The Migration Oxford Podcast

Intersections of art and activism are used as a tool to promote diversity, address human rights and make calls to action in contexts of migration. What is artivism and how can it support individuals to tell their own stories? In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we discuss the role of artivism as a tool to promote diversity in contexts of migration and displacement. In the current climate whereby political rights are being threatened, does artivism make a difference in supporting the cause of migrants and refugees rights? We look at what type of creative and art-based activities help migrants and refugees, and how community-based initiatives can support individuals to tell their own stories.

We welcome Salma Zulfiqar, artist and founder of ARTconnects; Natalia, expert-by-experience and ARTconnects assistant; and Ruth Nyabuto, Academic Manager for the Refugee-Led Research Hub housed between the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Centre and the British Institute in Nairobi.

For irregular migrants, the inability to provide proof of identity affects nearly every aspect of life. We explore cities that have introduced municipal ID cards to enhance social integration and enable access to key services. For irregular migrants, the inability to provide proof of identity affects nearly every aspect of their lives. Municipal ID cards have been introduced by some cities to enhance these migrants’ social integration, bridge the ‘official identification gap’ and enable access to otherwise inaccessible services. In this episode, we will hear about the experiences of cities that have developed municipal IDs, the challenges they face in securing buy-in and the many benefits they bring to the lives of migrants.

We welcome Albert Gamarra, Assistant Deputy Commissioner of the IDNYC project based at the New York Department of Social Services; and Myriam Cherti, Senior Researcher at the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity (GEM) and Principal Investigator for the C-MISE project, both hosted at COMPAS, University of Oxford.

In the UK, migration debates tend to be about the idea of fullness – concepts of arrivals, overcrowding, competition for resources – but what about emptiness? We learn why it is such an important part of understanding migration. In the UK, migration debates tend to be about the idea of fullness but the concept of emptiness is underexplored. In the small towns of Armenia, people say “there is nothing here” stegh vochinch chka/ban chka [ստեղ ոչինչ չկա/ բան չկա] but this phrase does not describe actual nothingness. Vochinch chka/ban chka – and other descriptors related to “emptiness” found in the post-Soviet realm – refers to a loss of elements that constitute postsocialist towns and villages: people, schools, services, social networks, jobs, and the future (Dzenovska 2020). The largest conflict in postsocialist space, the Russo-Ukrainian war, sped up and generalized this tendency as whole cities are erased, millions of people are forced to leave their homes, and existential and temporal imaginaries of whole populations are mired in radical uncertainty. Why is emptiness such an important part of understanding migration as a discipline and human experience?

To explore this topic, we welcome Volodymyr Artiukh, COMPAS Postdoctoral Researcher, and Maria Gunko, COMPAS DPhil student in Migration Studies to share their research within field sites in Romania and in Armenia, as part of the EMPTINESS project (https://emptiness.eu/). The project studies the emptying cities, towns, and villages in Eastern Europe and Russia through the lens of “emptiness” as a concrete historical formation that has emerged in conditions when socialist modernity is gone and promises of capitalist modernity have failed. Is emptiness and nothingness produced by slow violence being filled (metaphorically speaking) by the fast violence of war? Does the arrival of entirely different populations amount to a place being revived, or reshaped? How do relationships to homes and communities left behind change throughout years of war?

What do advancements in AI mean for immigration? We discuss the current and emerging practices of new technologies in the field, and explore developments in the use of predictive analytics, automated risk assessment and profiling. In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we discuss the current and emerging practices of using new technologies in the field of immigration, focusing on how border control, immigration and asylum policies are being impacted by the use of new technologies especially in and around Europe. With the help of our panel, we explore recent developments in the use of predictive analytics, automated risk assessments and profiling in immigration, and their main ethical implications. We are joined by Derya Ozkul, Senior Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford and member of the Migration Oxford network; and Caterina Rodelli, EU Policy Analyst at Access Now, a civil society organisation defending the digital rights of people and communities at risk. Derya is one of the project leads at the Algorithmic Fairness for Asylum Seekers (AFAR) project and her work explores the uses of new technologies in migration and asylum fields and their real-life impact on people on the move. Caterina’s work explores issues related to biometric surveillance, artificial intelligence, and, together with several other civil society organisations, she leads the #ProtectNotSurveil campaign.

Guests: Derya Ozkul and Caterina Rodelli

Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead

Producer: Delphine Boagey

Communications: Delphine Boagey

With the help of our panel, we discuss forced return migration and the different power dynamics at play. What are the difficulties of forced returnees to home countries and what are the differences between the wealth and influence In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we are discussing forced return migration with a specific focus on returns from the US to Mexico or to Latin America. With the help of our panel, we will discuss the different power dynamics at play and the difference between the wealth and influence of certain states. Along with the difficulties of forced return to home countries and inaccessibility of identity documents. We are joined by Guadalupe Chavez, DPhil candidate in the department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Oxford; Professor Matthew Gibney, professor of Politics and Forced Migration at the University of Oxford and the Director of the Refugee Studies Centre; and Maggie Loredo, a returnee from the US to Mexico and the Executive Director of Otros Dreams en Acción, a non-profit organisation based in Mexico City, which provides services to returnees.

Guests: Guadalupe Chavez, Prof Matthew Gibney, Maggie Loredo

Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead

Producer: Sophie Smith

Communications and Coordination: Delphine Boagey

 

We often think of migration in binary terms of regular or irregular migration; legal or illegal, but often people move in between these states and are left in an insecure status. How does this precarity effect a migrant’s access In this episode we discuss precarious migrants and are joined by Dr Marie Mallet-Garcia, Researcher at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford, Shams Asadi, Human Rights Commissioner and head of the Human Rights Office of the City of Vienna and Wanjiku Ngotho-Mbugua, Acting Chief Executive at Bawso. With the help of our panel, we will look at three different cities Cardiff, Frankfurt and Vienna.

Guests: Dr. Marie Mallet-Garcia, Shams Asadi, Wanjiku Ngotho-Mbugua

Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead

Producer: Sophie Smith

Communications and Coordination: Delphine Boagey

In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we are discussing the politics of emigration. All countries are countries of immigration and of emigration, yet the politics of emigration are often less obsessed over as attitudes We ask, what are the political effects of emigration on sending countries? How does understanding perceptions of emigration help us to elucidate the changing demographic dynamics including population decline, ‘brain drain’, aging populations? We discuss these topics with the help of Dr. Anna Kyriazi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Milan, Dr. Julia Rone, a postdoctoral researcher at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, and Madeleine Reeves, Professor in the Anthropology of Migration here at the University of Oxford.

Guests: Dr. Anna Kyriazi, Dr. Julia Rone, Prof Madeleine Reeves

Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead

Producer: Sophie Smith

Communications and Coordination: Delphine Boagey

We discuss the role of data science in migration studies, joined by Dr. Emre Korkmaz, lecturer in migration and co-author of Data Science for Migration and Mobility and Christina Pao, PhD student and co-organiser of the Measuring In this episode of The Migration Oxford Podcast, we are discussing the role of data science in migration studies. What is the importance of mixed methods, both quantitative data and qualitative analysis? The way that we collect data is changing. How do we manage the ethical, legal and privacy related challenges with the potential of large new data sets? We are joined by Dr. Emre Korkmaz, a lecturer in migration and development at the University of Oxford’s Department of International Development (ODID) and co-author of Data Science for Migration and Mobility (ISBN: 9780197267103) and Christina Pao, a PhD student at Princeton University studying Sociology and Social Policy, and co-organiser of the Measuring Migration Conference 2022 (ISBN: 9781801351805).

Guests: Dr. Emre Korkmaz, Christina Pao

Hosts: Rob McNeil and Jacqui Broadhead

Producer: Sophie Smith

Communications Coordinator: Emily Cracknell and Delphine Boagey

How does gender affect experiences of migration and communities left behind? In the age of a controversial Nationality and Borders Bill, we ask how current policies interact with gender and find out what happens when a gender lens How does gender affect experiences of migration and communities left behind? In the age of a controversial Nationality and Borders Bill, we ask how current policies interact with gender and find out what happens when a gender lens on migration is ignored.

To explore these questions, co-hosts Jacqui Broadhead and Rob McNeil discuss one of the most popular pieces of research from the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory on gender and family migration to the UK. Expert guests Professor Dr. Melissa Siegel (United Nations University - MERIT, Maastricht University) and Alphonsine Kabagabo (Director, Women for Refugee Women) share their research into these issues and experience supporting migrants affected by gender-based violence, leading us to reflect on how gender impacts movement in an ever more connected world.

Aditi Anand (Artistic Director, Migration Museum) takes us on an extended tour of the immersive Taking Care of Business exhibition and introduces us to the stories behind migrant businesses we often don't get to hear. To learn more about the creation of the exhibition and to find out about new research into refugee entrepreneurialism, listen to the main episode: Immigration to Innovation.