Gianni D’Amato (University of Neuchâtel) and Jean-Thomas Arrighi (University of Neuchâtel)
Mobility, Diversity, and the Democratic Welfare State: Contested Solidarity in Historical and Political Comparative Perspective

Philippe Wanner (University of Geneva)
Explaining and Interpreting Migration Flows and Stocks

Sandra Lavenex (University of Geneva)
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Bordering Discourses Regarding Migration and Mobility in Europe

The post A Socio-Historical and Demographic Perspective on Migration and Mobility first appeared on nccr – on the move.

This project provides a socio-historical analysis of how welfare models influence migration and mobility regimes, and their patterns of inclusion and exclusion according to class, ethnicity, race, gender, and religion. We explore the different constellations of states and societal agents (pro- and anti-immigrant) to grasp the political sources of civic, democratic, and distributive solidarity in diverse societies by compiling data sets on claims-making and state responses to challenges of human mobility.

The comparative analysis of the transformation of industrialized societies is conducted in three liberal democratic societies that are dissimilar in how they achieved their compromise as welfare states: the liberal-conservative model (Switzerland), the social-democratic (Sweden) model, and the conservative-corporatist model (Austria). The timespan under scrutiny covers the last 70 years, and we furthermore analyze the adjustments of democratic welfare states to the new challenges of mobility-induced diversity.

Scientific Poster 2022 (view as PDF)

Key Findings:

• Crisis episodes may increase public misperceptions and media politicization on migration. In some cases, they also contribute to polarized views on it.
• Tensions between citizenship and disability norms exist, although they are partly mitigated through a (contested and fragile) legal exemption regime that seeks to ‘accommodate’ foreigners with a disability.
• Access to welfare rights is shaped by socio-economic considerations, institutional path dependencies, and the politicizability of mobility.

The post Mobility, Diversity, and the Democratic Welfare State: Contested Solidarity in Historical and Political Comparative Perspective first appeared on nccr – on the move.

This project aims to better document the transformation of contemporary patterns of mobility and migration by exploring questions around drivers of migration, family patterns, and the economic and social objectives of migration. Building on statistical data gathered during 2014-2018, and through the Migration-Mobility Survey 2016, our research provides insights on demographic, economic, and social dimensions of current migration and mobility trends based on data collection and analyses. Our project thus also supports access to migration-related data and organizes this data to carry out up-to-date analyses.

Subproject 1: Migration-Mobility Survey (MMS)

The MMS is conducted every two years since 2016. It allows an in-depth study of migration flows and their impact covering a wide range of issues (such as migration experience, employment, family configuration, transnationalism, and more). 

Subproject 2: Longitudinal Database (LDB)

Developed in 2015 and regularly updated, the LDB links different registers, censuses, and surveys produced over the last 22 years. 

Scientific Poster 2022 (view as PDF)

Key Findings:

• Migration-Mobility Survey
• Migration-Mobilty Indicators

The post Explaining and Interpreting Migration Flows and Stocks first appeared on nccr – on the move.

This research project traces the evolution of migration and mobility control measures and their discursive justification in Europe as the global crisis provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding. Drawing on previous research on bordering discourses in Europe, we identify the perturbing impact of an external shock, the Covid-19 pandemic, on established discursive practices in national parliaments and among policy-makers regarding migration, mobility, and border controls in Europe. Overall, we look at how authoritative actors in the European multilevel governance system communicate their recommendations about mobility restrictions during the first year of the pandemic. 

To do so, we focus on three aspects: first, the identification and gradation of migration and mobility measures implemented by countries longitudinally and cross-sectionally. Second, the aggregation of narratives about migration and mobility into discourse coalitions; and, finally, the effects of coalition forming on institutional practices of bordering at the domestic and supranational level.

Scientific Poster 2022 (PDF)

Key Findings:

• We find strong message consistency in the network, showing that actors justify their positions by technocratic, less polarizing health arguments; this, however, varies across time and actors: public health actors are more consistent throughout, and the network consistency is stronger at the onset of the pandemic.
• We also find a lack of connectivity between actors, which leads to message redundancy; crisis communication about mobility restrictions during the pandemic is thus found to suffer from a lack of coordination, driven by low levels of inter-actors’ connectivity.
• We conclude that this could lead to issues of inconsistency, information void or overburdening of information, which are connected to the spreading of misinformation and disinformation.

The post The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Bordering Discourses Regarding Migration and Mobility in Europe first appeared on nccr – on the move.

Sandra Lavenex (University of Geneva) and Joachim Blatter (University of Lucerne)
Migration Governance through Trade Mobilities

Tobias Müller (University of Geneva) and Martina Viarengo (Geneva Graduate Institute)
Migration and Labor Market Inequality: The Role of Skills, Gender and Trade

Wassilis Kassis (FHNW) and Didier Ruedin (University of Neuchâtel)
Overcoming Inequalities in the Labor Market: Can Educational Measures Strengthen the Agency and Resilience of Migrants, Refugees, and their Descendants?

Giuliano Bonoli (University of Lausanne), Flavia Fossati (University of Lausanne) and Francesco Maiani (University of Lausanne)
Welfare: Inclusion and Solidarity

The post Migration and Social Inequalities first appeared on nccr – on the move.