We are delighted to announce the publication of the IRiS anthology to mark the tenth anniversary of the University of Birmingham’s Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS). A decade is an important milestone for a research centre. We wanted to take this opportunity to think collectively about past, present and future directions of research on... Continue Reading →
Looking back to look forward: Call for Papers and Panels for IRiS 10th Anniversary Conference is open
The Institute for Research into Superdiversity (IRiS) at the University of Birmingham is inviting abstracts for paper and panel proposals for its 10th anniversary international conference Looking back to look forward: Celebrating 10 years of research on migration, forced displacement and superdiversity. The conference will be held at the University of Birmingham, 14-16 September 2022.... Continue Reading →
Transnational politics and ‘The Ethics of Exile’: new episode of Conversations with Iris
The newest episode of Conversations with IRiS explores transnational political mobilisation by migrant communities. https://youtu.be/aNcnOSX186w Catherine Craven (Research Fellow on the MIGZEN project) speaks to Ashwini Vasanthakumar (Associate Professor at Queen’s University, Canada), about her recently published book The Ethics of Exile: A Political Theory of Diaspora, which explores the normative and political agency of... Continue Reading →
Launch on NODE UK|Japan special issue
On 13 December at 10 am (GMT) we are launching the special issue of Comparative Migration Studies edited and authored by members of the NODE UK|Japan academic network. We will hear from editors and authors and celebrate the network with the launch of the new NODE portal. All articles are available open access on Comparative... Continue Reading →
Intergenerational narratives of citizenship among EU nationals in the UK after Brexit: new article in Ethnic and Racial Studies
Becoming or not becoming British? Marie Godin and Nando Sigona look into naturalisation decision making among EU citizens in the UK after Brexit in a new open access article published in Ethnic and Racial Studies.
The share of British naturalization applications by EU citizens increased in the aftermath of the 2016 EU referendum. This article looks into the range of motivations informing decisions to become British or not among EU families from new and old EU member states.
This open access article contributes to scholarship on migrants’ lived experiences of naturalization by adopting a family-centred approach to explore intergenerational and intersectional dynamics in citizenship decision making. Naturalization involves personal and collective reckoning with a sense of loss of status and imagined future. We argue that rather than a “premium”, naturalization is framed by many EU citizens as a response to a perceived loss of status (defensive narrative) and threat (protective narrative). This process is mediated and negotiated within the household, and the narratives of naturalization are embedded in participants’ social positioning and shaped by their social statuses and senses of entitlement.
To read the article:…
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Reflections on Refugee Backlash and Gendered Harms
by Sandra Pertek (@sandrapertek), IRiS, University of Birmingham Within a window of 15 hours, I virtually travelled in time zones from GMT -5 to GMT +5. These journeys reminded me yet again about some of the most haunting downfalls of humanity. First, I participated in the Bold New Voices in Migration Research Conference organised by the Immigration Initiative... Continue Reading →
Mapping the field: Migration Studies
We are pleased to launch a new series of blog posts aimed at providing insights into the key themes, centres of production and geographical foci in migration studies today through an analysis of the coverage of some of the key academic journals in the field. The series is written and researched by the students on... Continue Reading →
Understanding migration and diversity in the age of ‘crises’: join our MA programme
https://youtu.be/wVvA2QhT34M Registration for our MA programme on migration is still open. It is a research-intensive programme taught by researchers at the Institute for Research into Superdiversity. To find out more: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/courses/taught/social-policy/migration-studies.aspx
Community sponsorship Photo Exhibition 2020
In early 2020 the University of Birmingham ran a photo competition for all volunteers and refugees involved in Community Sponsorship in the UK. A number of entries were received, with a winner announced for each group. This online exhibition is a showcase of all of the photos that were entered into the competition. Volunteer group... Continue Reading →
“It took 2 hours and one third didn’t get through”: Piloting the settled status application with Roma migrants
IRiS research fellow Dr Marie Godin and Mihai Calin Bica reveal the challenges the Settled Status application pose to Roma applicants.
EU families & Eurochildren in Brexiting Britain
By Marie Godin and Mihai Calin Bica*
Since the Brexit referendum that took place on 23 June 2016, the Roma Support Group[1], a community organisation working with Roma people in the UK, has been active in informing community members about their rights. In addition, the organisation has been involved in campaigning towards local, regional and national policy makers in order to raise awareness about the specific vulnerabilities of the Roma population and their future migration status. In that respect, it coordinated a special joint roundtable of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Migration and All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gypsies, Travellers and Roma, which was held in July 2018[2] so Roma’s people concerns could be heard. Following that encounter, the Home Office invited the Roma Support Group to take part in monthly vulnerable user group meetings[3] in relation to the EU Exit Settlement Scheme[4].. As part…
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