Making solidarity in migration contexts: from the self, the local to the transnational
Tina Magazzini, Amandine Desille and Thomas Lacroix, 2025, Special Issue in the Journal of International Migration and Integration
Migration scholars have shown a growing interest in the concept of solidarity, especially in reference to ‘migrant solidarity’ as opposed to ‘national solidarity’. Since 2015, movements of solidarities towards refugees have mushroomed, ranging from isolated initiatives of informal collectives to transnational social movements spanning continents. They may appear as assemblages of multifarious actors: municipalities, grassroots collectives of inhabitants, and wider transnational organizations such as church networks, pro-migrant associations or citizen’s movement mediated by social media, etc. This collection interrogates the sustainability of solidarity movements a decade after the 2015 migration governance and humanitarian crisis: in times of what has been dubbed as ‘hypernormalization’, or the normalization of absurdity, in which governing systems and institutions feel increasingly broken, yet for a large part of us things seem to carry on as normal despite systemic dysfunction. And yet these solidarity movements seem to be here to stay, even if they are taking new forms.
(Inter)cultural Heritage and Migrants’ Inclusion – Bridging the Gap
Amandine Desille and Karolina Nikielska-Sekula, 2024, Special Issue in the Journal of Intercultural Studies
This Special Issue has the ambition of advancing the theoretical and empirical discussion on the cultural heritage of people on the move by employing a theoretical framework from migration studies and combining it with processual and performative approaches to cultural heritage developed in critical heritage studies. Bringing together perspectives from both the cultural heritage and migration fields of study allows the difference between cultural heritage and culture to be highlighted and opens the possibility of problematising the link between heritage practices, interculturality and actors’ identities. It also enables us to break away from the national frames usually adopted in cultural heritage accounts, while exploring new venues for people with and without migration experience to live together and produce cultural heritage.
Ma(r)king solidarity boundaries towards migrants. Individual, local and transnational experiences
Amandine Desille and Tina Magazzini, 2023, Special Issue in Partecipazione e Conflitto (PACO)
Sociology and political science scholars have shown a growing interest in the concept of solidarity, especially in reference to ‘migrant solidarity’ vs. ‘national solidarity’ (della Porta & Steinhilper 2021). But how can acts of solidarity be understood in different contexts, how do different players practice it, and towards whom? When is solidarity towards migrants a political act, when is it about providing basic provisions subcontracted by the state to local or non-governmental actors, and when is it an act of defiance against the state? By bringing together cases from Europe, Lebanon, Hong Kong and the United States, this Special Issue analyses the dynamics of spaces of solidarity and contestation operating both at local, sub-national and supra-national levels, and how they function in different contemporary political systems.
Visual Methodology in Migration Studies: New Possibilities, Theoretical Implications, and Ethical Questions
Karolina Nikielska-Sekula and Amandine Desille, 2021, Springer
This open access book explores the use of visual methods in migration studies through a combination of theoretical analyses and empirical studies. The first section looks at how various visual methods, including photography, film, and mental maps, may be used to analyse the spatial presence of migrants. The second section addresses the processual building of narratives around migration, thereby using formats such as film and visual essay, and reflecting upon the ways they become carriers and mediators of both story and theory within the subject of migration. Section three focuses on vulnerable communities and discusses how visual methods can empower these communities, thereby also focusing on the theoretical and ethical implications of migration. The fourth section addresses the issue of migrant representation in visual discourses. Based on these contributions, a concluding methodological chapter systematizes the use of visual methods in migration studies across disciplines, with regard to their empirical, theoretical, and ethical implications.
Politics of (Dis)Integration
Sophie Hinger and Reinhard Schweitzer, 2020, Springer
This open access book explores how contemporary integration policies and practices are not just about migrants and minority groups becoming part of society but often also reflect deliberate attempts to undermine their inclusion or participation. This affects individual lives as well as social cohesion. The book highlights the variety of ways in which integration and disintegration are related to, and often depend on each other. By analysing how (dis)integration works within a wide range of legal and institutional settings, this book contributes to the literature on integration by considering (dis)integration as a highly stratified process. The book features a fertile combination of comparative policy analyses and ethnographic research based on original material from six European and two non-European countries.
Constructing Roma Migrants: European Narratives and Local Governance
Tina Magazzini and Stefano Piemontese, 2019, Springer
This open access book presents a cross-disciplinary insight and policy analysis into the effects of European legal and political frameworks on the life of ‘Roma migrants’ in Europe. It outlines the creation and implementation of Roma policies at the European level, provides a systematic understanding of identity-based exclusion and explores concrete case studies that reveal how integration and immigration policies work in practice. The book also shows how the Roma example might be employed in tackling the governance implications of our increasingly complex societies and assesses its potential and limitations for integration policies of vulnerable groups such as refugees and other discriminated minorities.