The Migration Podcast

Today, just as throughout history, people move to reach better education and work opportunities – this could mean moving across states’ borders, but it could also mean crossing a city every day to attend in a better school. Thus, in many ways it is obvious that human development is hugely related to migration and mobility. My guest in this episode argues that how development and migration are link...

Falling in love and wanting to build a life with another person is a common human experience, but when you have different passports, states’ immigration systems can impose real challenges to love, romance and families. This is something that UK-EU couples are experiencing now after Brexit. In many cases, it was the freedom of movement in the EU that allowed these people to meet in the first place...

In this episode, Asya Pisarevskaya speaks with two experts on migrant transnationalism: Özge Bilgili and Marta Bivand Erdal. They just published a book on transnationalism together in IMISCOE’s Short Reader Series. After listening to their conversation, transnationalism is no longer just an abstract concept. They give examples of what it really looks like in people’s everyday lives (including thei...

In this episode, you’ll hear Kate Dearden speaking with Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot and Herbary Cheung. At IMISOCE’s annual conference in summer 2025, they won the “Best Paper Award” from IMISCOE’s Standing Committee on Gender and Sexuality in Migration Studies (“GenSeM”). Their paper is called: "Temporal contextuality of agentic intersectional positionalities: nuancing power relations in the ethnograp...

When it comes to what influences “migrant integration”, you might think of national-level laws and policies, and maybe look at statistics on how well immigrants are doing in relation to other groups with employment rates, their health, or language acquisition. You might also look at to what extent people have “accepting attitudes” to newcomers or neighbours with different backgrounds than them. Ou...

This is a guest episode from the third season of the Borders and Belonging Podcast, which is produced by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration (or “CERC”) at Toronto Metropolitan University. They just launched a new season, called “in conversation”, in which leading voices dive into urgent migration issues shaping Canada and the world. You can find it on all major strea...

Whether on billboards, films or other medium, messages from “do not come” to “it is dangerous” are a consistent part of European states’ to discourage irregularised migration from Africa. Yet, evaluations have reported time and time again that such campaigns are not “effective” – if that is even the right question. Why do states keep investing in anti-immigration information campaigns? In this epi...

Today you’ll hear Liberty Chee speak with two scholars whose research focuses on musicians who have been displaced from their homelands. Rose Campion looks at what the music industry can teach us about migration policy. Her ethnographic research explores how forced migrants from all over the world build their careers as professional musicians in Germany. She talks about how they try to ‘make it’,...

This episode features a conversation recorded live at the IMISCOE annual conference that was hosted in Paris-Auberville in early July. Submit proposals for the IMISCOE’s Spring Conference in Liège next March, as well as the next annual conference – which will take place in Girona. Check below for more information! In this episode, you’ll hear Asya Pisarevskaya speak with Andrea Pettrachin and Karo...

Is migrating a risk factor for one’s mental health? Well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no – it depends on the context and perspective. (Of course, “context and perspective” is the simple way of putting it. You’ll hear about some of the complexity behind this, in this episode!) You’ll hear Itzel Eguiluz interview Ietza Bojorquez and Sylvia Dantas about their work with migrants in Mexico and Brazil....

In this episode I talk with two researchers about the lives of migrants from Central Asia in Russia, both before, and since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is probably no surprise that this conflict is affecting migrants in Russia, and you’ll hear all about this from the guests in this episode. You’ll also hear a bit about the people behind the numbers, when we talk about the millions of migrants...

It’s an exciting time for qualitative research methods these days. Migration scholars are pushing the boundaries of traditional interview techniques, with the aim to amplify the voices of marginalized groups as well as to influence policy and reach wider audiences. In this episode you’ll hear Silindile Mlilo interview two researchers who are using creative and non-traditional research methods. Isa...

Welcome back! You’re listening to the first episode of the 5th season of IMISCOE’s Migration Podcast. If you’re listening for the first time: IMISCOE is the largest European network of scholars in the area of migration and integration, with 69 member institutes and over 1400 scholars from all over the world. And this is the network’s podcast, where we hear migration researchers talk about their la...

While we take a break from our regular programming before our fifth season – we have a special treat for you! We have the honour of offering you an episode from the fantastic podcast "Border & Belonging, a CERC Migration podcast", which is produced by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration at Toronto Metropolitan University. The episode is about the rise of digital nomad...

Announcement: The deadline for submitting a paper proposal for IMISCOE’s 2025 conference has been extended to October 8. All information can be found here: https://www.imiscoe.org/events/imiscoe-events/2117-22nd-imiscoe-annual-conference ************** In this episode, you’ll hear Asya Pisarevaskaya’s conversation with Mathew Creighton about his recent book “Hidden Hate: The Resilience of Xenophob...

“Even the market next to the station was called Warsaw Market.” In this episode you’ll hear Louise Ryan interview Ivanna Kyliushyk about the situation of Ukrainian migrants in Poland, before and since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. She talks about how NGOs and local governments have stepped forward to provide aid and the urgent need for a long-term strategy to integrate Ukrainia...

Check out the "Migration Talks" podcast and their recent episode on the impact of migration narratives on EU policymaking, just in time before the EP elections this month. In this episode, the "Migration Talks" team explores how migration narratives shape the upcoming European elections and influence policymaking in Brussels. These narratives are central to discussions and policies across Europe,...

“There's a total contradiction between irregularity and child protection…not doing anything, or rather the opposite, blocking the access to a resident permit is a children's rights violation, in my opinion, because it leads to vulnerability, it leads to some kind of protection issues, social exclusion, and so on.” In this episode, we hear Alexandra Castro talk with Pablo Ceriani about the increasi...

“Theoretical categories that we have had from this emphasis on South North have to be rethought, or maybe we need innovation and new categories to be introduced.” In this episode, Roos Derrix chats with Gerasimos Tsourapas and Kamal Sadiq about their latest project on the politics of South-South labour migration, and the development of a transnational social contract between states and their migra...

”I think [it is important to] stress again that colonial legacies also really determine how South to South migration is being structured today.” In this episode, Mira Burmeister-Rudolph speaks with Liberty Chee about Kerala’s social protection policies for Indian migrants to the Gulf, the latter’s relationships with diasporic communities and how migrant status is shaped by and shapes citizen-state...

“What does that [balancing research objectives and donor priorities] mean for us training the next generation and for people entering the field? I think what it requires….is that we all have to work in multiple registers.” In this episode we hear Silindile Mlilo interview Loren Landau about his latest research on African cities. He talks about how patterns of migration to cities in Africa is disti...

“Migrating is a very difficult and dangerous thing if you're doing it undocumented, but also it's a very beautiful thing because you're walking, you're meeting people, you're talking… I hope this is not romanticizing the pain they experience, but I think... my book tries to show that they experience both. They are people, they are complete people, who are enduring the journey and sometimes enjoyin...

In this episode, Yixin Zhang interviews Biao Xiang, about how analyzing processes of control over mobility and immobility can help explain the different consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan and Shanghai, in China. This research is from Professor Xiang’s latest paper, called, “Logistical Power and Logistical Violence”. It was recently published in the Journal of Contemporary East Asia Stu...

Russell King has been teaching and researching the topic of migration for more than 50 years. In this episode, he is interviewed by Sara Hannafin about thinking beyond the dominate frameworks of how and why people migrate. This ambition has led him to study return migration, retirement migration, student migration, and most recently, migration motivated by love. He also reflects on working with, a...

* Applications for the 2024 IMISCOE PhD School in Lancashire are open. Apply here before November 26th : https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/6786/submitter More information is available on the IMISCOE website: https://www.imiscoe.org/events/imiscoe-events/1875-2023-imiscoe-phd-school-2 * In this episode, Larisa Ozeryansky speaks to Dr. Bernadette Nirmal Kumar, expert in migration and health, ab...