The Migration Podcast

In this episode we speak about how bureaucracy and law shape everyday lives, but we also learn more about how listening closely to research participants can yield insights that go beyond what is already known. Milena Belloni speaks to Cecilia Menjivar about liminality and the different, less obvious forms of violence faced by women in Guatemala and by Central American immigrants in the United Stat...

What is a family, and under what conditions can its members live a life together, abroad? In this episode, we look at family reunification policy in Brazil. Amanda Paz Alencar speaks to Patricia Nabuco Martuscelli about her research on family reunification policy in Brazil, and about the efforts of different groups of refugees to claim their right to live with family members. Patricia Nabuco Martu...

Season 2 begins with a conversation between Douglas S. Massey and Asya Pisarevskaya about migration across the U.S.-Mexican border since the early 20th century. Their conversation is based on D. Massey's recent article "Immigration policy mismatches and counterproductive outcomes: unauthorized migration to the U.S. in two eras" (2020) published in the journal Comparative Migration Studies. The pap...

In this final interview of the season, I speak to Ien Ang about her research on media audiences , cultural consumption, migration and identity politics in an age of globalisation. Her two books, “Watching Dallas” and “On not speaking Chinese”, are classics in the field of cultural studies and have been translated into many languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Turkish, German, Korean, a...

According to the International Labor Organisation, approximately 40 million people worldwide are in modern slavery, including almost 25 million in forced labour in 2016. One in four victims are exploited outside of their country of residence, pointing at the vulnerability of migrant workers. (ILO 2007: 30) The Asia Pacific Region has the highest share of victims across all forms of modern slavery....

For this episode, associate producer Milena Belloni spoke to Alcinda Honwana about her work on African youth in waithood. Through Alcinda's work, we learn more about young Africans' aspirations to become productive and accomplished members of society, and how these aspirations get youth to mobilise, politically and across space. You can find Alcinda's professional profile here: https://www.lse.ac....

In this episode I speak to Sylvia Ang and Val Colic-Peisker about their work on new Chinese migrations to Singapore and Australia. In our conversation, we focus on one of the consequences of these newer migrations: rising hostility towards China and its people, or Sinophobia. Comparing Sinophobia in Singapore and Australia, Sylvia and Val find that local ethnic makeup, as well as distinct approach...

In this episode I spoke to Elaine Lynn-Ee Ho about her book "Citizens in Motion. Emigration, Immigration and Re-Migration Across China's Borders". Based on a decade of research in China, Canada, Singapore, and the China–Myanmar border, Elaine explores the very different ways in which Chinese overseas relate to their countries of citizenship, to mainland China, and to other cohorts of Chinese emigr...

Until about the end of the past century, visits, phone calls, letters and remittances were common means to upholding relationships across distance and showing care. Today, mobile devices and fast internet connections open up new avenues to stay in touch and thus change the ways in which care is expressed and practiced across distance. In this episode, my co-producer Jolynna speaks to Loretta Balda...

In this episode we speak about a particular form of migration: the so called “floating population” in China. My co-producer Jolynna Sinanan spoke to Xinyuan Wang about her work with temporary, low-wage workers in Chinese factory towns, looking at, what she calls “the human face of Made in china”. As temporary workers responding to labour needs, this floating population travels light. Their smartph...

In this episode I speak to Melissa Siegel about the aspirations that drive people's decisions to live elsewhere. Through her research, Melissa debunks the idea that people migrate only to escape poverty and conflict, and that development in sending countries reduces emigration. Read more about Melissa and her work here: https://www.merit.unu.edu/about-us/profile/?staff_id=1328 Watch Melissa's YouT...

People move abroad for many reasons, one being education. Cora Xu speaks about her research with mainland and Hong Kong Chinese university students. She finds that studying abroad is driven by aspirations for social upward mobility and a sense of purpose in life. However, where one ends up pursuing an education largely depends on family wealth. Cora is lecturer at Keele University. Learn more abou...

When we think about why people migrate, we often think of push and pull factors. In this episode Jamie Coates interviews Lukasz Szulc, whose research with LGBTQ migrants shows that gender identity and sexual orientation, too, can play a role in migration decisions and experiences. Here's the link to Lukasz’ report: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/101767/ Read more about Dr Lukasz Szulc | Sociological Stu...