Public Lectures Spring 2021 on the Migration-Mobility Nexus: Communication

The Public Lectures of the nccr – on the move aim at fostering an interdisciplinary debate and present original research on migration and mobility or related topics. Each lecture is delivered by an internationally renowned scholar who presents her/his most recent research, followed by a debate with the audience.

In Spring 2021, our Public Lectures Series will advance the discussion on the main conceptual tool developed within the nccr – on the move, the Migration-Mobility Nexus (MMN), exploring how and why migration and mobility are bound together. Our keynote speakers will address four interplays: enablement, continuity, hierarchy and opposition. In doing so, they will cover a range of different disciplines and epistemological assumptions.

On 4 March, Jill Ahrens, Research Associate at the University of Sussex, will explore some ways in which migration enables mobility, and the other way around. Her lecture will present results from one study on Nigerian onward migration trajectories in Europe, and another research on students at international branch campuses in Dubai. Her argument is that onward migration and migrant transnationalism are interconnected.

On 25 March, Angela Paparusso, Researcher at the Italian Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies, will address the continuum between migration and mobility. In her lecture, she will combine two research strands – return migration intentions and self-reported life satisfaction in the country of residence –shedding light on the drivers behind the variety of immigrants’ views and opinions about their migration experience.

On 6 May, Saskia Bonjour, Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam, and Sarah Kunz, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Bristol, will show how the hierarchical relation between migration and mobility comes into play. They will engage in a dialogue to explore how political categories are used to determine or legitimize hierarchies of movements, so that the construction of one category has implications on the other.

On 27 May, Nicholas de Genova, Professor at the University of Houston, will investigate instances in which migration and mobility are conceived as two mutually exclusive forms of movement. In his talk entitled “Migration and the Antinomies of Mobility”, he will consider migration as a key site for contemplating how the mobility of labor is subordinated through the production of spatialized and racialized difference that arises through the enforcement of state borders and immigration law.

The Public Lectures will take place in a hybrid format. Hosted by the University of Neuchâtel for the people who can physically attend, they will be livestreamed online on our YouTube channel. If sanitary and legal conditions do not enable to meet face-to-face, we are prepared to offer an entirely online event. You are all invited to register through this form. By registering, you will receive the hyperlink shortly before each Public Lecture, which will allow you to follow the event live and ask questions. Participation is free and open to participants from all over the world. The Public Lectures will be held in English.

The Public lectures of Spring 2021 are organized by Judit Kende, Eva Van Belle, Philpp Lutz, Katrin Sontag, Matthieu Vétois, Roxane Gerber, Mia Gandenberger, Aurélie Pont, Marco Bitschnau, Angie Gago, Paula Hoffmeyer, Christina Mittmasser, Flavia Cangia, Petra Sidler and Louis Vuilleumier.