Migration-Mobility Governance and Crisis Narratives Across Time and Space: Regional, National, and International Perspectives Embracing a multi-level, comparative North-South perspective, this module sets out to uncover the impact of various crises on the perception and governance of migration, following a subjectivist, constructivist and longitudinal approach. It studies the motives and frames generating a sense of […]
Crises can be catalysts or drawbacks for governance and the rule of law. The narrative of crisis expresses urgency for solutions. Yet, the urgency of action may disrupt agreed principles, legal standards, and long-term goals. Drawing on theories of policy change, we examine the narrative construction and legal-political impact of crises in selected global and […]
Inspired by different modes of immigration politics in liberal democracies that are related to solidarity, utilitarianism, and nationalism as drivers of migration narratives and policies, the project seeks to better understand the role of crisis narratives in the context of human mobility governance. We use a mix of methods and work across disciplines to identify […]
In public debates, Europe is widely portrayed as a land of immigration. Rich, democratic and old, or so the argument goes, it has no alternative but to protect its borders against a poor and oppressed youth from the Global South. However, shifting the perspective from the continental or national levels to the regional one, below […]
Socio-Economic Inequality in Times of Crises This module sheds light on socio-economic inequalities in times of crisis using a unifying empirical approach and leveraging a variety of data sources, such as linked registers, survey experiments, and high-frequency process data. Using crisis as a category of analysis, the projects in this module pay particular attention to […]
The project employs longitudinal data (registers and surveys) to examine the extent to which populations of immigrant origin are affected by crises and explore the mechanisms underlying the effects behind the precariousness of certain communities. Using Swiss and other country-specific data, the researchers will focus on the COVID-19 crisis, as well as on other crises. […]
This project examines attitudes toward migration and democracy in the Global North and South in the context of international crises (e.g., COVID-19, climate change, and the rise of anti-democratic norms). Combining the perspectives of social psychology and political science, we use cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data as well as experiments. Subproject one: How Identity, Emotions […]
The aim of the project is to analyze hiring discrimination faced by ethnic and immigrant minorities in Switzerland before, during, and after the COVID-19 crisis. The project addresses the following questions: How does ethnic discrimination interact with gender or legal status? Did the COVID-19 crisis moderate or amplify disparities in hiring? How do labor market […]
Evolving Regimes of (Im)Mobility in Times of Crisis This module analyzes the consequences of crises for regimes of (im)mobility, understood as the complex and contested interactions between various factors that shape how both mobility and immobility are produced and experienced. Crises are approached as ‘critical junctures’ in which past and future ways of dealing with […]
This project aims at understanding agency processes within liminal situations experienced by forced migrants in the context of the two so-called “refugee crises” following the outbreak of wars in Syria in 2015, and Ukraine in 2022. It adopts a constructivist approach to forced migration-related crises and studies how individuals narrate, experience and make sense of […]
This project aims to analyze how data and code are reshaping mobility regimes, as well as forms of spatial control such as lockdown, during and after the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic. Phenomena such as lockdown regulations, contact-tracing, quarantine control, or social media-based community organizing, lead to the acceleration of digitization in the governing of regimes of human […]
Societal crises are not only macro phenomena; they are also micro and personal. While the macro social impact of societal crises has received a lot of research attention, there has been less examination of how people navigate their own life course through societal crises. Adopting a sociocultural approach to the life course and a mobility […]
The policy response to COVID-19 has involved extraordinary efforts to govern human movement and resulted in differing degrees of openness and closure at various scales. This project investigates the past and future legacies of these efforts: it studies how the measures have affected how the governance of human movement is being conceived, implemented, technologically mediated, […]
In this political-social-legal study, we seek to analyze the link between ‘crises,’ the legal changes that often accompany them, and forms and processes of precarization. We will analyze this interrelation by focusing on the situation and the entitlements of migrant workers. The study is based on a multilevel design and entails two sub-projects, each of […]
Projects: 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 […]
Project Summary 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 […]
Project Summary 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 […]
Project Summary 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 […]
Projects: 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: […]
Project Summary International trade and migration are two important facets of an increasingly interconnected world, yet the links between trade and migration policies remain little researched. States have progressively used trade agreements to govern different aspects of international migration, such as facilitating international mobility, strengthening migration control, or protecting migrant rights. Firstly, we study the […]
Project Summary The project examines the relationship between inequality and migration by focusing on the factors that determine labor market inequalities, both on the demand and supply sides. We explore the question of how migrants cope in a context of increasing inequalities by considering different dimensions. In the first subproject, we look at the contributions […]
Project Summary This project aims to enhance our understanding of the continued labor market disadvantages of young immigrants, refugees, and their descendants by investigating processes leading to ethnic disadvantage in the labor market. We examine the conditions under which immigrants gain agency and move from being objects of discrimination and inequalities, related to education and […]
Project Summary Welfare states are the main tool market economies use to redistribute wealth and reduce inequality. Migration and mobility have brought new challenges to European welfare states that are visible in patterns of public opinion and the evolution of social legislation. Our first subproject investigates the link between the willingness to redistribute resources and […]
Projects: Matteo Gianni (University of Geneva) and Walter Leimgruber (University of Basel) Perimeters of Multilayered Democratic Citizenship in a Mobile and Multicultural World Christin Achermann (University of Neuchâtel) and Stefanie Kurt (HES-SO Valais-Wallis) Governing Migration and Social Cohesion through Integration Requirements: A Socio-Legal Study on Civic Stratification in Switzerland Dominik Hangartner (ETH Zurich) and Alois […]
Project Summary This research project examines the current transformations of citizenship in urban contexts of super-diversity and is conducted in the two cities of Brussels and Montreal. In particular, we explore different understandings and practices of citizenship, how multilayered citizenship relates to ‘traditional’ and urban citizenship, and how citizenship and social cohesion can be assessed […]
Project Summary This socio-legal project questions how and with what effects the notion of ‘integration’ has become a decisive criterion, in migration law, administrative and court practice, based on which states select which migrants shall be granted or denied access to specific rights. This reveals how social cohesion is conceived in both law and practice […]
Project Summary Intensified by the recent influx of refugees and generally increasing levels of ethnic diversity, Swiss and European governments are struggling with the design of policies that catalyze the integration of immigrants and facilitate the social cohesion of host communities. Against this background, we evaluate the effectiveness of non-citizen voting rights and naturalization for […]
Project Summary Increasing global migration streams have multiplied the landscape of possible identities, and can raise fear and opposition, as well as compassion and support. Understanding how national majorities in destination countries and immigrants react to these social transformations remains a challenge. Our project examines how and under what circumstances societal norms of inclusion or […]
Projects: Yvonne Riaño (University of Neuchâtel) and Etienne Piguet (University of Neuchâtel) Migrant Entrepreneurship: Mapping Cross-Border Mobilities and Exploring the Role of Spatial Mobility Capital Mihaela Nedelcu (University of Neuchâtel) and Eric Crettaz (HES-SO Geneva) Transnational Ageing: Post-Retirement Mobilities, Transnational Lifestyles and Care Configurations Tania Zittoun (University of Neuchâtel) and Janine Dahinden (University of Neuchâtel) […]
Project Summary Social and technological transformations, including highly diversified migrant populations and facilitated international travel and communication, have intensified the phenomenon of cross-border migrant entrepreneurship. Studying cross-border migrant entrepreneurship offers a unique opportunity to understand the shift from long-term and permanent migration to increasingly more temporary and fluid mobilities, thus advancing our empirical and theoretical […]
