Stateless diasporas and migration and citizenship regimes in the EU

Researcher(s): Nando Sigona, Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh

Collaborator(s):

Nell Gabiam (Iowa State University)

Dates: May 2011–present

Donors: The Leverhulme Trust

Aims

This three-year research project aims to investigate the experiences of three stateless refugee/migrant communities resident in the EU (Kurds, Palestinians and Roma), examining how these experiences are impacted upon by national and regional migration and citizenship regimes.

Activities and impacts

The project will explore the extent to which members of three ‘stateless diasporas’ (Kurds, Palestinians and Roma) negotiate, mobilise and/or resist, and ultimately problematise, notions of shared belonging in four European countries (France, Sweden, Italy and the UK), focusing in particular on their settlement experiences and strategies, transnational engagement and diverse modes of mobilisation.

Heterogeneity, both within and across diasporas, will be a central theme in this research project, as will an exploration of the extent to which individuals identify themselves, or are identified by others, either as members of a ‘diaspora’ or as ‘stateless’.

By the end of this three-year research project, academic outputs will include a monograph-length study and at least three peer-reviewed journal articles. Key findings will also be presented at international conferences in 2012 and 2013, and in a series of Special Issues of leading academic journals.

Engagement with French, Italian, Swedish, UK and other EU policymakers will take place through three community reports and a final comparative report outlining concrete principles and recommendations which will be published through the RSC Forced Migration Policy Briefing Series and Forced Migration Review.

To date, presentations, workshops, conferences and seminar series related to this work include the following:

‘Oxford Diaspora Programme Methodology Workshop’, convened by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Jane Garnett, Wadham College, Oxford University, November 2011
‘Stateless Diasporas and immigration and citizenship regimes in the EU’, presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Nando Sigona at the Refugee Studies Centre Public Seminar Series, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, October 2011
Seminar series on ‘Stateless Diaspora and Forced Migration’ exploring contemporary statelessness in international and national arenas, hosted by the Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford, October-December 2011
‘The Politics of “Travelling Memories”: Refugee youth remembering home-land and home-camp’, presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the Conference “Diasporic Memories and the Politics of Democratisation”, International Migration Institute/ Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, February 2011
Conference on ‘Refugees' diasporic memories and the politics of democratisation’, hosted by the International Migration Institute and the Refugee Studies Centre, Wolfson College, Oxford, February 2011

Selected publications

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. and Lacroix, T. (eds) [forthcoming 2013] ‘Refugees' diasporic memories: individual experiences, collective processes, political implications’, Special Issue of the Journal of Intercultural Studies

Sigona, N. and Vermeersch, P. (eds) [forthcoming 2012], 'Romani mobilities in Europe', Special Issue of Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2012) ‘Transnational Childhood and Adolescence: Mobilising diasporic identity and politics across time and space,’ Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 35

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2012) "Diaspora," The Encyclopaedia of Globalization, Oxford: Wiley Blackwell

Sigona, N. (2012) 'Book Review of Children Without A State: a global human rights challenge, edited by Jacqueline Bhabha', Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 25

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2012) 'Review Essay of Statelessness and Nationality, edited by Brad Blitz and Maureen Lynch, and Statelessness in the EU, edited by Brad Blitz and Caroline Sawyer', Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 25

Sigona, N. (2011) 'The governance of Romani people in Italy: discourse, policy and practice', Journal of Modern Italian Studies, Vol. 16 No. 5. Available from Taylor & Francis Online

Sigona, N. and Trehan, N. (2011) ‘The (re)criminalization of Roma communities in a neoliberal Europe’, Palidda, S. (ed) Racial criminalization of migrants in the 21st century, Ashgate

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011) 'Book Review of Diaspora and Transnationalism: Concepts, Theories and Methods, edited by Rainer Baubock and Thomas Faist,' International Affairs, Vol. 82, No. 2

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011) ‘Book Review of Ethics of Migration Research Methodology: Dealing with Vulnerable Immigrants, edited by Ilse van Liempt and Veronika Bilger.’ Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 24, No. 1: 211-213. March 2011. View at Oxford Journals

Notes

This project is part of a broader inter-disciplinary five-year research programme, the Oxford Diasporas Programme (ODP), generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The ODP programme is led by the Oxford Department of International Development and draws together, amongst others, researchers from the International Migration Institute (IMI), the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) and the Refugee Studies Centre.

More information is available at the Oxford Diasporas Programme website (www.migration.ox.ac.uk/odp).

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Multimedia

Listen to the podcasts from the conference ‘Refugees' diasporic memories and the politics of democratisation’, including Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh's presentation on 'The Politics of 'Travelling Memories': Refugee youth remembering home-land and home-camp'.