayectorias a adolescentes y j贸venes (ETrA) subrayando los desaf铆os y aprendizajes en la producci贸n de datos primarios desde la academia, con un enfoque pr谩ctico de derechos humanos. La encuesta, desarrollada en el marco de un proyecto en curso que lleva adelante el Observatorio de Adolescentes y J贸venes (IIGG UBA), tuvo como objetivo evaluar los efectos de las pol铆ticas p煤blicas y las percepciones de les adolescentes sobre discriminaci贸n, exclusi贸n y violencia estatal. Realizada entre abril y octubre de 2023 en seis partidos del AMBA, la ETrA recopil贸 alrededor de 300 respuestas de adolescentes de sectores populares. Entre las conclusiones del art铆culo, se destaca la importancia del small data a la hora de captar las especificidades de las trayectorias biogr谩ficas de colectivos como el de adolescentes, fundamentalmente en relaci贸n a las tem谩ticas abordadas por la ETrA. | More details | |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | International student mobility, migration, infrastructure, talent, governance, subnational, Indonesia | 2026 |
Subnational migration infrastructure and international student mobility: insights from Indonesia鈥檚 "Beasiswa NTB" programme by Pamungkas A. Dewanto |
Drawing on the case of Beasiswa NTB鈥攁 subnational scholarship programme funded by the provincial government of West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia鈥攖his article examines how institutional actors, regulatory mechanisms, and logistical arrangements mediate trajectories of international student mobility (ISM). In a setting where opportunities for overseas study are uneven and limited, the provincial government emerges as a pivotal actor, not only in facilitating student departures but also in defining eligibility criteria and shaping the directionality of mobility pathways. The article shows that Beasiswa NTB operates through a complex interplay between formal governance structures and ad hoc bureaucratic practices, which often reproduces rather than alleviates inequality. It argues that this dynamic is driven by a regulatory framework designed to expedite student mobility without adequate institutional consolidation, resulting in bureaucratic circumvention, the proliferation of informal arrangements with limited oversight and accountability, standard-lowering practices, and heightened vulnerability to political intervention. | More details |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2025 |
Voto inmigrante en la provincia de Buenos Aires: la pol铆tica subnacional de empadronamiento bajo la lupa by Ana Paula Penchaszadeh |
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Journal Article |
Journal Article | 2024 |
鈥溌odo sal铆a de mi vagina!鈥�: Migraci贸n venezolana y trabajo sexual en clave singular by Ana Paula Penchaszadeh |
El objetivo de este art铆culo es analizar el caso particular de una trabajadora sexual migrante venezolana. Para ello, en primer lugar, se aborda el fen贸meno de la feminizaci贸n de las migraciones y, al interior de este fen贸meno, el funcionamiento del mercado sexual transnacional. En segundo lugar, siguiendo el hilo de una entrevista semiestructurada en profundidad y varias interacciones posteriores, bajo la estructura del di谩logo, se abordan algunas de las principales caracter铆sticas de la migraci贸n venezolana, as铆 como las l贸gicas del mercado sexual y el funcionamiento de las redes de trata y sujeci贸n con base en la deuda y el cuidado. La investigaci贸n se sustenta metodol贸gicamente en la perspectiva de la sociolog铆a de las migraciones, al considerar la unidad biogr谩fica del migrante en un campo social transnacional en los que se articulan estructuras, agencias, poderes y resistencias. | More details | |
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Book chapter |
Book chapter | 2024 |
Migraciones y acceso a la seguridad social en la Argentina hoy: La imposible universalidad by Ana Paula Penchaszadeh and Julieta Nicolao |
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MIGMOBS ERC AdG Project 101097240
Contact us
Radical Humanities Laboratory, Wandesford Quay Research Facility, 深夜亚洲福利久久 College Cork, Republic of Ireland
- migmobs@ucc.ie
- Professor Adrian Favell, Project PI