Introduction. Postcolonial migrations and identity politics. Towards a comparative perspective (original) (raw)
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Social & Cultural Geography, 2013
In this commentary, we argue for the relevance and importance of postcolonial theory to the study of migration and mobility. Building on a panel discussion at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, we highlight a number of different ways in which this could take place. We suggest three possible interventions: stretching the boundaries of the spaces of the postcolonial; interrogating the spatial connections that are forged between disparate places through migration; and challenging singular or hierarchical notions of identity and/or place. In these ways, we conclude that postcolonial theory can complicate and enhance our understanding of migration, and that attention to migration research could, in turn, facilitate a 'social turn' for postcolonial geographies.
Identity and Migration: An introduction
Identity and Migration, Springer, 2015
Identity has increasingly become an important keyword in contemporary human and social sciences to the point that it is nearly impossible to provide an exhaustive synopsis of the different contributions in this field. However, little attention has been devoted to the influence of migration on identity formation and transformation. This chapter introduces the present edited volume that brings together scholars from different disciplines to engage in a conversation about the issue of identity formation and transformation in contemporary multiethnic Europe. Since identity is a broad concept that has been defined differently by various disciplines, a multidisciplinary approach is a highly complex task that continuously risks to results in misunderstandings. Notwithstanding, because a single-sided perspective on identity is not able to address the multifaceted phenomena at stake, a multidisciplinary approach is an appealing challenge that this volume undertakes. This chapter provides a thematic overview of the main issues addressed in the volume: the theoretical questions related to identity in plural and multicultural societies, the effect of migration policies in marginalizing migrants, the relevance of law and rights in the processes of identity construction, the strategies of identity (re)construction through (dis)identification, the relationship of identity with center/periphery dynamics in postcolonial and globalized societies, the salience of membership and belonging, and the (re)articulation of identity through oppositional representations.
Migration, Transnationalism and Diasporic Identities
Springer eBooks, 2020
Transnational practices capture the diverse geographical, cultural and political networks that migrants forge across borders. We argue that diasporic transnationalism (Georgiou 2006) allows us to consider what we call the circuits of migration, to capture migrants' multi-local networks and practices. The research presented in this book engages with transnationality by exploring multiple narratives, networks and practices emerging from the experience of migration into London via primary, secondary and tertiary routes. We seek to contribute to the increased debate on how multiple and mixed forms of migration and mobility become more common and demand an interdisciplinary approach (King and Skeldon 2010; Castles 2007; Portes 1997; Retis 2014). The scale and diversity of transnational practices amongst migrant populations in London has led to what Vertovec (2007) has called 'superdiverse' cities. Thus, for us it is also important to understand the multiple dimensions that contribute to increasingly changing and malleable identities and a sense of belongingness to places. This is compounded by an ever more complex circuit of migration that ties people to multiple localities and feelings of belongingness. We extend the concept of transnationalism beyond the two-layered (country of origin and host country) perspective that has dominated transnationalism studies, to incorporate multiple migratory circuits. This will lead us to explore the experiences
Cities, Migration and the Historiography of Post-war Europe (Nov. 2021)
Journal of Migration History, 2021
The role of municipalities in migrant integration in postwar European history has largely slipped below the radar in previous migration research. Our special issue presents case studies on how Bristol, Dortmund, Malmö, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Utrecht managed migrant influxes from the mid-1940s to 1960s. Following interdisciplinary advances in local migration studies, our urban histories take a diversity of approaches, present diverse temporalities, and uncover municipal responses that range from generosity to indifference and to outright hostility. In all six cities, despite such diversity in local attitudes and municipal policies, municipal authorities had significant impacts on migrants' lives. The introductory article explores how our urban perspectives contribute to scholarship on reconstruction and the postwar boom; welfare; democracy and citizenship; and European integration. Using local migration as a lens into postwar European history, we argue, provides important new insights for the historiography of postwar Europe.
Postmigrant Europe: Discoveries beyond ethnic, national and colonial boundaries
Postmigration
The critical debate of postmigrant research was initially an intervention focused on Germany. But does this limit its validity to Germany and other national contexts in which migration and its consequences are thought about in a similar way? Or is it also possible to identify overarching European realities postcolonial that have not yet been sufficiently explored? To what extent is European postcolonial history and its conjunctions marked by the mostly invisible, long-term presence of migration? And, conversely, to what degree is migration repeatedly perceived and treated as 'Other' in the context of historical and current EU/European borders? Can and should the postmigrant perspective, in other words, also be considered when looking at the construction and practical realities of Europe? And which marginalised, hidden European 'Others' can be exposed and brought into focus from such a perspective? I would like to address these questions here and, in doing so, first draw on aspects of the discussion in Germany that I consider particularly important for a Europeanisation of postmigrant thinking. In a further analytical step, I will then explore the possibilities of a post-migrantisation of Europe-and conclude by asking what significance this European dimension has for the German discussion.
Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 2016
ABSTRACT This article concentrates on the ‘post migrant’ perspective formulated by migration scholars and cultural producers in to analyse migrant subjectivities, and practices beyond the culturalising and ethnicising logics of migration scholarship and public debates. I put the spatial and temporal frameworks informing this approach to migrant dynamics under scrutiny and argue that this concept remains of limited analytical value as it denies migrants coevalness with ‘non-migrants’. I suggest an alternative perspective deploying concepts of displacement, disposession and emplacement, which might allow us to avoid the spatial and temporal impediments of the post migrant perspective and would instead facilitate us to approach migrants and non-migrants from within a common analytical lens. In the last part of the article, I situate the strategic success of the post migrant intervention in Vienna, despite its analytical fault lines, within the scalar dynamics of city making at a particular conjuncture in time.