Migration researchers on Twitter
Here’s my list of migration researchers on Twitter – that is, people who do research on migration and share their ideas about it in English on Twitter. Many of ... [Continue reading]
All posts
Understanding future migration through an ERC CoG project
I am thrilled to have received a Consolidator Grant from the European research Council for the project ‘Future Migration as Present Fact’. A huge investment over ... [Continue reading]
Autumn 2018
September 2018 marks the beginning of MIGNEX, a new project on migration management and the migration-development nexus. I will lead the project, which involves an ... [Continue reading]
Three reasons for rejecting a ‘Global Compact for Most Migration’
[Printable PDF version of this post] Throughout the spring, governments are negotiating the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. The first or zero draft ... [Continue reading]
Spring 2018
Much of my time in the first half of 2018 will be devoted analysing of data from our project Transnational Lives in the Welfare State (TRANSWEL). Roughly 100 interviews have ... [Continue reading]
Batman in Vienna: choosing how to confront migrant smuggling
There’s a lot to gain from better management of migration. That was the idea that inspired States in 2016 to set out on a path towards a Global Compact for Migration. ... [Continue reading]
Questions and answers about academic publishing
In June 2017 I was invited to give a workshop on academic publishing for the IMISCOE PhD network, together with Sawitri Saharso, editor-in-chief of Comparative Migration ... [Continue reading]
Thirty-six migration nexuses, and counting
Migration intersects with a range of other policy fields and social processes. But do these relations always have to be a nexus? I have so far counted thirty-six different ... [Continue reading]
Autumn 2017
Much of my time in the second half of 2017 will be devoted analysing of data from our project Transnational Lives in the Welfare State (TRANSWEL). Roughly 100 interviews have ... [Continue reading]
Eight reasons for doing your PhD ‘by publication’
As a doctoral candidate you may have a choice between submitting a traditional doctoral dissertation and submitting a set of papers for peer-reviewed journals plus an ... [Continue reading]
Migration as a research field: Unanswered questions and relevance for psychology
I have often been struck by the near-absence of psychologists in interdisciplinary migration research. There seem to be so many areas where psychologists could contribute to ... [Continue reading]
Visualizing the transnational connections of China’s most African neighbourhood
The vast literature on transnationalism has primarily been concerned with people, practices, and social fields. Less attention has been devoted to the enigmatic relationship ... [Continue reading]
Spring 2017
At the end of 2016 I returned to PRIO after four months as a visiting professor at the UNU-MERIT United Nations University in Maastricht. I will keep working with my ... [Continue reading]
The End Of Migrants As We Know Them?
The UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants holds the promise of progress. But ahead of the summit, communications staff were pushing a warped view of migrant diversity. Even ... [Continue reading]
Refugees are Also Migrants. And All Migrants Matter
This post was originally published on the Border Criminologies blog, based at the University of Oxford. (Photo: Carlos Spottorno, British Red Cross, CC BY-NC-ND) The recent ... [Continue reading]
Why ‘trafficking’ is in the news for the wrong reasons
In early 2015 there was a spike in new stories about ‘trafficking’ related to migration. But most of the stories described events that had little to do with ... [Continue reading]
Who is who in migration studies: 107 names worth knowing
During a recent conversation among migration scholars, a PhD candidate mentioned in passing that ‘I’m not really familiar with the names yet’. It was ... [Continue reading]
What would have been new about bombing migrant boats?
The European Union has made it clear that bombs were not part of the plan for war against people smuggling after all. “No one is thinking of bombing,” said ... [Continue reading]
How migration spurs battles over women
Migration affects the lives of women in many ways. One subtle but critical mechanism lies in disputes over ‘who’ migrant women are. Migration researchers can play ... [Continue reading]
Snippets of my research
Below are snippets of insights from my research, issues that I am fascinated by and care about, and would like to contribute to with new knowledge. In a summary like this, ... [Continue reading]
Scripting remittances: making sense of money transfers in transnational relationships
This article proposes a conceptual framework for studying remittances as social transactions that can take a number of different forms. For the past three decades, the ... [Continue reading]
Pathways out of waithood: engaging with a repertoire of strategies
I am convening a panel at ECAS 2015, the 6th European Conference on African Studies (Paris, 8-10 July 2015) that seeks to bring new perspectives on young Africans’ ... [Continue reading]
Guangzhou photo walk
Guangzhou is an amazing city for photography! I’m a member of the photography group of the local InterNations community, and we do regular walks. The one we did on 11 ... [Continue reading]
The role of aspirations in migration
This conceptual paper seeks to engage with migration theory by examining the nature and functions of aspirations in migration processes. I argue that aspirations play a ... [Continue reading]
Filipino migration is extraordinary
The population of the Philippines is surpassing 100 million in late July 2014. That’s a reminder of the country’s importance in global migration. Emigration ... [Continue reading]
What happened off Lampedusa?
After the shipwreck off Lampedusa on 3 October 2013 I commented in the media in Norway: An op. ed. on NRK Ytring entitled A long-term challenge explains, among other things, ... [Continue reading]
Review of ‘Survival Migration’
Carling, Jørgen (2014) ‘Review of A. Betts: “Survival Migration”.’ Journal of Modern African Studies, 52(2): 332-333. Survival Migration: Failed ... [Continue reading]
Ensuring the welfare of children who stay when parents migrate
Many children and adolescents remain in their home communities when parents migrate to other countries. A wide range of negative repercussions for children have been ... [Continue reading]
Re-thinking the role of remittances in transnational relationships
Presented at the Globalisation, Transnationalism and Development Colloquium, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, 6 November 2013. (Thanks to the ... [Continue reading]
Fathers’ whereabouts and children’s welfare in Malawi
Children’s welfare may be affected by the absence of a parent—be it due to migration, divorce or death. These reasons for absence have largely been addressed separately ... [Continue reading]
Hvem vil reise til Europa?
Presented at the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration, 16 October 2013. Like all my slide decks, this one is a visual aid to an oral presentation, not a self-exlanatory ... [Continue reading]
Do academics have a duty to tweet?
Here’s a translated and slightly edited version of my op. ed. in the Norwegian daily Aftenposten, 30 August 2013. Knut Olav Åmås, science editor at Aftenposten, ... [Continue reading]
Youth migration in Africa: moving away from youth
The International Youth Day is celebrated on 12 August, each year with a specific theme. The theme for 2013 is Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward. The UN wishes to ... [Continue reading]
Beyond the insider–outsider divide in migration research
This paper engages critically with the insider–outsider divide in research with migrants and advocates a more nuanced and dynamic approach to positionality. In migration ... [Continue reading]
How does conflict in migrants’ country of origin affect remittance-sending?
This article examines how conflict in the country of origin interacts with other factors in shaping migrants’ remittance-sending practices. Our data come from a survey of ... [Continue reading]
Collecting, analysing and presenting migration histories
This chapter addresses the collection, analysis and presentation of migration histories across different methodological approaches. The emphasis will be on the first of these ... [Continue reading]
Central themes in the study of transnational parenthood
This article reviews the emerging literature on transnational parenthood, concentrating on six themes: gender, care arrangements, legislation, class, communication and ... [Continue reading]
Pulling up the ladder? Migrants’ choices about helping others migrate or not
Chain migration remains an essential element of migration, although its dynamics have changed over time. In the past, networks may have been the only source of information ... [Continue reading]
Mobility, moralities and motherhood: navigating the contingencies of Cape Verdean lives
In this article we discuss how transnational motherhood is managed and experienced in contexts of uncertainty and conflicting pressures. We propose a conceptual approach and ... [Continue reading]
Migration aspirations in Senegal: Who wants to leave and why does it matter?
International migration from Senegal is long-standing. Even so, the social, economic and political impacts of migration and transnationalism have intensified in recent ... [Continue reading]
Who wants to go to Europe? Results from a large-scale survey on migration aspirations
For every individual who migrates to another country, there are many others that aspire to do the same. Throughout the world, people are becoming increasingly aware of the ... [Continue reading]
The determinants of migrant remittances
This article explores the factors that account for variation in remittance flows. Why do some immigrants send much more money to their country of origin than others? This is ... [Continue reading]
International labour migration: Consequences for countries of origin
In this paper I give an overview of how contemporary international labour migration can affect the country of origin. I do not intend to reach a grand conclusion concerning ... [Continue reading]
Transnational Archipelago. Perspectives on Cape Verdean Migration and Diaspora
The island nation of Cape Verde has given rise to a diaspora that spans the four continents of the Atlantic Ocean. Migration has been essential to the island since the birth ... [Continue reading]
Migration in the age of involuntary immobility: Theoretical reflections and Cape Verdean experiences
Our times are characterised by involuntary immobility as much as by large migration flows. The sheer number of people wishing to migrate but not being able to do so indicates ... [Continue reading]
The human dynamics of migrant transnationalism
How is migrant transnationalism shaped by the human dynamics of relationships between migrants and non-migrants? This question is addressed through an analysis of asymmetries ... [Continue reading]
The capacity and desire to remit: comparing local and transnational influences
This article explores the relationship between transnationalism and integration by examining the determinants of remittance-sending practices. We base our analysis on the ... [Continue reading]
Kurdish conversation on ethnic conflict
This interview appeared in the Kurdish Weekly Gulan Magazine, published in Erbil, Iraq, on 21 January 2013. I know nothing about what was changed in the course of ... [Continue reading]
Protecting Europe and protecting migrants? Strategies for managing unauthorised migration from Africa
This article addresses the management of unauthorised migration from Africa to Europe. We review eight policy measures and explore how they relate to prominent policy ... [Continue reading]
Beyond “kamikaze migrants”: Risk taking in West African boat migration to Europe
In recent years, tens of thousands of young Africans have left the shores of Senegal and other West African countries in small boats headed for Spain’s Canary Islands. ... [Continue reading]
